Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox

by J. Tracy Power

Overview

Never did so large a proportion of the American population leave home for an extended period and produce such a detailed record of its experiences in the form of correspondence, diaries, and other papers as during the Civil War. Based on research in more than 1,200 wartime letters and diaries by more than 400 Confederate officers and enlisted men, this book offers a compelling social history of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its final year, from May 1864 to April 1865. Organized in a chronological framework, the book uses the words of the soldiers themselves to provide a view of the army's experiences in camp, on the march, in combat, and under siege—from the battles in the Wilderness to the final retreat to Appomattox. It sheds new light on such questions as the state of morale in the army, the causes of desertion, ties between the army and the home front, the debate over arming black men in the Confederacy, and the causes of Confederate defeat. Remarkablyrich and detailed, Lee's Miserables offers a fresh look at one of the most-studied Civil War armies. "A landmark book. . . . When the end came, the men of the Army of Northern Virginia passed into legend. Power's important study brings a large measure of reality back to their story.—Edward D. C. Campbell, Jr., American History"Power's research is voluminous and his conclusions sensible and thought-provoking. The result is a major and welcome addition to the literature of how armies are made and how they die.—Steven E. Woodworth, Blue & Gray Education Society Newsletter"A classic Civil War study—immensely useful to the historian, vigorous and enlightening to the common reader. It is a glimpse into the American soul: what is best and worst about us, our riches and griefs, discontents, yearnings, murderous urges, and abiding faith.—Donald McCaig, Washington Post Book World"One of the finest works ever written on the Army of Northern Virginia.—Keith Bohannon, Civil War HistoryBased on research in more than 1,200 wartime letters and diaries by more than 400 Confederate officers and enlisted men, Lee's Miserables offers a compelling social history of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its final year, from May 1864 to April 1865. The book uses the words of the soldiers themselves to provide a richly detailed view of the army's experiences in camp, on the march, in combat, and under siege—from the battles in the Wilderness to the final retreat to Appomattox. —>

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469620411
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	01/01/2015
Series:	Civil War America
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	488
Lexile:	1730L (what's this?)
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

J. Tracy Power is a historian with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Spring 1864
1. The Wilderness and Spotsylvania, May 1864
2. Spotsylvania, the North Anna, and Cold Harbor, May-June 1864
3. Cold Harbor to Petersburg, June 1864
4. The Shenandoah Valley, to Washington, and Back, June-August 1864
5. The Siege of Petersburg and the Crater, June-July 1864
6. The Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, August-December 1864
7. The Siege of Petersburg and the Richmond Front: Deep Bottom through Burgess Mill, August-November 1864
8. The Petersburg-Richmond Front, Winter Quarters, and Hatcher's Run, November 1864-February 1865
9. The Petersburg-Richmond Front, Fort Stedman, Five Forks, Sailor's Creek, and Appomattox, February-April 1865
10. The Last Hope of the South: The Army of Northern Virginia's Last Year in Retrospect
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Power's research is voluminous and his conclusions sensible and thought-provoking. The result is a major and welcome addition to the literature of how armies are made and how they die.—Steven E. Woodworth, Blue & Gray Education Society Newsletter



Exhaustively researched, and thoroughly documented, Lee's Miserables traces the human side of the war through the men who fought it and not through the historians' contemporary lens. It is a marvelous and, at times, an overwhelming volume as soldier after soldier speaks directly to the reader from his diary or letters. . . . A candid appraisal of one of the most famous armies in military history.—Civil War Courier



A landmark book. . . . When the end came, the men of the Army of Northern Virginia passed into legend. Power's important study brings a large measure of reality back to their story.—American History



Lee's Miserables is one of the finest works ever written on the Army of Northern Virginia and belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in that command or the Civil War's eastern theater.—Civil War History



A marvelous book. It will be read with relish by scholars and by buffs. It possesses an authenticity about war . . . that all will appreciate.—Maryland Historical Magazine



This excellent and readable study should be in all college libraries.—Choice



Power has set a new standard, placed the bar a little higher in the study of a Civil War soldier's life. This great story of the final year in the life of the army of Northern Virginia is no longer scattered among numerous primary accounts but now awaits in the pages of Lee's Miserables.—Charleston Post and Courier



A compelling, gritty and utterly fascinating look at the army in its terrible and final year from May, 1864 to April, 1865. . . . The book also offers us a fresh and revealing look at the morale in the army, the debate surrounding the arming of black men in the Confederacy, and the causes of the Confederate defeat. This is a new and different way to view one of the most storied armies in history, and that story loses nothing in this telling.—Bugle Call



A book that marries scholarship and empathy. . . . Although he provides a lucid historical account of every battle, Power grounds these in the letters and diaries Lee's Miserables wrote at the time, the day of and the day after the fighting. The images they provide . . . are frighteningly immediate. . . . A classic Civil War study—immensely useful to the historian, vigorous and enlightening to the common reader. It is a glimpse into the American soul: what is best and worst about us, our riches and griefs, discontents, yearnings, murderous urges, and abiding faith.—Washington Post Book World



An excellent study of life in the Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War's final year. The result is an outstanding example of the new military history. . . . [Power's] very well-written book gives readers a you-are-there experience, and the final chapter is a superb historiographical overview of recent titles in the field.—Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

One of the finest works ever written on the Army of Northern Virginia.

