To Appomattox: Nine April Days, 1865 (Classics of War)

Rating:
Summary: Inspirational Story
Review: A detailed, factual account of the last days of the Army of Northern Virginia. Virginia historian Greg Eanes said, "The personal stories expertly weaved together by Burke Davis are inspirational and motivated me to continue research and eventually write and have published 'The Black Day of the Army, April 6, 1865: The Battles of Sailor's Creek'. Mr. Davis' work is timeless and is must reading for anyone interested in those final days."


Rating:
Summary: Another winner for Davis
Review: Burke Davis has hit homeruns with other Civil War books on the fall of Richmond and the flight of Jefferson Davis, on Sherman's March, and a good bio of J.E.B. Stuart. This one follows the Confederate defenders of Petersburg and Richmond til the surrender at Appomattox. This book uses tons of first person accounts based on letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and memoirs. Davis writes in a crisp, readable style that will keep you turning the pages. Much has been written about Lee's surrender at Appomattox and this is surely one of the best books on the subject from a Confederate point of view.

Rating:
Summary: Another winner for Davis
Review: Burke Davis has hit homeruns with other Civil War books on the fall of Richmond and the flight of Jefferson Davis, on Sherman's March, and a good bio of J.E.B. Stuart. This one follows the Confederate defenders of Petersburg and Richmond til the surrender at Appomattox. This book uses tons of first person accounts based on letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and memoirs. Davis writes in a crisp, readable style that will keep you turning the pages. Much has been written about Lee's surrender at Appomattox and this is surely one of the best books on the subject from a Confederate point of view.

Rating:
Summary: a gripping collection of first-person view of war's end
Review: Mr. Davis has collected an impressive selection of first person accounts of the the last 9 days of the Army of Northern Viginia and the inevitable collapse of the Confederacy. Some of the accounts are contemporanious and others are the reminisences of veterans in later years but in all of them the reader can feel that those present knew that they were seeing history being made at its most intense. The comments of starving men, who doubtless at the time could think of little more than food, still brings us their views of events between foraging expeditions. The Army of Northern Virginia was footsore, starved and exhausted and was being pursued by an army well feed, well mounted, with good boots and nearly as tired but all there could see how it was going to end. Some resisted the idea of surrender while others believed that further bloodshed was futile and had been for over a year. Most Confederates tried to press on if only to follow Lee. Read Chamberlan's "The Passing of the Armies" and you will get the Victorian school masters prose. Read Davis and the flavor of the armies spoken language comes out. As a played out North Carolina private put it so well when captured by a Union cavalryman who said "I got you Johnnie", "A hell of a git you got" was the reply

Rating:
Summary: a gripping collection of first-person view of war's end
Review: Mr. Davis has collected an impressive selection of first person accounts of the the last 9 days of the Army of Northern Viginia and the inevitable collapse of the Confederacy. Some of the accounts are contemporanious and others are the reminisences of veterans in later years but in all of them the reader can feel that those present knew that they were seeing history being made at its most intense. The comments of starving men, who doubtless at the time could think of little more than food, still brings us their views of events between foraging expeditions. The Army of Northern Virginia was footsore, starved and exhausted and was being pursued by an army well feed, well mounted, with good boots and nearly as tired but all there could see how it was going to end. Some resisted the idea of surrender while others believed that further bloodshed was futile and had been for over a year. Most Confederates tried to press on if only to follow Lee. Read Chamberlan's "The Passing of the Armies" and you will get the Victorian school masters prose. Read Davis and the flavor of the armies spoken language comes out. As a played out North Carolina private put it so well when captured by a Union cavalryman who said "I got you Johnnie", "A hell of a git you got" was the reply

Rating:
Summary: Narrating history in the fluid style of a novel
Review: To Appomattox by Civil War expert Burke Davis is an expertly researched, historically grounded, deftly written retelling of the last nine days of the Civil War. Narrating history in the fluid style of a novel, yet as accurate as records and all sources of information can allow, To Appomattox characterizes General Lee, his troops, and a nation weary of war in a vivid, dramatic, engaging, manner. To Appomattox is a welcome and strongly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Civil War Studies reference collections.