NEILL
, Thomas H., Brigadier General. Commanding Second Division, Sixth (Sedgwick’s) Corps.
PATRICK
, Marsena R., Brigadier General. Provost marshal, Army of the Potomac.
RAWLINS
, John, Brigadier General. Grant’s chief of staff. Early friend and supporter of Grant’s in Galena, Illinois, Grant’s residence at the outbreak of war.
SCHWENK
, Samuel K., Captain. Commanding Company A, 50th Pennsylvania.
SEDGWICK
, John “Uncle John,” Major General. Commanding Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac.
SHERIDAN
, Phillip H., Major General. Newly appointed commander of the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Favorite of Grant’s from operations in the West.
SMYTH
, Thomas A., Colonel. Commanding Second (“Irish”) Brigade, First (Barlow’s) Division, Second Corps.
UPTON
, Emory, Colonel. Commanding Second Brigade, First (Wright’s) Division, Sixth Corps. Abolitionist, fervent Christian, martinet, and budding military genius.
WAINWRIGHT
, Charles S., Colonel. Commanding the artillery brigade, Fifth (Warren’s) Corps. Brilliant gunner, brave soldier, scalding personality.
WARREN
, Gouverneur Kemble, Major General. Commanding Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac.
WASHBURNE
, Elihu, Congressman. Member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Radical Republican and abolitionist. Early backer and protector of Grant’s.
WILDERMUTH
, William, Private. Company C, 50th Pennsylvania. Canal boatman before the war.
WILSON
, James H., Brigadier General. Newly appointed commander of the Third Division, Cavalry (Sheridan’s) Corps. “Western” officer brought along by Grant.
WRIGHT
, Horatio G., Brigadier General. Initially commanding First Division, Sixth (Sedgwick’s) Corps; subsequently assumes command of the corps.
CONFEDERATE
ALEXANDER
, E. Porter, Brigadier General. Commanding artillery, First (Longstreet’s) Corps.
ATKINSON
, Edmund N., Colonel. Commanding 26th Georgia, Gordon’s Brigade, Early’s Division.
BERRY
, Thomas J., Lieutenant Colonel. Commanding 60th Georgia, Gordon’s Brigade, Early’s Division.
EARLY
, Jubal A. “Old Jube,” Major General. Commanding Early’s Division, Second (Ewell’s) Corps.
EVANS
, Clement A., Colonel. Commanding 31st Georgia, Gordon’s Brigade, Early’s Division.
EWELL
, Richard S. “Dick,” Lieutenant General. Commander, Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
GORDON
, John Brown, Brigadier General. Commanding Gordon’s Brigade, Early’s Division, Second (Ewell’s) Corps. Forced to leave his college to reorganize his family’s coal mines in northwestern Georgia, but retained his passion for rhetoric over the years. One of the rare “born commanders.”
HAMPTON
, Wade, Major General. Commanding a cavalry division under J. E. B. Stuart.
HENAGAN
, John W., Colonel. Commanding Kershaw’s Brigade, First (Anderson’s, formerly Longstreet’s) Corps.
HETH
, Henry “Harry,” Major General. Commanding Heth’s Division, Third (Hill’s) Corps.
JENKINS
, Micah, Brigadier General. Commanding Jenkins’ Brigade, Field’s Division, First (Longstreet’s) Corps.
KEITT
, Lawrence, Colonel. Commanding 20th South Carolina and, briefly, Kershaw’s Brigade at Cold Harbor. Pre-war firebrand, pro-slavery politician, brilliant, resolute, and pigheaded.
KERSHAW
, Joseph B., Brigadier General. Commanding Kershaw’s Division, First (Anderson’s, formerly Longstreet’s) Corps. Former commander of Kershaw’s Brigade.
JOHNSON
, Edward “Alleghany,” Major General. Commanding Stonewall Jackson’s old division.
LAW
, Evander McIvor, Brigadier General. After removal from command by Longstreet, returned to command of Law’s Brigade by Lee in mid-campaign. His brigade includes the 15th Alabama.
LEE
, Fitzhugh “Fitz,” Major General. Commanding a cavalry division under Stuart.
LEE
, Robert E., General. Commander, Army of Northern Virginia.
LEE
, William Henry Fitzhugh “Rooney,” Major General. Commanding a cavalry division under Stuart.
LONGSTREET
, James “Peter,” “Old Pete,” Lieutenant General. Commander, First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
LOWTHER
, Alexander A., Major. Intermittently second in command of the 15th Alabama.
MARSHALL
, Charles, Lieutenant Colonel. Military secretary to Lee.
OATES
, William C., Colonel. Commanding 15th Alabama. Before the war: a not quite murderer, a runaway, a schooner crewman, a vagabond, a teetotaler, a ladies’ man, a lawyer, and part owner of a local newspaper. Ferocious in war and peace.
PERRY
, Edward A., Brigadier General. Commanding Perry’s Florida Brigade, Anderson’s Division, Third (Hill’s) Corps.
PERRY
, William F., Colonel. Acting commander of Law’s Brigade, Field’s Division, First (Longstreet’s) Corps, in the absence of Evander Law. His brigade includes the 15th Alabama.
POAGUE
, William T., Lieutenant Colonel. Commanding Poague’s Battalion (artillery), Third (Hill’s) Corps. Arguably the true savior of the Army of Northern Virginia on the morning of May 6, 1864.
STUART
, James E. B. “Jeb,” Major General. Commander of the Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
TAYLOR
, Walter, Lieutenant Colonel. Assistant adjutant general to Lee.
VENABLE
, Charles, Lieutenant Colonel. Aide to Lee.
RALPH PETERS’ NOVELS PUBLISHED BY FORGE
Cain at Gettysburg
The Officers’ Club
The War After Armageddon
RALPH PETERS’ CIVIL WAR MYSTERIES PUBLISHED UNDER THE PEN NAME “OWEN PARRY”
Faded Coat of Blue
Shadows of Glory
Call Each River Jordan
Honor’s Kingdom
The Bold Sons of Erin
Rebels of Babylon
and
Our Simple Gifts: Civil War Christmas Tales
Ralph Peters is also the author of numerous books on strategy, as well as additional novels.
About the Author
RALPH PETERS,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Cain at Gettysburg,
is a retired U.S. Army officer; a controversial strategist and veteran of the intelligence world; a journalist who appears frequently in the broadcast media; and a lifelong traveler with experience in more than seventy countries on six continents.
In addition to works under his own name, he is also the author, under the pen name Owen Parry, of a series of award-winning Civil War mysteries.
Peters has studied the Civil War since childhood. Combining painstaking research, years of walking those fields of battle, and insight into the souls of generals and privates gleaned from his own military career, Ralph Peters tells this great American tale in a masterful style
.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
HELL OR RICHMOND
Copyright © 2013 by Ralph Peters
All rights reserved.
Maps by George Skoch
Cover art:
Battery H at the Battle of Cold Harbor
by William Gilbert Gaul (1855–1919); courtesy of the Oregon Jerusalem Historical Society, Oregon, Ohio
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Forge
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Peters, Ralph, 1952–
Hell or Richmond / Ralph Peters. — First edition.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-3048-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-6849-2 (e-book)
1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Fiction. 2. Virginia—History—1775–1865—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3566.E7559 H45 2013
813'.54—dc23
2012049720
e-ISBN 9781429968492
First Edition: May 2013