Guide to the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign
by Charles Bowery and Ethan Rafuse, Editors
BTC’s Take: Guide to the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign is another solid entry in the ongoing U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles published by the University Press of Kansas. As in all of the newer books in this series, the maps have moved from functional to outstanding. Editors Rafuse and Bowery did an excellent job of sorting through Confederate sources, utilizing the expensive and hard to find Supplement to the Official Records by Broadfoot Publishing to good effect. It would have been nice to see this volume broken up into two due to the length of the campaign and the number of battles involved, but I can understand why it wasn’t. The book is offered in both paperback (my review copy) and cloth (my purchase copy) versions. In this case, I could make the argument to buy both. The paperback makes a good companion on the Richmond-Petersburg battlefields, while the cloth version holds its value and looks nice on a home library bookshelf. Civil War battlefield stompers will want to pick this one up, and just in time for the 150th anniversary of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, aka the Siege of Petersburg. Collectors of this series will want to add this latest edition to their collections. Those new to the campaign might find it a bit lean on explanation and might wish to look elsewhere before moving on to this book.
Book Summary/Review:
BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:
BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Sources:
Publisher Info:
Lasting from June 1864 through April 1865, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was the longest of the Civil War, dwarfing even the Atlanta and Vicksburg campaigns in its scope and complexity. This compact yet comprehensive guide allows armchair historian and battlefield visitor alike to follow the campaign’s course, with a clear view of its multi-faceted strategic, operation, tactical, and human dimensions.
A concise, single-volume collection of official reports and personal accounts, the guide is organized in one-day and multi-day itineraries that take the reader to all the battlefields of the campaign, some of which have never before been interpreted and described for the visitor so extensively. Comprehensive campaign and battle maps reflect troop movements, historical terrain features, and modern roads for ease of understanding and navigation. A uniquely useful resource for the military enthusiast and the battlefield traveler, this is the essential guide for anyone hoping to see the historic landscape and the human face of this most decisive campaign of the Civil War.
Hardcover Edition
ISBN: 978-0-7006-1959-7
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Release Date: May 2014
Pages: 420 pages
Maps: 47 maps
***
Paperback Edition
ISBN: 978-0-7006-1960-3
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Release Date: May 2014
Pages: 420 pages
Maps: 47 maps
*****
The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater Pages Which Mention This Book: