Contrary to popular belief, the Eastern Theater during the late summer and fall of 1863 was anything but inconsequential. Generals George Meade and Robert E. Lee continued where they had left off, boldly maneuvering the chess pieces of war to gain a decisive strategic and tactical advantage. Cavalry actions and pitched battles made it clear to anyone paying attention that the war in Virginia was a long way from having been decided at Gettysburg. This period of the war was the first and only time Meade exercised control of the Army of the Potomac on his own terms, but historians and students alike have all but ignored it. Jeffrey Wm Hunt brilliantly rectifies this oversight in Meade and Lee at Rappahannock Station: The Army of the Potomac's First Post-Gettysburg Offensive, from Kelly's Ford to the Rapidan, October 21 to November 20, 1863. Hunt's third installment in his award-winning Meade and Lee series is grounded upon official reports, regimental histories, letters, newspapers, and other archival sources. Together, they provide a day-by-day, and sometimes minute-by-minute, account of the Union army's first post-Gettysburg offensive action and Lee's efforts to repel it. In addition to politics, strategy, and tactics, Hunt's pen ably examines the intricate command relationships, Lee's questionable decision-making, and the courageous spirit of the fighting men. Complete with original maps and outstanding photographs, Meade and Lee at Rappahannock Station is a significant contribution to Civil War literature.Hunt's third installment in his award-winning Meade and Lee series is grounded upon official reports, regimental histories, letters, newspapers, and other archival sources. It examines the intricate command relationships, Lee's questionable decision-making, and the courageous spirit of the fighting men.
