Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War
- ISBN-10
- 0199347913
- ISBN-13
- 9780199347919
- Series
- Appomattox
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 368
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2013-09-06
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Author
- Elizabeth R. Varon
Description
Winner, Library of Virginia Literary Award for Nonfiction Winner, Eugene Feit Award in Civil War Studies, New York Military Affairs Symposium Winner of the Dan and Marilyn Laney Prize of the Austin Civil War Round Table Finalist, Jefferson Davis Award of the Museum of the Confederacy Best Books of 2014, Civil War Monitor 6 Civil War Books to Read Now, Diane Rehm Show, NPR Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House evokes a highly gratifying image in the popular mind -- it was, many believe, a moment that transcended politics, a moment of healing, a moment of patriotism untainted by ideology. But as Elizabeth Varon reveals in this vividly narrated history, this rosy image conceals a seething debate over precisely what the surrender meant and what kind of nation would emerge from war. The combatants in that debate included the iconic Lee and Grant, but they also included a cast of characters previously overlooked, who brought their own understanding of the war's causes, consequences, and meaning. In Appomattox, Varon deftly captures the events swirling around that well remembered-but not well understood-moment when the Civil War ended. She expertly depicts the final battles in Virginia, when Grant's troops surrounded Lee's half-starved army, the meeting of the generals at the McLean House, and the shocked reaction as news of the surrender spread like an electric charge throughout the nation. But as Varon shows, the ink had hardly dried before both sides launched a bitter debate over the meaning of the war and the nation's future. For Grant, and for most in the North, the Union victory was one of right over wrong, a vindication of free society; for many African Americans, the surrender marked the dawn of freedom itself. Lee, in contrast, believed that the Union victory was one of might over right: the vast impersonal Northern war machine had worn down a valorous and unbowed South. Lee was committed to peace, but committed, too, to the restoration of the South's political power within the Union and the perpetuation of white supremacy. These two competing visions of the war's end paved the way not only for Southern resistance to reconstruction but also our ongoing debates on the Civil War, 150 years later. Did America's best days lie in the past or in the future? For Lee, it was the past, the era of the founding generation. For Grant, it was the future, represented by Northern moral and material progress. They held, in the end, two opposite views of the direction of the country-and of the meaning of the war that had changed that country forever.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2013-12
- 305 pages
- Paperback
- Oxford University Press
-
- 2013-09-06
- 368 pages
- Ebook
- Oxford University Press
Similar books
-
Appomattox: The Last Days of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
By Michael E. HaskewWhether it occurred on March 27 or 28, Porter wrote the following year in response to officials, chiefly Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had severely criticized Sherman for his liberal terms to Johnston at the end in North ...
-
A Place Called Appomattox
By William MarvelBy the time David Jones had started his men toward McLean's Ford, the pickets at Ball's Ford heard firing on the Warrenton Road, and the ominous noise of wagons: the Yankees had chosen the same morning to make their own attack.
-
Appomattox County
By Patrick A. Schroeder, Scott FrantelBoasting a unique history abundant with churches, notable citizens, and special events, this photograph collection shows the diverse and memorable history of Appomattox.
-
Appomattox Court House: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia
By United States. National Park Service. Division of PublicationsTells the story of Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, which ended the Civil War, and the battles fought in the days before it. Also contains essays on...
-
Surrender at Appomattox
Learn about the formal ending of the Civil War.
-
The Road to Appomattox
By Robert Hendricksonuntil his death ... but I never presumed to know what General Lee was thinking . ' Robert E. Lee , an enigma like Grant will anyone ever really know either of them ? They remain enigmas fighting a mystery despite the billions of words ...
-
The Cavalry at Appomattox: A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations During the Civil War's Climactic Campaign, March 27-April 9 1865
By Edward G. Longacre... 1865 Wallace J. Tibbs Grimes Gordon Oakville ( Bent Creek ) Road APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE Walker ०००००००००००० Richmond Lynchburg Stage Road Smith Cav Ao Prince Edward Evans Richmond - Lyncbburg Raine Cemetery Stage Road 1 ...
-
Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War
By Melvin Patrick ElyIsrael on the Appomattox tells the story of these liberated blacks and the community they formed, called Israel Hill, in Prince Edward County, Virginia.
-
The Appomattox Campaign: March 29-april 9, 1865
By Chris CalkinsPrevious accounts of the Civil War's last major campaign have often neglected the actual maneuvers and tactics of the units involved. This new addition to the Great Campaigns series features...
-
Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee's Army after Appomattox
By Caroline E. JanneySanders, Charles W. While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005. Savage, Kirk. Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monument in NineteenthCentury ...