Lee's Last Campaign

A “superbly perceptive” portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee as he desperately led the Confederate army through the final year of the Civil War (LibraryJournal).

By May 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee had been transformed from a reluctant man who chose to fight for his state over his country into a gray-haired patriarch of the Rebel cause. General Lee was revered by his men, who followed the “Old Man” as if he could hold off defeat by sheer force of will.

But as fighting began in earnest once again, Lee could sense a change. The Union army’s new commander, Ulysses S. Grant, was not like his predecessors. He was a fighter, he was in Virginia, and he’s wasn’t going to run. And behind Grant and his massive army were the bedrock pillars of Northern industry and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Lee’s increasingly ragged and starving army had little keeping them going except raw courage, determination—and belief in their leader. Lee had to take action or give up all hope of victory.

Lee’s Last Campaign is a triumph of historical research and elegant writing. In this essential analysis of General Lee’s military strategy at a major turning point in history, Clifford Dowdey follows the triumphs and tragedies of the Army of Northern Virginia as it entered the final year of the Civil War.

This ebook also includes maps.