culpeper

It’s March 1864 — Newly promoted Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the newly formed United States Army, has decided to place his command in the field with the largest arm of the Union War Machine -- The Army of the Potomac. Still encamped outside Culpeper, Virginia, this 120,000-man force has been staring across the Rapidan River at their Confederate adversaries to the South all Winter. Within the next 8 weeks, Grant will launch this army South, directly into the teeth of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, and begin the bloodiest military campaign of the Civil War: The Overland Campaign.

It is May 1864, and President Lincoln has now promoted Ulysses S. Grant -- the hero of the Western Theater -- to the rank of Lieutenant General -- a rank only held in wartime by George Washington. Grant's task is to now lead the Union army against the Confederate rebels during the most unstable time in United States history. If Grant fails, it could lead to peace with the Confederates and a continuation of slavery in North America for generations to come. The wartime stakes could never be higher!

It is March 1864, and President Lincoln is concerned. The first real victory in the East -- The Battle of Gettysburg -- is short-lived when General George Meade, Commander of the Army of the Potomac, fails to capture General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia before they slip back into the Virginia wilderness. Now political pressure is mounting on Lincoln with Northern Democrats and Copperheads pushing him to make peace with the Confederacy. Combined with the growing number of Union causalities, New York Draft Riots, and a mix of results in the West, Lincoln is faced with the possibility of a divided nation and the continuation of slavery in North America for generations to come. The wartime stakes could never be higher!

Introducing War Yankee - Overland, my American Civil War history podcast that follows General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Potomac on its 47-day, 113-mile military campaign south from Culpeper to Petersburg, Virginia.