The Heart of Hell: The Soldiers' Struggle for Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle
Jeffry D. Wert
(Author)
Description
The struggle over the fortified Confederate position known as Spotsylvania's Mule Shoe was without parallel during the Civil War. A Union assault that began at 4:30 A.M. on May 12, 1864, sparked brutal combat that lasted nearly twenty-four hours. 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 &8239;officers and men from both sides had been killed, wounded, or captured when the fighting &8239;ceased.&8239;The site of the most intense clashes became forever known as the Bloody Angle.&8239; Here, renowned military historian Jeffry D. Wert draws on the personal narratives of Union and Confederate troops who survived the fight &8239;to offer a gripping story of Civil War combat at its most difficult. Wert's &8239;harrowing tale&8239;reminds us that the war's story, often told through its commanders and campaigns,&8239;truly belonged to the common soldier.
Product Details
Price
$37.50
$34.88
Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Publish Date
July 12, 2022
Pages
320
Dimensions
6.3 X 9.5 X 0.95 inches | 1.2 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781469668420
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Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Jeffry D. Wert is the author of seven books on the Civil War, including The Sword of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac and Gettysburg, Day Three, as well as many essays and articles. He lives in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania.