· overland · 3 min read
Overland 02: Turning Point
The stage for the Overland Campaign opens with an understanding of the stakes President Abraham Lincoln is facing going into 1864 -- both election year and the fourth year of the Civil War.
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Overland Season 1 - Episode 2
In This Episode
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!
Notable Quotes
“I can’t spare this man–he fights.”
— President Abraham Lincoln after Grant falters during the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, April 1862
“My personal relations with him were as close and intimate as the nature of our respective duties would permit… [To] know him personally was to love and respect him for his great qualities of heart and head, and for his patience and patriotism.”
— Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on being a “Lincoln Man”
“I think it was Grant’s aggressive, fighting spirit that endeared him to Lincoln. Too many of Lincoln’s generals were quick to scapegoat him for their failures, whereas Grant, as a matter of both pride and honesty, never blamed the president.”
—Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Grant
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