At Spotsylvania Court House, the second phase of the campaign, the two armies shifted from stalemate in the Wilderness to slugfest in the mud. Spotsylvania Court House represents a chess match of immeasurable stakes between two master opponents: Grant, the irresistible force, hammering with his overwhelming numbers and unprecedented power, versus

Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and cofounder of Emerging Civil War (www.emergingcivilwar.com). He is historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield (www.stevensonridge.com), and he has authored or edited more than two dozen books on the Civil War. Chris teaches writing at St. Bonaventure University's Jandoli School of Communication.