DEATH AGONY OF THE CONFEDERACY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29240, 25 June 1960, Page 3

DEATH AGONY OF THE CONFEDERACY

To Appomattox: Nine April Days, 1865. By Burke Davis. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 422 pp. Index.

The great American Civil War broke out a century ago, and since then conflicts of equal or greater moment have raged. Nevertheless, the Civil War has been fought over again on paper times without number, and never with greater interest, it seems, than in the last decade. The writer of the present work is an authority on the period, with a special interest in the Confederate cause. He has already written “Gray Fox,” a study of Robert E. Lee, “They Called Him Stonewall” and “Jeb Stuart. The Last Cavalier.” “To Appomattox” Is a reconstruction of the final death agony of the Confederacy, when the tide of dark blue pressed along the line of the Appomattox river from Richmond and Petersburg. Mr Davis’s method has been to collect eye witness accounts written by all kinds of observers, and these he has woven into a lon£ connected story, very detailed but strangely moving. His method can easily be illustrated. General John B. Gordon, of the Confederate Army, gave this account of the men he commanded. “With barely 6000 men I was holding six miles of line. Some part of this line was being forced continually; it would bend ana twist and swell and break and close, only to be battered again once more. Men weak and hungry never complained, but fought grimly. They were resolved to die.” ~ . Losses on both sides were high, and these came not only from rifle and artillery fire, but also as the result of sanguinary hand to hand encounters. Of these the skirmish at High Bridge, near Farmville, is typical. General Longstreet fearing lest Union infantry should cut off Lee’s line of retreat, sent a cavalry division under Tom Rosser to dispute the possession of the bridge. Rosser found the bluecoats about 1 p.m. and charged as they lay behind a fence at the fringe of a woodland. At first it seemed as if the Federate would be quickly overrun, until the bluecoat cavalry slashed in upon the flank of the attack. The columns met at great speed and there was close work with sabres and pistols. One of Rosser’s commanders was young General James Dearing, who ran into a sabre duel with the Federal commander, General TDieodore Read. Dearing dropped Read from the saddle with a fatal body wound, but was himself mortally wounded by Read’s orderly. In this action the greater number of the officers killed on both sides had been contemporaries at the military academy at West Point. This state of affairs was not unusual. . Even after five bitter years officers exhibited the traditional bravado. Near Petersburg, Gen-

eral Grant dismounted near a farmhouse on a knoll within a mile of the enemy line. There he sat at the foot of a tree surrounded by staff officers. The Rebel gunners soon took notice and shells began bursting all around. Grant remained unmoved, writing orders and chewing his cigar for 15 minutes more. At last he rose, brushed his coat and moved slowly away, remarking, ‘‘Well, they do seem to have the range on us.” Others were not so lucky. Near the village of Amelia a North Carolina private had a glimpse of one of the confederate military marvels—a sharpshooter with a globe sight. He describes a group of grey coated generate studying through field glasses a distant Federal officer who sat a white horse right out in the open. Somebody summoned a trooper carrying a rifle with a globe sight.

“Can you hit that man?” General Lee asked. t ‘‘l think' I can, sir.” The trooper lay in the field and took long aim. He fired, and officers shouted. “You got him. They’re carrying him away. They all gaped in wonder at the riderless white horse, for the marksman estimated the range at one thousand yards.

Such incidents as these are what give Mr Burke’s book its quality of vivid reality; but he also tells in more sober style the story of the enveloping movement that broke the last organised resistance of the Confederates. The author’s understanding of military history is obvious; but readers outside the United States will be more likely to appreciate “To Appomattox” for its human interest.