In Appomattox: The Last Days Of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia Historian Michael E. Haskew has chronicled the final campaign that led to the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.  The narrative begins with Gen. Grant being unrecognized as he checks into the Willard Hotel on March 8, 1864 to freshen up before walking over to the White House to meet with President Lincoln.  It continues with the adoption of the strategy that tightened the noose around Lee and his army.  Readers are introduced to the main characters including Grant, Lee, Ben Butler, Joshua Chamberlain, Phil Sheridan, George Picket, Jefferson Davis, Ambrose Hill, George and Thomas Custer, George Meade, James Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, Joe Hooker and others. 

This work follows the series of battles in which Grant’s men maneuvered to trap the Confederates while Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia made their desperate plays to escape to fight another day.  Its pages take us to conferences in the White House, City Point and field tents of both sides, into the trenches of Petersburg, the battles of Five Forks, Trevilian Station, Sailor’s Creek and to the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.  While observing in the big picture, it also presents the martial valor and human tragedies that are the sinews of war.  The step-by-step account of Lincoln’s visit to Richmond should be read slowly to appreciate the courage and drama that it entailed. 

Much of Haskew’s material is drawn from other published tomes and anecdotes that have found their way into the common lore.  Although the title mentions only Lee and his army, the author devotes appropriate attention to the ultimately victorious Union Armies.  The writing style holds one’s interest while keeping the story moving to its conclusion. 

There are a lot of Civil War books available, and we have read quite a few of them, so why should a War History Network networks choose this relatively short one?  I am glad I did because from it I learned things that I had not previously known.  I now have a better understanding of the nature of City Point, Virginia, the definition of a redan, the significance of Ambrose Hill’s Red Shirt and that Joshua Chamberlain was severely wounded after the movie (Gettysburg) faded from the screen.  Then there are those trivia items, such as Brig. Gen. Thomas Smith’s status as the last Union General to be killed in the war.  ”Appomattox” is a good introduction to the end of the War that whets one’s appetite for more.  The repeated citations provide a check on your own reading and add your “to read” list.  Any book that can accomplish that is a worthwhile read.