Customer Reviews

Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox

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By ancestry and upbringing I am a Connecticut Yankee and, while for many years I have been a keen student of the American Civil War, my interests and sympathies are definitely pointed towards the Union (my relatives wore the blue). Thus, it is comparatively rare for me to enthusiastically read a book which is about a distinctly Confederate subject. I happily made an exception for J. Tracy Power's "Lee's Miserables". As it happens, a special focus of mine has long been on the Virginia campaigns of 1864-65, perhaps due to the early influence of Bruce Catton's wonderful "A Stillness at Appomattox". Mr. Power describes his book as a "hybrid of social and military history" and that is indeed an apt desciption. Although the reader can follow the course of the campaigns well enough through Power's narrative, the primary focus of the book is firmly upon how the men and officers of the Army of Northern Virginia perceived their situation and viewed the future, as told in their letters, journals, and other first-hand accounts. Although some soldiers in Lee's army remained confident to very end that they would ultimately achieve victory, "Lee's Miserables" chronicles a broad decline in morale over the winter of 1864-65. An army which could still defend its ground in September and October had become vulnerable by March and April.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in Civil War realities and who are ready to reject the hagiographic myths which have far too often dominated books about the Army of Northern Virginia. And I hope that someday there will be a comparable social/military history published about the Army of the Potomac during these same campaigns.

Superb account of the soldiers who made up Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Tracy Power brings them to life for us as he digests their hopes, fears, and passions in this wonderful account of "Lee's Miserables" in the final year of the Civil War in Virginia. Covering a period during which Lee must continue to hold the Union armies at bay even though he has been deprived of his most talented subordinates, the author provides us with marvelous insights into what kept Lee's soldiers in uniform and willing to follow their commander despite the shadows lengthening over the Confederacy in 1864-65.

I recommend this book to all of my students in a Civil War history course that I teach. Every student who has read it has thanked me for the suggestion. Well organized, highly readable, and thoroughly balanced, this is "must" reading for anyone who wishes to understand the 19th Century southerners who fought on even when hope had all but disappeared. Great work by a fine historian and talented author!

Lee's Miserables covers the period from May 1864-April 1865 in great detail. It uses voluminous private correspondence and diaries from that time to give a very personal view of the campaigns beginning with The Wilderness and ending at Appomatox. The research done by Mr. Power is impressive and the documentation quite complete. As I read this book my respect for the Army of Northern Virginia increased with each page. Many of the men who fought for Southern Independence went in to the 1864 Campaign with every expectation of ultimate victory. As Grant's Army was repelled at Wilderness, then Spotsylvania, and again at Cold Harbor it did seem the future of the Confederacy was viable. But Grant did not march away after being defeated as his predecessors had done, even to the point that after Cold Harbor he had lost more casualties than Lee had in his whole army but Grant and his army stayed on Southern soil. Grant was undeterred, and pressed on to Petersburg and began the stalemate of trench warfare. The Spring Campaign of 1865 opened on a much-depleted Army of Northern Virginia and only the strongest diehards were still in the trenches when Grant began his offensive that lead to Lee's surrender at Appomatox. Throughout it all, Lee's Miserables were prolific writers corresponding with their wives, mothers, fathers, etc., regarding the substance of their daily thoughts and trials. This book gives great insight into the motives of the patriots and what kept them going under extremely difficult conditions. Their ability to withstand the privations of low rations, inadequate clothing, scarce footwear, and sinking civilian morale in the South are a testament to the spirit and determination of many in that dedicated army. One of the somewhat surprising events the author brings out is the number of defections from both the Union army and the Army of Northern Virginia. Many soldiers on both sides simply couldn't stand the stalemated conditions and growing hopelessness any longer and preferred life in a POW camp to that in the trenches. This is fine book about the reality of the decline and death of the Confederacy and well worth reading.

If you like Civil War history, you'll love this. Lee's Miserables is an account of the last year of the Civil War from the point of view of the Confederates--specifically, the Army of Northern Virginia. What is stunning is the optimism. While Lee's soldiers clearly recognized that their army and the Confederacy were in a tough spot, most seem to have believed that they would still succeed. Many Confederate soldiers believed very sincerely that God was on their side and that a miracle would save their beloved country. Only in the last few months did their confidence really begin to waver, and some kept it up until Lee's actual surrender. Until then, Lee's soldiers fooled themselves that the North was even worse off than they were. This was true, of course, if you looked only at the number of casualties on both sides; but the fact was that by the winter of the Petersburg campaign the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederacy were seriously overmatched. The North still had a vastly greater population, industrial capacity, you name it, and was not inclined to give up now after all the sacrifices they had made earlier in the war. In reading the Confederates' optimistic letters, I was reminded again and again of today's cheery bulletins about how we are going to achieve success in the Iraq war. Self-delusion played a big part in keeping the Civil War going as long as it did. Self-delusion today by George Bush and other military and political leaders is keeping us in a pointless and unwinnable war. This book is a great reminder that it is always wise to keep in mind that there are some things that cannot be done.

It should be obvious to anyone who reads this book that Mr. Power is a skilled researcher and writer. His narrative is well documented and clearly organized. But I found it a bit short in analysis and narrow in coverage. Basically, this book traces the changes in morale among the Army of Northern Vigrinia's rank and file soldiers, something Power attributes to their own battlefield performance and results. He largely neglects to address other key contributors to morale (or lack of morale) in sufficient detail, for instance, the significance of religious revivals among the troops. In addition, most of Power's conclusions are not original. He basically reenforces--effectively, of course--earlier scholars' opinions regarding the ANV during the late months of the conflict. Still, this one is worth adding to your shelf.