Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
As he did so successfully in Witness to Gettysburg (1987), Wheeler links together the words of participants and eyewitnesses in a moving chronological narrative, this time covering the final three months of the Civil War. The accounts of fighting at Five Forks, the breakthrough at Petersburg, the evacuation of Richmond and the final skirmish at Sayler's Creek all point with solemn inexorability to the haunting surrender ceremony at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. Wheeler does not confine hismelf to military operations, but provides a rich continuum of anecdotes conveying the growing sense of victory or defeat on the part of soldiers and civilians, along with homely details of daily life as the war winds down: a Confederate officer arguing with a woman who insists that her husband should desert the Stonewall Brigade; General Grant, trying to open negotiations with General Lee while at the same time trying to rid himself of a sick-headache; President Lincoln, walking the streets of the captured Confederate capital, delivers ``a mortal blow to caste,'' by returning the bow of an elderly black man. Illustrations. (Apr.)
Library Journal
In this sequel to his Witness to Gettysburg (1987), Wheeler stiches numerous contemporary accounts into a patchwork quilt of events and emotions on the last days of the Civil War. From the trenches near Petersburg, the ballrooms of Richmond, and the desk of Lincoln, Wheeler shows the tangle of contradictions and confusion that included such scenes as ragged soldiers defending a capital where civilian officials wasted energy in intrigues and dancing, and Lincoln stroking three orphan kittens while visiting the Union army about to smash the Confederacy. Wheeler does not impose his own views enough to give order to the many different voices, relying instead on chronology to carry the narrative, but his slice-of-life approach provides ample material for public and college libraries. -- Randall M. Miller. St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
APRIL 2012 - AudioFile
Wheeler’s account of the final campaign of the Civil War, which took place in Virginia, is movingly read by Joe Barrett in this companion volume to WITNESS TO GETTYSBURG. The author gives excellent background information before presenting a patchwork of reminiscences on the final months of the Siege of Petersburg/Richmond, their capture, and the pursuit of Robert E. Lee’s retreating Army of Northern Virginia by the Union’s Army of the Potomac and Army of the James, under the overall command of Ulysses S. Grant. Barrett has a deep, somewhat gravelly voice that adroitly presents the listener with credible Southern, Northern, and even French voices. The narrative portions are given the same professional treatment. The result is an overall clear and disciplined reading. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