Civil War History

A classic Civil War study—immensely useful to the historian, vigorous and enlightening to the common reader. It is a glimpse into the American soul: what is best and worst about us, our riches and griefs, discontents, yearnings, murderous urges, and abiding faith.

Washington Post Book World

A landmark book. When the end came, the men of the Army of Northern Virginia passed into legend. Power's important study brings a large measure of reality back to their story.

American History

Power has set a new standard, placed the bar a little higher in the study of a Civil War soldier's life. This great story of the final year in the life of the army of Northern Virginia is no longer scattered among numerous primary accounts but now awaits in the pages of Lee's Miserables.

Charleston Post & Courier

Traces the human side of the war through the men who fought it and not through the historians' contemporary lens. It is a marvelous and, at times, an overwhelming volume as soldier after soldier speaks directly to the reader from his diary or letters.

Civil War Courier

Power has set a new standard, placed the bar a little higher in the study of a Civil War soldier's life. This great story of the final year in the life of the army of Northern Virginia is no longer scattered among numerous primary accounts but now awaits in the pages of Lee's Miserables.

Charleston Post and Courier

A historian with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Power has written an excellent study of life in the Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War's final year. The result is an outstanding example of the new military history similar in type and quality to Reid Mitchell's Civil War Soldiers (LJ 9/15/88) and James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades (LJ 3/15/97). Exhaustively researched, this revised doctoral dissertation is based on a wide variety of letters and diaries drawn from manuscript sources throughout the Confederate South. In chronological fashion, Power traces the men's cautious optimism after the Wilderness campaign, where soldiers wrote of "high spirits," to the rampant despair of the spring of 1865. Power covers the standard topics: morale, rations, home front, and the like. His very well-written book gives readers a you-are-there experience, and the final chapter is a superb historiographical overview of recent titles in the field. A final note on the title: Victor Hugo's classic had just been translated into English when some of Lee's more literate soldiers adopted the title to suit their own situation.Stephen G. Weisner, Springfield Technical Community Coll., MA

Library Journal

A classic Civil War study....A glimpse into the American soul: what is best and worst about us, our riches and griefs, discontents, yearnings, murderous urges, and abiding faith.
— Washington Post Book World

Donald McCraig

A vivid history of the final year of the Civil War as experienced by Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, drawing heavily on documentary sources. Historian Power (Univ. of South Carolina) has examined some 1,200 letters and diaries by more than 400 officers and enlisted men of Lee's Army, and uses them very effectively to give a human face to the war from the spring campaigns of 1864 up to Lee's surrender in April 1865 at Appomattox. By going to the war's true experts, the combat soldiers, Power undercuts the two most common flaws in Civil War studies: the glamour and romance with which some narratives are burdened and the dull emphasis on strategic studies, at the expense of the reality of combat. Instead, the reader experiences something of the common soldier's loneliness and boredom, his yearning for loved ones at home, as well as the long hot marches, the overwhelming pressures and excitement of close combat, the widespread illness resulting from poor diets, the grief felt from the maiming and death of comrades, and the persistent hatred of the invading Yankees. The letters also demonstrate that as late as 1864 many soldiers still held an unduly optimistic view of the likely outcome. They also, of course, had an unwavering faith in Lee's abilities. Power uses these sources to give a gripping portrait of the terrible, bloody battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, Sheridan's victories in the Shenandoah Valley, the long sieges of Richmond and Petersburg, and the fall of Atlanta. He traces the increasing exhaustion and despair of the Southern combatants and noncombatants, and the growing realization that the war was lostþa realization mirrored in the swellingdesertion rates in a once proud army. A first-rate, profoundly realistic addition to the enormous Civil War library, powerfully bringing home the experience of combat and defeat.

Kirkus Reviews

"Power has set a new standard, placed the bar a little higher in the study of a Civil War soldier's life. This great story of the final year in the life of the army of Northern Virginia is no longer scattered among numerous primary accounts but now awaits in the pages of "Lee's Miserables". ("Charleston Post and Courier")"

"A classic Civil War study--immensely useful to the historian, vigorous and enlightening to the common reader. It is a glimpse into the American soul: what is best and worst about us, our riches and griefs, discontents, yearnings, murderous urges, and abiding faith. ("Washington Post Book World")"

"A landmark book. When the end came, the men of the Army of Northern Virginia passed into legend. Power's important study brings a large measure of reality back to their story. ("American History")"

"Traces the human side of the war through the men who fought it and not through the historians' contemporary lens. It is a marvelous and, at times, an overwhelming volume as soldier after soldier speaks directly to the reader from his diary or letters. ("Civil War Courier")"

One of the finest works ever written on the Army of Northern Virginia. ("Civil War History")

From the Publisher