Rebels at the Gates

The Confederacy's Final Gamble and the Battle to Save Washington

Rebels at the Gates cover

Rebels at the Gates

The Confederacy's Final Gamble and the Battle to Save Washington

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Description

Rebels at the Gate chronicles an intriguing series of events that nearly changed American history. In the last full year of the Civil War, Washington, DC came within hours of being invaded and Lincoln within inches of being shot.

During the summer of 1864, General Ulysses Grant was laying siege to Petersburg (near Richmond), deploying every available Union soldier in an effort to end the bloody war once and for all. His counterpart, General Robert E. Lee and his famed Army of Northern Virginia, were trapped inside Richmond, and recognized that the Confederate capital would fall. Lee knew Grant, and understood that he would never stop attacking until he had Richmond. It was then that the southern commander hatched a desperate and bold plan to save the Confederacy and perhaps bring the war to an end… but on the Confederacy's terms.

Historian Robert Watson provides the definitive account of this largely forgotten attack on and defense of Washington-and the fascinating events surrounding the battle.

Table of Contents

Preface

Images

Prologue: Target Washington

Introduction: An Uncivil War


PART I. CAPITALS

1. The Long "Siege" of Washington

2. A Tale of Two Cities

3. To Washington, to Richmond

4. Capital Defenses

5. Tightening the Noose

6. Lee's Final Gamble

PART II. CAMPAIGN

7. The "Bad Old Man"

8. The Valley Campaign

9. Invasion

10. Chaos and Panic

11. Crossroads of History

12. The Race to Save Washington

PART III. CRUCIBLE

13. Skirmish

14. Attack!

15. The Incident

16. Victory

17. A Bitter End

18. Legacy

Epilogue: The Lost Cause


Appendix A: Timeline of Events

Appendix B: Map of Early's March to Washington

Appendix C: Map of Washington's Defenses


Sources

Notes

About the Author

Product details

Published May 01 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 256
ISBN 9798881807337
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations 11 b/w photos; 3 maps
Dimensions 229 x 152 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

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