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Chris Mackowski
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Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series) Kindle Edition

by Chris Mackowski (Author), Gregory A. Mertz (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 56 ratings
A Civil War historian recounts the first battle between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee—a bloody and horrifying conflict in the Wilderness of Virginia.

Known simply as the Wilderness, soldiers called the seventy square miles of dense Virginian forest one of the “waste places of nature” and “a region of gloom.” Yet here, in the spring of 1864, the Civil War escalated to a new level of horror.

Ulysses S. Grant, commanding all Federal armies, opened the Overland Campaign with a vow to never turn back. Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, moved into the Wilderness to block Grant’s advance. Thick underbrush made for difficult movement and low visibility. And these challenges were terrifyingly compounded by the outbreak of fires that burned casualties and left both sided blinded in a sea of smoke.

Driven by desperation, duty, confusion, and fire, soldiers on both sides marveled that anyone might make it out alive. “This, viewed as a battleground, was simply infernal,” a Union soldier later said. Another called it “Hell itself.”
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  1. Part of series
    Emerging Civil War
  2. Print length
    349 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Savas Beatie
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 2016
  6. File size
    19.3 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the online resource Emerging Civil War. A writing professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, Chris is also historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield in central Virginia. The series editor of the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series, he has authored or co-authored a dozen books on the Civil War, and his articles have appeared in major Civil War magazines.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01FM7REQS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Savas Beatie (May 1, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 19.3 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 349 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 56 ratings

About the author

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Chris Mackowski

Chris Mackowski

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"It's in me and it gots to get out," legendary guitarist John Lee Hooker said of his music. Chris Mackowski says the same thing about his writing: "It's in me, and it gots to get out."

Chris is a writing professor in the School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, and historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlfield. He is also editor in chief of Emerging Civil War (www.emergingcivilwar.com). The author of more than a dozen books about the Civil War, Chris's writings have appeared in all the major Civil War magazines.

Chris has worked as a historian with the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park and still gives tours of the area's four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania). He serves on the board of directors of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, a preservation organization that focuses on saving endangered property associated with the four battlefields.

Chris has an M.F.A. from Goddard College and a Ph.D. from Binghamton University.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
56 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well written. The storytelling receives mixed reactions, with one customer appreciating the mix of history and driving tour, while another notes it's brief in some aspects of the battle.

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3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, with one noting that it tells a clear story.

"...I own every book he has written on the Civil War. He tells a clear, simple, and concise story about each battle. His tour guide is also invaluable. &#..." Read more

"Well written and something that is not well known or taught to present day students ." Read more

"Awesome book! Well written and unbiased" Read more

5 customers mention "Story telling"3 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the storytelling in the book, with some appreciating the narrative of the battle, while one customer notes it is brief in some aspects.

"...He tells a clear, simple, and concise story about each battle. His tour guide is also invaluable. &#..." Read more

"The book is accurate in all matters. It is brief in some aspects of the battle,but all in all, the book is well worth the time one will spend..." Read more

"This is an excellent tour guide and short history of the battle." Read more

"...Here, the focus is the brutal Battle of the Wilderness. This was a bloody battle, with both Confederate and Union forces losing many men...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Thumper
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wow...as Usual with Chris Mackowski.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Chris Mackowski is one of my favorite Civil War Authors. I own every book he has written on the Civil War. He tells a clear, simple, and concise story about each battle. His tour guide is also invaluable. "He'll Itself: The Battle of The Wilderness is an example of what I am talking about.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • R. Killian
    5.0 out of 5 stars "The Beginning of the End"
    Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    The book is accurate in all matters. It is brief in some aspects of the battle,but all in all, the book is well worth the time one will spend reading it, and seeing some new aspects of the battle. I felt that more space should have been spent on the deaths of brigade commanders and probably how this decided the outcome of the battle.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Steven Peterson
    4.0 out of 5 stars The bloody Wilderness fight. . . .
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Another fine entry in the Savas Beatie series. Here, the focus is the brutal Battle of the Wilderness. This was a bloody battle, with both Confederate and Union forces losing many men. More casualties were on the Union side, but the arithmetic was such that more northern troops could die and be wondered and captured and still damage the fortunes of the Army of Northern Virginia. The latter, simply, had fewer troops to spare.

    The Wilderness marked the first of many battles featuring Ulysses Grant squaring off against Robert E. Lee (with General George Meade caught in an uncomfortable position as commanding general of the Army of the Potomac, with Grant right up there on the battlefield--often giving key orders). Union forces wanted to move forward quickly, to clear the Wilderness--a large piece of land featuring second growth trees, making it a difficult place for a battle. The conflict itself was confusing and deadly. Fires began in the foliage, killing many wounded troops who could not escape.

    The book focuses on two issues, as per the structure of the series: (a) a relatively brief discussion of the battle; (b) how to go to the battlefield and see major parts of the landscape to envision better the battle itself. Both are done well.

    Thne battle was a mess. Both sides would make successful thrusts and then suffer setbacks. One critical moment was when James Longstreet's First Corps was able to outflank Winfield Scott Hancock's Second Corps and give it a drubbing. As Longstreet tried to maximize the struggle, he was shot by hos own troops by mistake--almost one year after Stonewall Jackson died after being shot by his troops.

    Finally, the armies separated. Grant moved south, unlike other Union commanders who had run into Robert E. Lee. And the War in the East continued. . . .
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Grant the Butcher
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Well written and something that is not well known or taught to present day students .
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Dr Y
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Tour Guide
    Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is an excellent tour guide and short history of the battle.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Awesome book! Well written and unbiased
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  • Coleman.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Arrived in good condition.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Cindy Q
    4.0 out of 5 stars History and present meet.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Having visited the Wilderness Battlefield, I enjoyed the mix of history and driving tour. The story telling of the battle and back stories were excellent.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Mr. R. E. J. Hyson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very graphic.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This well written account breaks down the confusing battle into bite-sized chunks. Good maps show the battle's progress. The horrors of trying to fight, in such an inhospitable and confusing environment, are described by many eyewitness accounts.
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  • tecumseh
    5.0 out of 5 stars President Lincoln at last could have gotten a useful commander for the Army of Potomac in 1864, in spring time.
    Reviewed in Japan on June 23, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Hero of Fort Henry, Fort Donnelson and Vicksburg , hero in the Western theater of Civil War, Lincoln called him back, to destroy Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, for another Overland campaign to begin with. His name is Gen. U.S. Grant ,on whose shoulders, Three Stars were shining since the first President and Gen. George Washinton. Gen. Grant would have tried to lure Lee's people to wide open landscape around Spotsylvenia area, and order to march his hundred thousand souldiers to cross the River and pass through the primitive forest called Wilderness, He would have thought it would be dengerous,but ,he thought, with cavalry guard, he could manage to slip through. Lee would never miss a antagonist's mistake, Lee would have never missed his chances heretofore.
    From here, you will try to read the developement on the Battle of Wilderness.
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