War Yankee - Overland

Kyle Bondo explores the Union Army officers and how they were selected for leadership positions within Grant’s Army of the Potomac.

It's May 1864, You are an officer in the Army of the Potomac during the first week of the Overland Campaign leading men into The Wilderness against the Confederacy. As you struggle to maneuver your soldiers in a straight enough line to engage the rebels within this 70-square-mile tract of thickets and dense forest... you may ask yourself... How did I get here?

"Let no man be so rash as to suppose that in donning a general’s uniform, he is forthwith competent to perform a general’s functions."
— Prof. Dennis Hart Mahan, USMA (1824-1871)

"[I] hail the day [I] left public office as the happiest of my life, except possibly the day I left West Point, a place I felt I had been at always and that my stay had no end."
— Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1871)

"I was always a friend of southern rights but an enemy of southern wrongs."
— Maj.Gen. Benjamin Butler (1861)

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

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• War Yankee - Overland
• Gagglepod - Once Told, Shared Forever

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo explores the military jobs, specialties, and occupations that you would most likely have after enlisting in the Union Army.

It's May 4th, 1864 — You are a soldier in the Army of the Potomac marching towards the Rapidan River and into The Wilderness -- a 70-mile tract of thickets and dense forest that only a year before had been the location of this same armies defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Before you cross the floating bridge over the Rapidan River that will be later be torn up so that you cannot use it again to retreat... you may ask yourself... How did I get here?

“It's just like shooting squirrels, only these squirrels have guns.”
— Federal Veteran instructing Recruits in Rifleman Skills, America Goes to War by Bruce Catton

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

• Email Us: THE waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland
• Gagglepod - Once Told, Shared Forever

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo continues to explore the multi-national and multi-racial backgrounds of those that joined and served in the Union Army.

It's May 4th, 1864 — You are a soldier in the Army of the Potomac marching towards the Rapidan River and into The Wilderness -- a 70-mile tract of thickets and dense forest that only a year before had been the location of this same armies defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Before you cross the floating bridge over the Rapidan River that will be later be torn up so that you cannot use it again to retreat... you may ask yourself... How did I get here?

“I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country.”
— President Abraham Lincoln

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo gives you a brief update on what is coming up on War Yankee - Overland and an introduction to the Bonus Series starting on November 1st called War Yankee - Intelligence.

An American Civil War history podcast hosted by Kyle M. Bondo that follows the Overland Campaign led by General Ulysses S. Grant has he drives the Army of the Potomac on its 47-day, 113-mile military campaign South against the Confederacy in 1864.

A War Yankee bonus series hosted by Kyle M. Bondo that explores the footnotes that surround the daily lives of the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac as they battle against the Confederacy in 1864.

"Well, the movement so far has been as satisfactory as could be desired."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

• Email Us: THE War Yankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo details how the biggest army ever assembled in North American moves across the Rapidan River and into the fabled Wilderness.

It's May 3rd, 1864 -- Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and Major General George Meade plan to move the 120,000 man Army of the Potomac is underway. They will move the Union War Machine under the cover of darkness, cross the Rapidan River far EAST of the Confederate Left Flank and make an end-run around to the Confederate Rear before Lee has a chance to react. It is a good plan except for three faulty assumptions: Assuming they can keep the movements of a massive army a secret, assuming that Lee's troops will take over 30-hours to move out of their defenses, and assuming that they can move their army quickly through the fabled WILDERNESS.

"'Man proposes and God disposes.' There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

"The foe that held his guarded hills -- Must speed to woods afar; For the scheme that was nursed by the Culpepper hearth -- With the slowly-smoked cigar— The scheme that smouldered through winter long -- Now bursts into act—into war— The resolute scheme of a heart as calm -- As the Cyclone’s core."
-- Herman Melville: The Armies of the Wilderness - First Appearance in "Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War" (1866), page 107

"Well, the movement so far has been as satisfactory as could be desired."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

"We have succeeded in seizing the fords and crossing the river without loss or delay. Lee must by this time know upon what roads we are advancing, but he may not yet realize the full extent of the movement. We shall probably soon get some indications of to what he intends to do."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

• Union Army Movements Map (May 3-4, 1864)
• Library of Congress Germanna Ford, Rapidan River, Va. Artillery crossing pontoon bridges
• Blue and Gray Magazine Historic Crossings of the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers (Volume 32 #3)
• Spotsylvania Civil War Blog Grant’s Army, Crossing the Rapidan – Then and Now

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo focuses on General Meade's tactical plans to move the Army of the Potomac over the Rapidan River and around the Confederate flank.

It's April 1864 -- Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant has placed his command in the field with the largest arm of the Union War Machine -- The Army of the Potomac. With his Headquarters now in Culpeper, Grant begins coordinating with the other forces arrayed around the Confederacy while also inspecting, talking to, and getting to know the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. It is at this point that Grant has placed his trust in Meade and his senior generals to devise the opening moves of the Overland Campaign in just a few weeks.

"The only point upon which I am now in doubt is whether it will be better to cross the Rapidan above or below him."
-- Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

"'Man proposes and God disposes.' There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice."
-- Ethan S. Rafuse, U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College, quoting from Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo provides you with an intelligence report about how men become soldiers in the Union Army and how long they served.

It's May 4th, 1864 — You are a soldier in the Army of the Potomac marching towards the Rapidan River and into The Wilderness -- a 70-mile tract of thickets and dense forest that only a year before had been the location of this same armies defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Before you cross the floating bridge over the Rapidan River that will be later be torn up so that you cannot use it again to retreat... you may ask yourself... How did I get here?

“We talked the matter over and could have settled the war in thirty minutes had it been left to us.”
— Unknown Confederate Soldier referencing a meeting he had with a Union soldier between the lines.

“To his left he saw the other regiments, men from New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan. Men like these, he thought, just farmers and shopkeepers, and now we are soldiers, and now we are about to die.”
— Jeff Shaara, Gods and Generals

“Rich man’s war and poor man’s fight!
— Rallying Cry of New York City Draft Rioters

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo focuses on Ulysses S. Grant’s choice to move his command into the field and join General George Meade and the Army of the Potomac in making preparations to enter The Wilderness.

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.

“The Army of the Potomac is in splendid condition and evidently feels like whipping somebody; I feel much better with this command than I did before seeing it.”
— Lt.Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

“Probably no army on earth every before was in better condition in every respect.”
— Brig.Gen. Rufus Ingalls, Quartermaster General, Army of the Potomac

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• Notable Resources: waryankee.com/resources/
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo focuses on Ulysses S. Grant, and how his promotion to Commander of the US Army is the shake-up Lincoln hopes will end the war.

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!

"Well, I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals." -- President Abraham Lincoln

"I can’t spare this man–he fights." -- President Abraham Lincoln

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.

Kyle Bondo sets the stage for the Overland Campaign by exploring President Abraham Lincoln's stakes going into 1864.

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!

"That Grant, he was the only War Yankee Lincoln had that was worth anything."
-- Grandpa

"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what they did here."
-- President Abraham Lincoln, From the Gettysburg Address

The American Battlefield Trust knows that there is no substitute for experiencing history in the places where it actually took place and has worked to become the only one national organization working to save America's historic battlefields today and discover how you can help preserve American history forever. Join me in the fight to save our nation's historic battlefields by visiting the American Battlefield Trust website at battlefields.org.

• Email Us: waryankee AT GMAIL DOT com
• All our Show Notes: waryankee.com
• All our Episodes: waryankee.libsyn.com
• War Yankee - Overland!
• Gagglepod - Until Every Story is Told!

War Yankee is a Gagglepod Production. Learn more at gagglepod.com.