The 1864 Overland Campaign consists of the Battles of The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Yellow Tavern, Haws Shop, Cold Harbor and assaults on Petersburg.
At the end of this campaign, Lee was in the trenches at Petersburg and Grant was starting the 10 month siege which would decide the war.
One of the greatest problems facing the Union that summer was a manpower shortage. Yes, the mighty Union never enjoyed more than a 1.5 to 1 advantage at Petersburg until almost Christmas of 1864. The main reason was that the 3 year enlistments for the Union soldiers who enlisted after 1st Manassas/Bull Run were running out by late summer. This resulted in the best soldiers leaving and those who were near the end not being as aggressive, particularly since the best leaders were buried in Central Virginia or in the hospitals around Washington.
So, was the Overland Campaign a success in that Grant and Meade ended up pinning Lee into the trenches or was it a bad mistake which almost wrecked the Army of the Potomac.
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