I believe this to be one of the finest oral commentaries of any civil war battle I have heard. It is expressed with such authority of confederate and federal positions and tactics enhanced by his soulful recollection of the soldiers conditions individually and collectively. I was transfixed the entire time and felt in my mind as I was there, with the soldiers and reliving those terrible days in May 1864 in Spotsylvania. Many cheers and kudos to you Mr. Mackowski I hope to someday meet with you and perhaps here one of your lectures!

What a rivetting storyteller this guy is ! Well done Chris Mackowski. He must be a historian as well as an author, because he is highly knowledgeable.

Great speaker. Naturals like this are the best way to communicate history.

My great-great grandfather was wounded in this battle. He was a member of the 122nd New York Volunteers.

Wonderful speaker,thankyou Sir.

Thank you for such a great explanation of this battle. My 2xs great grandfather was severely wounded here on May 8th. You really help paint a visual picture of what was happening then. Much appreciated.

Very engaging delivery. Fascinating. Blessings from NZ ✌️

Shoulda used a microphone. Can barely hear with volume turned up 100%. Other than that, this is one of the best presentations I've watched.

I need this information for my Battle Report for Advanced Leader Course in the Army, thank you for the thorough story / lecture!

Great lecture. Thank you.

Wow!!! What a lecture!!!!

Great job of interjecting a sense of realism to this historic campaign. Thank you!

Masterful presentation. Bravo!

Very detailed and riveting account of the Wilderness Campaign. For not one time did I feel any information was portrayed inaccurate. Thank You for posting.

Fantastic and engaging lecture. Thanks! Just wish he had maps.

The problem with Grant's army was his corps commanders. Meade was in charge of an army, Reynolds was dead, Couch had resigned, Hancock was still in bad shape from a terrible wound at Gettysburg, Sedgwick was killed here. Grant needed more soldiers than Lee to do the same job; he had to hold every foot of ground he took and guard communication and supply lines in his rear. Lee did not. Further, the size of the respective armies are almost always misrepresented. Newspapers tended to compare the number of Confederate bayonets on the spot and ready to fight with the total of all Union soldiers including staff, couriers, carpenters, blacksmiths, signal corps, medical personnel, drivers, etc. Grant wasn't fighting a battle of attrition; he was fighting a battle of annihilation. This was an election year and Lincoln didn't have the luxury of dragging this out because he thought he could very well lose. Finally, Sheridan was a sonofabitch but he was a first-rate field commander. Ask Jubal Early.

Great video.

Great story, thanks. Clever use of aisle between the audience as Grant's Brock Rd. attack route :-)

Well done. Am glad to hear someone finally say that Sheridan was overrated.

Superb!!!

The large portrait in the center is not General James Henry Lane. That is J. E. B. Stuart.

By listening to Stuart's tactics make you wonder what would have happened if Stuart's Cavalry didn't have to March around the entire Union Army to reunite with Lee at Gettysburg. He would for sure would have and made clear to take those important ridges long before the Union Army. Lee made a mistake but he fighting blind. Sheridan's Cavalry messed up Grant and Meade. Forrest was also a genius at Topography. He used it to equal out his chances. Brices Crossroads was just natural Military Genius on Tactical battle Leadership.

Agree maps and regiments enrolled. My GG grandpa was there.

My GG Grandfather Carlos H Rich fought with the 4th Vermont throughout the Overland Campaign. Unbelievable what he endured.

love this guy brilliant

Terrific. I felt like I was there.😁😁

I have studied the US Civil War in detail for about 30 years. In my considered opinion Phil Sheridan was a great General. He transferred into Cavalry Commander to go with his friend US Grant to the Army of the Potomac. Sheridan was a child of Irish parents. He was a fierce fighter, brave but had a temper. An Irish temper great in a fight but not always nice to guys like General Warren. Sheridan and Sherman followed Grant's orders of total war to destroy Southern morale and resources for CS Armies. They didn't play nice but they won in time with more soldiers, better guns, superior cannon fire, better food, horses and resources. They ground down the South following Lincoln's advice to Grant that he needed a General that could do the math. The South was outnumbered in every way. The CS soldiers and their Generals fought bravely, and won many battles but so did the British when they lost the American Revolutionary War.

After Jackson was wounded and died Ewell doomed the Confederacy and Lee couldn't replace him as Lee held to seniority and Ewell's success under Jackson without recognizing Ewell's timidity for offensive actions.

MAN!! I would love tp get a guided tour of that battlefield from this guy. I have walked over it, stood at the "Bloody Angle", and I just can'r make any sense out of it. I just can't visualize what it looked like. There is a road ( or lane ) running off from there, and my eye wants to see the line of men along there, but I can't make a "Mule Shoe" out of it, or a "Kink" in the line.

So much canvas, frames, and monuments dedicated to the memories of Confederate traitors.

Grant understood what Longstreet already knew in Gettysburg. Force the enemy to attack, and keep your own troops behind the stone wall.

I’m not sure why he wasn’t able to give casualty figures. There are plenty of sources and the figures are pretty consistent. Around 18,000 union and between 9,000 and 12,000 Confederate.

Volume too low

speaker should have been mic'd

Wilderness Broques road (begins advance on May 7) Todds Tavern

I like monuments on battlefields because they give you the battle lines and give you a sense of scale and range of what happened. I think without monuments on the battlefields you can walk right over important ground and not have a clue of what happened there. If you are brilliant and know every aspect of the battle, then you might enjoy a battlefield with no markers. Not me.

31:42 doesn’t make sense. Stonewall brigade was harden veterans by this time of the war. Why would they not know to keep the powder dry.

Great lecture but . . . . no maps. We are talking about war, campaign, battle and no single map. Disappointing :-(

With reference to the lady's question about Longstreet's performance at Gettysburg, I believe he lost his motivation solely due to Lee's inept planning of the battle. Lee was resigned to his rigid way of attack and Longstreet dragging his feet because of it. Both failed in there respective rolls.

Never before in all of human history was there one side with more able, competent, and brlliant officers leading such brave, and devoted men willing to accept such hardship, and deprivation of any military force in order to defend their homes, hearths and firesides.

I don't particularly like Sheridan but I think you are being a little unfair to him here.

My gggrandpa was part of McGowan’s brigade at the bloody angle.

The Army of the Potomac wasn't that big.

Enjoyed; Please Park Rangers bring canteen not plastic cup; as our America is degraded and we now are paying for all plastic corporate waste in our tax dollars nobody wants it; and the Parks are full of it..

too much drama. too much drama toomuchdrama. drama. too. much.