Spring 1865

March 1, 2015

Jamieson (Crossing the Deadly Ground) dramatically describes the closing campaigns of the Civil War. He offers the massive destruction and human misery associated with Gen. William T. "Uncle Billy" Sherman's iconic march through the Carolinas as a prelude to ensuing federal victories, including the taking of Fort Fisher and the capture of the vital port town of Wilmington, DE. Meanwhile, Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee waited until spring 1865 to resume operations around Petersburg and Richmond, VA. Lee planned to abandon Richmond eventually and unite his army with that of Gen. Joseph E. "Old Joe" Johnston in western North Carolina. Grant, nevertheless, managed to cut short his nemesis's escape by cornering Lee's fleeing units in early April, resulting in Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. With the army of Northern Virginia now defeated and Johnston's army of Tennessee brought to heel, a second rebel capitulation took place at Bennett Place, NC. As expected, negotiator Sherman acceded to Lincoln's directive for lenient terms, while Johnston ignored Confederate demands to fight on. The author concludes with the climactic capture of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis in Georgia. VERDICT Jamieson covers the many facets of his history with extraordinary precision and verve, offering rich biographical detail, solid research, appropriate maps and illustrations, and spot-on analysis. Recommended for Civil War scholars and aficionados, lay readers, and all libraries.--John Carver Edwards, formerly with Univ. of Georgia Libs.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2015
The last few months of the Civil War demonstrate just how much it was a "lost cause" for the South. In the latest installment of the Great Campaigns of the Civil War series, Air Force senior historian emeritus Jamieson (Khobar Towers: Tragedy and Response, 2008, etc.) recounts the last battles, skirmishes and attempts at peace.Ulysses S. Grant, a man who never backed down from a fight, commanded the Northern army, and his second-in-command was just as fierce: William Tecumseh Sherman, whose war of destruction starved the Confederate army of supplies, ammunition and food. The Northern army had the necessary supplies and the transport to deliver them where they were required. They had a ready supply of men to fight, as well, something the South sorely lacked. Gen. Joseph Johnston, unable to concentrate enough forces to defeat Sherman, could only check him at the battle of Bentonville; he had no way to hold ground. Jamieson devotes much of the book to the continuing campaign to take Petersburg and Richmond, a fight that lasted more than nine months and featured multiple offenses by both sides. There were two separate attempts to broker a peace agreement, but in the end, Jefferson Davis asked for peace between the two countries while Abraham Lincoln insisted there could only be one common country. Ultimately, it was almost a month after Appomattox that the last Confederate forces surrendered. The author describes each of the battles fought in early 1865 in extensive detail. Civil War aficionados will no doubt relish the descriptions of the officers, troop movements and tactics in each campaign, but the narrative may bog down for average readers. The true value of this book is Jamieson's in-depth portrayal of the armies and their leaders, heroes and fools as they struggled to the bitter end.

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