title: Cold Harbor to the Crater: The End of the Overland Campaign (Military Campaigns of the Civil War)
author:  Gary W. Gallagher 
description: Offers valuable insights from a variety of scholars, provides revisionist interpretations of events and individuals involved in the campaign, and proposes new areas of inquiry in Civil War scholarship.--<i>North Carolina Historical Review</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Add[s] color and details . . . [and] fill[s] in some of the gaps found in other historical studies of the Overland and Petersburg campaigns.--<i>On Point</i><br /><br /><br /><br />These fine essays reflect the new military history, collectively dispelling many deeply ingrained perceptions about the end of the Overland campaign.--<i>Journal of Southern History</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Accomplished Civil War historians who bring years of research expertise, superb analytical skills and clear, confident writing to their subjects.--<i>America's Civil War</i><br /><br />
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  1
  
  __________
  
  
  
  
  
  May 1864
  
  Cold Harbor, Virginia
  
  The Wilderness Campaign
  
  
  
  Thomas Wilson stretched out on his bedroll, his muscles sore from the long
  marches, but more firm than he ever remembered before.  Today the entire
  winter encampment would be broken down, as General Hancock had gotten word out
  that once the site was dismantled, the 69th Irish Brigade would move toward
  the swift Rapidan River.  It was the final barrier the corps would cross
  before marching on to Richmond.
  
  Tom yawned, his mind wide awake now with the thoughts of war.  He shook the
  cobwebs from his head and imagined what lay ahead.  Getting to the Rapidan,
  much less crossing it, would not be easy, for somewhere between where they now
  camped and Richmond, Virginia, Lee’s army would provide a formidable
  resistance.  After all the battles Tom had fought, the possibility of more to
  come still made him shudder.  Home felt so close, and thinking of his wife
  made it feel that much closer.  Each contact with the e