Remembering a bloody clash of military giants
Historian recounts brutal battles between Grant and Lee in May 8 appearance at presidential library

[May 03, 2014]  SPRINGFIELD – The spring of 1864 opened with a series of brutal battles as the Union’s new commanding general, Ulysses S. Grant, attempted to pound Confederate troops into submission. It was the beginning of the end of the Civil War, but it cost thousands of Americans their lives.

Historian Mark DePue, director of the presidential library’s Oral History Program, will explain this turning point on May 8 during a free presentation at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Part of Illinois’s observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the event takes place in the museum’s Union Theater at 7 p.m. Reservations can be made by visiting www.presidentlincoln.illinois.gov and clicking on “Special event tickets and reservations” or by calling 217-558-8934.

Using photos, maps and soldiers’ quotes, Dr. DePue will take his audience from a bloody standoff in the Wilderness to brutal combat at Spotsylvania to the meat grinder at Cold Harbor.

By the end of the campaign, some 11,800 soldiers were dead. Tens of thousands more were wounded, captured or missing, and Grant had earned a new nickname: The Butcher.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is offering a series of free presentations on major Civil War battles. Upcoming events will examine Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, the siege of Petersburg and Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.

[Text received from CHRIS WILLS, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum]