On October 22, I'll Address the Dupuy Institute Conference on Fighting Effectiveness in Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive

At 9:00 A.M. on October 22, I'll address in person the Dupuy Institute's Fourth Historical Analysis Conference on fighting effectiveness in Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, which I covered in my most recent book, Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2025). The conference will take place from October 21 through October 23 at 1934 Old Gallows Road in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

The Dupuy Institute is dedicated to scholarly research and analysis of historical data related to armed conflict. The Institute provides historically-based analyses of lessons learned from modern military campaigns. In an effort to pursue the goals of Col. Trevor N. Dupuy, who wrote many books including books on the American Civil War, the Institute amasses historical data and strivees to refine understanding of the complexities of modern warfare. The Institute is committed to the accumulation of recorded, detailed data from actual battlefield experience and the utilization of actual battlefield experience to understand all dimensions of combat, including technological and human factors. 

I am going to compare Dupuy's method for measuring combat effectiveness set forth in his book, A Genius for War: The German Army and General Staff, 1807-1945 (London: MacDonald and Jane's, 1977), with the standard work on combat effectiveness in our Civil War, Thomas L. Livermore's Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America, 1861-1865 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1901).

The results of both methods of measuring fighting effectiveness, on page 368 of Lee Besieged, turn out to be very similar. For a copy of Lee Besieged, please click on this link and then what appears afterward.

I will also explain my modifications to the two methods to measure the fighting effectiveness of the combatants during Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive. I include include prisoners as if they were dead. Prisoners were as good as dead during the critical campaign of 1864 because the Union and Confederacy were not exchanging them during that period as they had before and would afterward.

 

Posting a Review of "Lee Besieged" and My Other Books on Amazon.com

Recently a reader reported difficulty posting on amazon.com a review of my latest book, Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2025).  

I took a look and posting such a review required an inordinate number of clicks.  I sent him a link to the appropriate place on anazon.com to post a review.  

If any of you have a review that you want to post about Lee Besieged, plcase click on this link and what then appears until you reach the page for "write a customer review." 

Anyone who wants a copy of this book should click on this link and on what then appears until you get to Savas Beatie's page on the book.

If any of you have a review that you want to post for The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865 (Savas Beatie, 2019), winner of the 2019 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History, 

If any of you have a review that you want to post about The Petersburg Regiment, please click on this link and what then appears until you reach the page for "write a customer review."

Anyone who wants a copy of this book should click on this link and on what then appears until you get to Savas Beatie's page on the book.

If any of you have a review that you want to post about The Siege of Petersburg: The Battles for the Weldon Railroad, August 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2015) please click on this link and what then appears until you reach the page for "write a customer review."  This book was previously published as The Destruction of the Weldon Railroad... (H. E. Howard, 1991). 

Anyone who wants a copy of this book should click on this link and on what then appears until you get to Savas Beatie's page on the book.

Thanks!

John Horn

September 10, 2025, 7:00 p.m. EST, I'll Talk to the Central Ohio Civil War Round Table about the Wilson-Kautz Raid

On September 10, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. EST, I'll talk to the Central Ohio Civil War Round Table about the Wilson-Kautz Raid, The talk will take place at La Navona, 154 N. Hamilton Road, Gahanna, OH 43230. My emphasis will be on the 2nd Ohio Cavalry, which participated in the raid.  I enjoy emphasizing units from the state where I'm speaking.  I also think that the 2nd deserves a regimental history, and I encourage someone else to write it.  Well-researched regimental histories function as tuning forks with which to test the credibility of histories of battles and campaigns.  

Route of Wilson-Kautz Raid in Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive (Map by Hal Jespersen)

The 2nd Ohio Cavalry participated in campaigns and battles in the West (February-December 1862), Midwest (December 1862-February 1864), and East (February 1864-May 1865).  It meets the major prerequisite for a regimental history--plenty of writings by its members.  August V. Kautz, the regiment's second colonel, left official reports, diaries, and articles.  He led a division in the Wilson-Kautz Raid that did not include the 2nd, which by that time belonged to McIntosh's brigade of Wilson's division.  Other writers in the regiment included Capt. Henry W. Chester, Lt. Luman Tenney, Sgt. Roger Hannaford, Sgt. Isaac Gause, and Pvt. William J. Smith.

Brig. Gen. August V. Kautz

The 2nd skirmished at Reams Station on the way out from Federal lines on June 22, the raid's first day.  The regiment with the rest of McIntosh's brigade remained in reserve at the battle of The Grove (also known as Black's and White's or Nottoway Court House) on June 23 and the battle of Staunton River Bridge on June 25.  On the evening of June 28, the 2nd in the lead of the raiders ran into and was halted by the infantry of the Holcombe Legion and the cavalry of Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton's cavalry division at Sappony Church on the way back to the Army of the Potomac at Petersburg.  The 2nd and the rest of McIntosh's brigade followed Kautz's division on the rerouting of the retreat by way of Reams Station and was halted there on June 29 by two brigades of Brig. Gen. William Mahone's infantry division.  After Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's division arrived, the Confederates attacked and split the raiders in two.  The 2nd broke out to the southeast and rejoined the Army of the Potomac that evening.

Reams Station, Afternoon June 29, 1864 (Map by Hal Jespersen from Lee Besieged)

To purchase a copy of Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2025), where I describe the Wilson-Kautz Raid and the rest of Grant's Second Offensive, please click this link and the link that appears, and then the link on the redirect page.

Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m. CST: Civil War Talks Presents John Horn on His New Book, "Lee Besieged" (Savas Beatie, 2025)

At 7:30 p.m. CST, Civil War Talks will present me talking about my new book, Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2025).  The meeting ID is 858 6322 3883.  The link is                     

https://us02web.zoom.us/w/85863223883?tk=qsPOo8vH5YmyqdIqDNf5RJoNVknugmSn-i-nP8XMLoY.DQgAAAAT_djSSxZOVFdXMG1PRVNkS2o1LWxtTEYxbW9BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The book has garnered significant praise:

I’ve edited more than half a million words on the Civil War, but this book is something else.  Elegantly written, deeply researched, it abounds with judicious assessments of commanders at all levels.  More than a thousand quotes from participants on both sides take you back in time like no other book I have ever read.  Don’t miss it!

--Keith Poulter, publisher North & South magazine

The Second Petersburg Offensive of late June 1864 is among the least understood operations of the entire campaign.  Through exhaustive research, engaging prose, and thoughtful analysis, John Horn provides the most detailed account yet written of this Union effort to conquer the Cockade City.

--A. Wilson Greene, author of A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg

John Horn has added considerably to our knowledge of the Petersburg campaign with Lee Besieged:  Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864.  It is the first book that deals with Grant's ill-fated second offensive and is yet another excellent volume by Horn.

--Sean Michael Chick, author of The Battle of Petersburg, June 15-June 18, 1864

Horn has added a much-needed volume to his extensive writings and study of the Petersburg Campaign.  Grant’s second offensive is often overlooked and hard to comprehend but through scholarly research and writing, Lee Besieged:  Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864, takes the reader through all aspects of the offensive, providing enjoyment and understanding to the Civil War enthusiast.  First-hand accounts proliferate in the narrative adding powerful insights into the struggle and fighting of June 1864.

--Jerry Netherland, Petersburg Battlefields Foundation

This is tactical battle action at its finest. Horn's explanation for the context and consequences of every decision is grounded in hundreds of primary sources and supported by 40 original maps. Lee Besieged is the first full-length book to put Grant's second effort into its proper perspective -- not only in the context of the Petersburg siege and the Civil War, but in the context of warfare's history.

Critique: Comprehensive, meticulously researched, exceptionally well written, featuring numerous B/W illustrations. two Appendices (Strength, Casualties, Effectiveness & The Orders of Battle), a twenty-six page Bibliography, and a seventeen page Index, "Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18 - July 1, 1864" by John Horn is essential reading and a welcome addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library American Civil War History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and Civil War history buffs that this hardcover edition of "Lee Besieged" from Savas Beatie is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.95).

--Midwest Book Review

To purchase your copy, please click on this link.

