Sean Michael Chick - Grant’s Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, May 5-June 7, 1864

Grants Left Hook

T HE B ERMUDA H UNDRED C AMPAIGN M AY 5 J une 7, 1864

By Sean Michael Chick

Chris Mackowski, series editor

Chris Kolakowski, chief historian

The Emerging Civil War Series

offers compelling, easy-to-read overviews of some of the Civil Wars most important battles and stories .

Recipient of the Army Historical Foundations Lieutenant General Richard G. Trefry Award for contributions to the literature on the history of the U.S. Army

Also part of the Emerging Civil War Series:

The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead

by Meg Thompson

Bloody Autumn: The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864

by Daniel T. Davis and Phillip S. Greenwalt

Call Out the Cadets: The Battle of New Market, May 15, 1864

by Sarh Kay Bierle

Dawn of Victory: Breakthrough at Petersburg, March 25-April 2, 1865

by Edward S. Alexander

Grants Last Battle: The Story Behind the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

by Chris Mackowski

Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864

by Chris Mackowski

Hurricane from the Heavens: The Battle of Cold Harbor, May 26-June 5, 1864

by Daniel T. Davis and Phillip S. Greenwalt

No Turning Back: A Guide to the 1864 Overland Campaign

by Robert M. Dunkerly, Donald C. Pfanz, and David R. Ruth

A Season of Slaughter: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 8-21, 1864

by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White

Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862

by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White

Strike Them a Blow: Battle Along the North Anna River, May 21-25, 1864

by Chris Mackowski

To the Bitter End: Appomattox, Bennett Place, and the Surrenders of the Confederacy

by Robert M. Dunkerly

Also by Sean Michael Chick:

The Battle of Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864 (University of Nebraska, 2015)

T HE B ERMUDA H UNDRED C AMPAIGN M AY 5 J UNE 7, 1864

By Sean Michael Chick

Savas Beatie

California

2021 Sean Michael Chick

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-61121-438-3

First edition, first printing

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chick, Sean Michael, 1982- author

Title: Grants left hook : the Bermuda Hundred Campaign,

May 5-June 7, 1864 / by Sean Michael Chick.

Description: First edition. | El Dorado Hills, California : Savas Beatie, 2019.

Series: Emerging Civil War series

Identifiers: LCCN 2019008410| ISBN 9781611214383 (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781611214390 (ebk)

Subjects: LCSH: Bermuda Hundred Region (Va.)--History, Military.

Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns. | United States--History--Civil

War, 1861-1865--Campaigns. Classification: LCC E476.57 .C47 2019

DDC 973.7/36--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019008410

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El Dorado Hills, California 95762

Phone: 916-941-6896

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Web: www.savasbeatie.com

Savas Beatie titles are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more details, please contact Special Sales, 989 Governor Drive, Suite 102, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762, or you may e-mail us at for additional information.

This book is dedicated to my good friend Jordan Grove, to whom I have talked about the Civil War more times than I can count .

Maps by Hal Jespersen

Theodore P. Savas, publisher

Chris Mackowski, series editor

Christopher Kolakowski, chief historian

Sarah Keeney, editorial consultant

Kristopher D. White, co-founding editor

Maps by Hal Jespersen

Design and layout by Cassandra Clark and Chris Mackowski

P HOTO C REDITS :

Autobiography of Isaac Jones Wistar (aijw); Battles & Leaders (b&l); Chesterfield Historical Society (chs); George Fickett (gf); Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper (fl); Harpers Weekly (hw); Sandy Hester (sh); History of the First Light Battery Connecticut Volunteers (flbcv); Henry Kidd, http://www.henrykiddart.com/ (hk); Library of Congress (loc); Scott Mauger (sm); National Archives (na); Photographic History of the Civil War (phcw); Puck (puck); Andrew Simoneaux (as); Scott Williams (sc); South Carolina Library (scl)

Acknowledgments

Writing is usually considered a solitary act. When I hear this, I recall the words of John Donne: No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. I would like to thank those who aided me in crafting this book. The origins of the work came, in part, from my association with Bryce Suderow, one of the best and most relentless researchers in the business. George Fickett provided me with resources and encouragementwithout him, the present work would not have been completed. With Ficketts encouragement, I dug deeper and read the definitive accounts by William Glenn Robertson and Herbert M. Schiller. I decided to craft an introductory work that combined the best of what both men had to offer plus my own insights into the campaign. I also wanted to discuss in greater detail the battle of Ware Bottom Church, an obscure battle but arguably the most important engagement of the campaign.

The best place to submit a work on Bermuda Hundred seemed publisher Savas Beatie for the Emerging Civil War Series. Robert Orrison put me in contact with Chris Mackowski, who showed early interest in this work and encouraged its completion. Daniel T. Davis also offered invaluable assistance.

Robertson, Gordon Rhea, and John Horn also encouraged and aided this work. Schiller, a true gentleman and scholar, read the manuscript, offering several invaluable insights, particularly regarding the battle of Drewrys Bluff. He was also kind enough to write a foreword. Chesterfield County local Mark Jacobson also read the manuscript and, along with Scott Williams, Jerry Netherland, and Bryce Suderow, was instrumental in constructing a more accurate appraisal of Ware Bottom Church. While working on this book, I was able to discuss aspects of the campaign with a variety of people, including Joseph A. Rose, Robert Krick, Jr., and Hampton Newsome, each of whom offered penetrating comments.

The text itself was edited by Liz Cannon Lesher with some help from Suderow, Schiller, and Jacobson. The maps were created by Hal Jespersen, one of the best in the business. He was assisted in part by Williams, Jacobson, Netherland, Fickett, and Suderow. Robertson kindly allowed us to use some of his maps, and Mackowski allowed us to use his map of Wilsons Wharf. I collected many of the images and added photographs provided by Scott Williams, George Fickett, Andrew Simoneaux, and Bill Halkett. Getting a photograph of Butlers grave was quite a chase, but I was aided by Joshua Underwood, Michael D. Pierson, and Scott Mauger. Leslie Johns Ray also loaned me her camera for some last minute photography.