The period of the Civil War in Virginia sandwiched between the traditional ending date of the Gettysburg Campaign and the arrival of U. S. Grant is routinely overlooked. The operations conducted during that period have been overshadowed by the bloodshed in Pennsylvania, the large-scale Confederate victory at Chickamauga in September, and the disastrous Southern defeat at Chattanooga two months later. Author Jeffrey Wm Hunt, in his new Meade and Lee After Gettysburg: Vol. 1: From Falling Waters to Culpeper Courthouse, July 14 to October 1, 1863, helps rectify this glaring oversight.

In what promises to be the first of four volumes on this important period, Hunt demonstrates that this period was full of high drama as Lee and Meade sought to repair the damage done to their armies at Gettysburg, cope with an epidemic of desertions and home front disenchantment, and a host of logistical and strategic dilemmas. The Gettysburg Campaign, argues Hunt, did not end until late July, and included the fighting at Shepherdstown and Manassas Gap. Meade and Lee After Gettysburg also details how Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis and their senior commanders coped with the strategic dilemmas they faced once the battle lines had been reestablished along the Rappahannock River, and how each side sought an opening to resume the offensive, the efforts triggering a series of bloody clashes at Brandy Station, Culpeper Courthouse, and Jack's Shop.

Hunt's work is based upon years of archival research and scores of firsthand accounts, newspapers, diaries, letter collections, and a firm understanding of the terrain of northern Virginia. Together with its photos, maps, and invaluable footnotes, Meade and Lee After Gettysburg offers a significant contribution to the Civil War literature.