Listen To Past Speakers

JEFFRY D. WERT

presents

"General, They Are Coming"

(The Battle of Spotsylvania)

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or visit

https://youtu.be/Bu3ezMEcZ9M

Zoom presentation to the

Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia

April 26, 2023

Q&A period follows the presentation

About the Topic:

The struggle over the fortified Confederate position known as Spotsylvania's Mule Shoe was without parallel during the Civil War in terms of its duration and the proximity of opposing forces.  A Union assault that began at 4:30am on May 12, 1864, sparked brutal combat that lasted nearly twenty-four hours amid downpours and thunderstorms. 

By the time Grant's forces withdrew, some 55,000 men from Union and Confederate armies had been drawn into the fury, battling in torrential rain along the fieldworks at distances often less than the length of a rifle barrel. One Union private recalled the fighting as a "seething, bubbling, soaring hell of hate and murder." By the time Lee's troops established a new fortified line in the predawn hours of May 13, some 17,500 officers and men from both sides had been killed, wounded, or captured when the fighting ceased.  The site of the most intense clashes became forever known as the "Bloody Angle."

Renowned military historian Jeffry D. Wert draws on the personal narratives of Union and Confederate troops who survived the fight to offer a gripping story of Civil War combat at its most difficult. Wert's harrowing tale reminds us that the war's story, often told through its commanders and campaigns, truly belonged to the common soldier.

Source: Amazon and speaker.

About the Speaker:

 is an American historian and author specializing in the American Civil War. He has written several books on the subject, including the one he will discuss on April 26, entitled The Heart of Hell: The Soldiers' Struggle for Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle, published in 2022.  Mr. Wert's interest in history first began after an eighth grade school field trip to the Gettysburg battlefield. After high school he graduated with a B.A. from Lock Haven University, and a M.A. from The Pennsylvania State University, both in History.  He worked for many years as a history teacher at Penns Valley Area High School in Spring Mills, PA.

Source: Wikipedia and speaker.

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