Spring 1865: The Closing Campaigns of the Civil War (Great Campaigns of the Civil War)

When Gen. Robert E. Lee fled from Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, in April 1865, many observers did not realize that the Civil War had reached its nadir. A large number of Confederates, from Jefferson Davis down to the rank-and-file, were determined to continue fighting. Though Union successes had nearly extinguished the Confederacy’s hope for an outright victory, the South still believed it could force the Union to grant a negotiated peace that would salvage some of its war aims. As evidence of the Confederacy’s determination, two major Union campaigns, along with a number of smaller engagements, were required to quell the continued organized Confederate military resistance.In Spring 1865 Perry D. Jamieson juxtaposes for the first time the major campaign against Lee that ended at Appomattox and Gen. William T. Sherman’s march north through the Carolinas, which culminated in Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender at Bennett Place. Jamieson also addresses the efforts required to put down armed resistance in the Deep South and the Trans-Mississippi. As both sides fought for political goals following Lee’s surrender, these campaigns had significant consequences for the political-military context that shaped the end of the war as well as Reconstruction. contents 8 illustrations 10 maps 11 preface 12 acknowledgments 14 series editors’ introduction 18 Spring 1865 20 chapter one Terrible Times of Shipwreck 22 chapter two Fort Fisher and Wilmington 38 chapter three In the Carolinas 57 chapter four Bentonville 82 chapter five Late Winter at Petersburg 100 chapter six The Fall of Petersburg 125 chapter seven To Sailor’s Creek 157 chapter eight Spring Morning 179 chapter nine A Scrap of Paper 204 chapter ten Scattered Embers 233 notes 246 bibliographic essay 294 index 306