Windmill Point (Stempel)

Discussion Questions
1.Windmill Point begins with the convergence of both Federal and Confederate armies on a point east of Richmond, Va. What is the name of that point, and why did both sides consider it to be of considerable strategic importance?

2. Wyman White was a member of the 2nd US Sharpshooters. What test did White have to pass in order to qualify for the Sharpshooters?

3. How did Cold Harbor get its name, and what did the name signify?

4. One June 3, 1864 the Army of the Potomac assaulted the Confederate works at Cold Harbor and was violently repulsed.  This assault had been delayed for twenty-four hours, allowing the Confederates crucial extra hours to improve their defenses. What had caused the Federals to delay?

5. Ulysses S. Grant was able to closely monitor the Federal assault at Cold Harbor while well behind the lines at a specially erected central command post. What technological innovation made this possible?

6. After the Federal disaster at Cold Harbor, Grant found himself in a difficult strategic situation. If he withdrew and moved north he faced a problem, while if he moved south he faced another range of difficulties. What were the strategic difficulties that Grant was faced with?

7. After the violent repulse of the Federal Army at Cold Harbor, General Robert E. Lee had reason to believe that Grant’s Army of the Potomac might well be in a state of near mutiny. Why did Lee have reason to believe this?

8. What strategic ploy did Grant devise in order to greatly reduce Lee’s ability to detect a Federal withdrawal from Cold Harbor?

9. While Robert E. Lee had a healthy regard for the strength of the Federal Army, he also feared that the Confederate Army faced defeat by means of another “antagonist.” What was that other “antagonist”?

10. Ulysses Grant dispatched Phil Sheridan with a force of some 10,000 cavalrymen on a raid into Western Virginia. What did Grant hope to accomplish by means of Sheridan’s raid?

11. Lee realized that he might win the war if the morale of the Northern people faltered, but he also realized that he could not allow Grant to force the Confederate Army back across the James River. If that were to occur, Lee realized that the Confederacy would then face almost certain defeat. Why?

12. Grant’s scouts picked a location for crossing the James River that went from Wilcox’s Landing to Windmill Point. Why was that location chosen?

13. Grant’s chief-of-staff, Andrew Humphreys, suggested a tactical maneuver designed to hold the Confederate Army firmly in place while the Army of the Potomac escaped unmolested across the James River. What was that maneuver, and did it work?

14. Wade Hampton was able to prevent Grant from executing an important part of his grand design. What aspect of Grant’s design was foiled, and how did Hampton achieve that success?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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