The Battle of Chippawa -War of 1812

	A tank bag sized guide to the battle with multiple pictures from the ride, a map of the battlefield and a custom route map of the ride along the Niagara River.
USD $4.99 for electronic PDF	USD $9.99 for laminated hard copy by snail mail

As part of my research on Operation Bluecoat, I travelled along this road running from Villers Bocage to Vire.

It was a great ride and, just off it, I visited the British cemetery at Saint-Cahrles-de-Percy, which was quite a moving place. The American cemeteries have the stark white marble crosses and stars of David, but are bare except for name, rank, unit, home state and date of death. The British traditional headstones are made in what looks like the local Normandy stone, which resembles Cotswold stone, and had all of the basic data as well. However, the British also allowed the families to put incriptions on the stones. When I walked along reading the families' inscriptions, I welled up like I never had in the American cemeteries. I think the British stones make the visit far more personal. You feel the pain that parents, wives and children.... many of whom are still alive today... felt with the loss of huge chunks of their lives with each man's passing. I recommend this cemetery to anyone travelling in Normandy. It truly drives home the magnitude of human suffering, including those back home.

Heres a picture of the cemetery at Saint-Charles-de-Percy;

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

Try this circular route, which takes in Villers Bocage, Vire, Montchauvet, Aunay and Saint-Charles-de-Percy.

Book Recommendation: Operation Bluecoat from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Map Recommendation: Michelin Historical Map 102: Battle of Normandy from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Accor Hotels in the Caen area

On 5 February 1865, the Union Army moved on the Confederate line at Petersburg. After 3 days of vicious fighting, no one had won, but the Union had succeeded in stretching the already overstretched Rebel line. The battle has been called the Battle of Hatcher's Run / Dabney's Mill / Armstrong's Mill / Rowanty Creek / Vaughan Road / Boydton Plank Road. Each name had a significance in the battle.

Background

By early February 1865, General Grant had besieged Petersburg for 8 months. Further south, Sherman had completed his march to the sea and was now heading north. Schofield was moving inland from Fort Fisher. Lee knew that Grant would not wait for a full encirclement. Grant wanted to prove he could take Lee without help. The actions from 5-7 Febuary 1865 were the opening moves to make Lee's hold on Petersburg unsustainable.

The Battle

Grant was trying to cut what he thought was Lee's primary supply route into Petersburg. To this end, Grant sent General David Gregg's cavalry division to conduct the operation on Boydton Plank Road to Burgess Mill, near where it crossed the Hatcher's Run (creek). In support, he sent two divisions each of General G.K. Warren's V Corps and General A.A. Humphreys' II Corps. Warren set up a blocking position for Gregg on the Confederate side of Hatcher's Run and Humphreys protected Warren's flank.
As the action commenced on a cold morning, Gregg seized little in the way of supplies on the Boydton Plank Road. Lee was not using it heavily for supplies, partly because he suspected such an attack and partly because little supply was reaching his bedraggled troops anyway. Warren and Humphreys dug in for protection from long range artillery. Late in the day, the General John Gordon's Rebels tried an attack on Humphreys, but it didn't amount to much and was thrown back. Overnight, the Yankees re-enforced with two divisions from Meade.
On 6 February, Warren probed forward, but was hit hard by Gordon and pulled back sloppily until reaching the line with Humphreys. In the 6th's fierce fighting, Gordon lost one of the Rebel's best division commanders, General John Pegram, to a shot through the chest. The 7th brought entrenchment and stalemate.
In the end, the Yankees had to settle for extending their line to the Vaughan Road crossing of Hatcher's Run. The Union took heavy losses, but made Lee extend his line and killed one of the south's best leaders in Pegram. This was bad for Lee, but the worst was to come.

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

Check out the Petersburg battlefield tour.
If you want a longer ride, try VA-SR-10 and 31 from Petersburg to Williamsburg. You can stop off at the first English settlement in America at Jamestown Island.

Book Recommendation: The Civil War Boxed Set from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Map Recommendation: Virginia Atlas and Gazetteer from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Accor Hotels in the Richmond/Petersburg Area

On 5 January 1940, The Finns began an offensive on the Raate Road, near Suomussalmi and ended up destroying or capturing the Russian 44th Division. The 44th had been halted at a roadblock southeast of Suomussalmi around the present day intersection of roads 912 and 843. The Russians hunkered down along the road between Suomussalmi and Raate in what the Finns called motti formations, a logging term doubling in meaning that the 44th's sub units could be broken into smaller chunks and cut up individually like so many logs. The Finns operated in small units all along the road and and spent days conducting close range grenade attacks and terrifying the Russian officers with highly selective sniper fire. The Russians were out of their mind with cold, hunger and fear. A single sniper round fired by a Finn marksman would unleash totally undisciplined "mad minutes" from the Russians, normally killing nothing, but trees. Soon, ammunition ran short and re-supply from the air turned the starving troops into in-fighting hords. After 2 days of this nightmare, the 44th dissolved in death, capture or flight. It was the high water mark for the Finns and showed the Russians that taking the grossly outnumbered, but skilled Finns would not be a cake walk. Check out the book recommendation below, Frozen Hell by William R. Trotter, which has an entire chapter dedicated to this battle.

Books from Amazon.co.uk

Motorcycle Ride

If you find yourself in Finland, try following the road from Kemi to Suomussalmi for a daylong ride. I rode the E75 from Kemi to Oulu and on to Helsinki last year and I can highly recommend the area. If finishing around Kemi look for campgrounds on the Gulf of Bothnia. Its a beautiful place to wake up (in the summer anyway).

Maps

On 5 January 1941, Australian troops taste their first victory in WWII by taking the Town of Bardia (Burdi) in Lybia near the Egyptian border. The Aussies take approximately 40,000 Italians prisoner.

Books from Amazon.com

Motorcycle Ride

Now that Lybia is opening up, maybe I'll be able to take this ride from Burdi (Badria) to Tubruq (Tobruk) to follow some of the British / German North African campaigns

Maps

This is a map of the country which combines topographic mapping with road and tourist detail.