New Perspectives on Spotsylvania

Editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War, Prof. Mackowski (Saint Bonaventure), the author of Grant at 200: Reconsidering the Life and Legacy of Ulysses S. Grant, The Battle of Jackson, Mississippi, May 14, 1863, and other works on the Civil War, gives us a fresh look at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, drawing not only upon documentary evidence, but also on his experience as a National Park Service historian and tour guide at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Mackowski offers a new perspective on the battle, arguing that it not only opened the road that led to Richmond, but also saw the emergence of a new form of leadership, initiating virtually persistent fighting for the rest of the war under the direction of Grant and Meade. “From 1861-1864, the major Eastern Theater armies fought battles and disengaged after each one. That pattern changed on the night of May 7. Instead of leaving the Wilderness to reorganize, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant led the Federal army southward, skirmishing with Confederates all the way. ‘There will be no turning back,” he had declared.’ He lived up to his word. By dawn on May 8, the armies had tussled their way ten miles down the road and opened another large-scale fight that would last until May 21.” (p. 47)

Mackowski further argues that the fighting was a lose-lose situation for Robert E. Lee, with his dwindling resources and loss of capable subordinates, with the wounding of James Longstreet, the death of Jeb Stuart, and the battlefield failure of Richard Ewell. On the Union side, he notes how Meade had to overcome Grant’s presence with the Army of the Potomac, and Phil Sheridan's challenging personality, who at times by-passed him in the chain-of-command. He also reminds us that when Grant dispatched Sheridan to the Shenandoah Valley, he left the Army of the Potomac without its “eyes and ears,” considering it one of Grant’s worst decisions of the war.

One of the highlights the book is Macowski’s chapter on Emory Upton’s May 10, 1864, attack on the “Mule Shoe Salient.” Readers will not find a more detailed account of the successes and failures of the attack, nor of the unspeakable horrors of the fighting. He portrays the disappointing support that Upton received from other Union generals, among them Gouverneur K. Warren, Gershom Mott, and Ambrose Burnside, while noting Upton’s “capturing 913 enlisted men and 37 officers” (p. 99).

Mackowski does an excellent job of balancing the stories of relative obscure common soldiers with those of well know officers for both the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac. The stories that the author meticulously collected over 15 years via archival research are interesting, in-depth, and provide information about the battles landscape, ordinary people and common soldiers, which are facets of every conflict.

Makowski includes many useful observations and anecdotes, such as his comment about Burnside’s “loneliness of command, well-liked by his peers but not necessarily well-respected.” (p. 124), or Colonel Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin dragging Warren to the ground to prevent him from being shot.

A Tempest of Iron and Lead will appeal to scholars and anyone else interested in the Civil War, offering an important reinterpretation of Spotsylvania, a battle which saw nearly nonstop hand-to-hand fighting, the third-bloodiest battle of the war, with more than 31,000 casualties. Although a tactical draw, the Union scored an operational victory because it was able to continue its march on Richmond.

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Note: A Tempest of Iron and Lead is also available in e-editions.

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