Midwest Book Review Gives "Lee Besieged" a Stellar Review

Midwest Book Review says about "Lee Besieged:"

"This is tactical battle action at its finest. Horn's explanation for the context and consequences of every decision is grounded in hundreds of primary sources and supported by 40 original maps. Lee Besieged is the first full-length book to put Grant's second effort into its proper perspective -- not only in the context of the Petersburg siege and the Civil War, but in the context of warfare's history.

"Critique: Comprehensive, meticulously researched, exceptionally well written, featuring numerous B/W illustrations. two Appendices (Strength, Casualties, Effectiveness & The Orders of Battle), a twenty-six page Bibliography, and a seventeen page Index, "Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18 - July 1, 1864" by John Horn is essential reading and a welcome addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library American Civil War History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and Civil War history buffs that this hardcover edition of "Lee Besieged" from Savas Beatie is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.95)."

To purchase a copy of "Lee Besieged," just click on the links.

 

Yet Another Very Positive Review of "Lee Besieged," This One from the United Kingdom

Nigel Lambert, a distinguished author on the Petersburg Campaign from the United Kingdom who frequently publishes in Emerging Civil War, recently posted a very positive review of "Lee Besieged" on Amazon UK:

"5.0 out of 5 stars A Captivating Read
"Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2025
"Having read John Horn’s previous excellent Petersburg books, I looked forward to reading his latest offering. And unsurprisingly, it did not disappoint. Horn skilfully carries the reader along the intricate actions of Grant’s 2nd Petersburg Offensive. The detailed bibliography highlights the thoroughness of the research and includes information from many rare sources. The maps are clear and help readers visualize the geography and troop movements. Until quite recently, historians have largely overlooked The Petersburg Campaign. This book contributes to John Horn’s excellent Petersburg portfolio and helps bring to life this fascinating campaign. This is a “must buy” for anyone interested in the final months of the war in the Eastern Theatre, and valuable to anyone interested in Grant, Lee and the Civil War in Virginia."

To purchase a copy of "Lee Besieged," just click on the link.

My Current Speaking Schedule, Mainly About My Most Recent Book, "Lee Besieged."

 

For at least the next year, my speaking engagements will mainly be about my most recent book, Lee Besieged: Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2025). To purchase a copy, please click the link above and then click the email address that appears. My current schedule is as follows:

Aug. 6, 2025: CivilWarTalk. "Lee Besieged." 8:30 p.m. EST. Virtual.*

Sept. 10, 2025: Central Ohio CWRT. "Lee Besieged." La Navona, 154 N. Hamilton Rd., Gahanna, OH. 7:00 p.m. EST. In person.

Oct. 22, 2025: The Dupuy Institute's Fourth Historical Analysis Annual Conference. "Livermore, Dupuy, and the Campaign of 1864." Pike & Gallows Conferance Center, 1934 Old Gallows Road, Tyson's Corners, VA, third conference room. 9:00 a.m. EST. In person.

Dec. 10, 2025. Civil War Warriors CWRT (Los Angeles). "Lee Besieged." 7:00 p.m. PST. Virtual.*

Dec. 28, 2025: Dan Sickles CWRT (NYC). "Lee Besieged." 7:00 p.m. EST. Virtual.*

Jan. 9, 2026: Kenosha Civil War Museum. 5400 1st Avenue, Kenosha, WI. 12:00 p.m. CST. In person.*

Jan. 16, 2026. CWRT Congress. "Lee Besieged." 7:00 p.m. Virtual.*

March 12, 2026: Old Baldy CWRT (Philadelphia). Camden County's William G. Rohrer Center, 1889 Marlton Pike East, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. "Lee Besieged." 7:15 p.m. EST. In Person.*

June 13, 2026. Central Louisiana CWRT. "Lee Besieged." 6:00 p.m. CST. Virtual.*

 Aug. 27, 2026. South Suburban CWRT. Aurelio's Pizza, 19836 Wolf Road, Mokena, IL. "Lee Besieged." 7:00 p.m. CST. In Person.*

*Thanks for your help with this, Sarah Closson and SavasBeatie!