Sean Michael Chick, 1982-

Well done microhistory of the four days of assaults. Chick offers refreshing criticism of Grant's poor management of the battle, along with the usual (but deserved) criticism of Lee's slow response to the crisis. Beauregard, properly, comes off as the hero. The four days are sandwiched between an extensive summary of the Overland Campaign and a similar overview of the rest of the Petersburg Campaign. Of particular interest is a concluding chapter that offers not only the routine discussion of battlefield preservation history, but a fascinating historiographical survey of the meaning of the battle in the eyes of participants and historians. Chick includes an eye-opening analysis of Grant's and Lee's view of each other as generals and men.… (mehr)

Chick's first book was a excellent microhistory of the Battle of Petersburg, four days from June 15-18, 1864. Here he tries to pack a full month into the tighter confines of the Emerging Civil War series. It makes for a very condensed and often confusing narrative. Granted, the campaign itself is confusing, with multiple advances and retreats. I just felt that Chick should have somehow provided a more top level overview to allow us to have a bird's eye view of everything going on. He does a good job of describing the various personalities involved along with their conflicts. It is an introductory work so it meets that goal, well illustrated and with decent maps. But now I need to move on to the definitive book on th3e campaign, "Back Door to Richmond" by Robertson.… (mehr)

The Battle of Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864 offers a fresh and balanced look at an engagement that has been often draped in myth. From the start, Sean Michael Chick accurately summarizes the Overland Campaign, detailing the blunders on both sides.

He doesn't let Grant off easily, as many authors try to do, noting at one point his "almost obsessive preference for Sheridan." When the Army of the Potomac finally reaches the James River, Chick describes how Grant failed to inform key subordinates about the programme to seize the vital transportation hub of Petersburg.

Even William F. Smith, who was to lead the assault, learned of his role very belatedly. That the Union Army, demoralized and fatigued from the previous forty days, badly lost the four-day battle for control of the town should come as no surprise. This is a must read for students of the Virginia theatre of war and for those of the Civil War, as a whole.… (mehr)