Rhea - the Wilderness

This is an elbow-free zone. No pictures of my bloodied elbows, shoes, or other body parts in this post. You’re welcome.

I started reading Gordon Rhea’s book on the battle of the Wilderness again. For non-Civil War buffs, the Wilderness was a battle in May 1864 that pitted Grant versus Lee for the first time. The rest of this post will probably bore you to death.

Of Rhea’s books — he also has campaign histories out on Cold Harbor, Spotsylvania, and one other book that I don’t recall but its not Overland Campaign related I don’t think — the Wilderness book is my favorite. This is my fourth time reading it.

For an attorney — hell for a historian — Rhea writes really well and I like that. I find when I read I now pay a lot closer attention to word selection and “tone” — a combination of both legal training coming out and probably my minor in English lit. When I read Rhea, I get the feeling that he paid careful attention to his choice of words in each sentence. The Wilderness book seems like something very carefully created and crafted.

Anyway, apparently lawyers can write darned good history. If you want to see further evidence, I recommend my friend Sam Davis Elliott’s biography of General A.P. Stewart.

Tags: battlefields, books, wilderness