Customer Reviews

Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Nelson Lankford provides virtually an insiders view of Richmond before and after fall over the course of the last few months of the Confederacy including the month after. Not only are the feelings of the citizens recorded but those of the Confederate government and Robert E. Lee. It seems that in spite of the Confederacy eroding quickly across the national front with Sherman entering North Carolina, Jefferson Davis and the population of Richmond were in shock when the capitol actually fell. Robert E. Lee's miraculous victories of the past and some of his mixed communications continue to give the Confederate citizens of Richmond a forlorn hope that Lee would be victorious. Even after the evacuation and crushing loss of 1/10th of Richmond to fire including the loss of 90% of the business district, Richmond citizens still believed Lee was capable of a counter attack up to the point of the news of Appomattox. Exciting prologue to the epic moment of the final retreat of the Confederate military, the destruction of bridges and the ultimate controversial firing of the tobacco warehouses. The latter seemed so unnecessary and out of touch with reality. Ironically, the Tredegar Iron Works survive completely and they are a tour stop in Richmond today. Lankford discusses the effects on the population including those with Union sympathies and even those that were spies and underground supporters. Some of the Union supporters were imprisoned during the war and others such as Elizabeth Van Lew assisted in funneling escaped Union prisoners home including the body of Union Captain Eric Dahlgren who led a controversial raid on Richmond. Lankford covers the harsh economic effects the war had on the citizens of Richmond, the effects of union occupation, the generals responsible for order in Richmond (Weitzel, Ord and even Henry Halleck), Lincoln's fascinating trip up the dangerous James and arrival in Richmond, the attempt by former Confederate cabinet member John Campbell to reopen the Virginia legislature with Lincoln's blessing, the effect of the assassination on Union and Confederate relations and the new but strained relations between white southerners and the emancipated African Americans. Lankford touches the fascinating birth of the lost cause sentiments of the south and the issue of race relations at that time and it's portending for the future. Lankford's research is rich in discovery as he writes of some of the most famous stories that became legends but either were untruths or misinterpretations. LaSalle Pickett wrote of Lincoln coming to personally visit the home of George Pickett (totally false along with most of her recollections) and the perception that Robert E. Lee accepted black freedmen as equal by kneeling next to a black man in church. Was he showing the white public to accept the man as an equal or to show fellow white southerners to co-exist by ignoring his existence and carry on in spite of his presence? A very economically written book that is easy to read, integrating quotes and facts while moving the story along. Lots of information on Richmond that usually was not detailed after Appomattox covering the impact of its downfall on the citizens and the struggle of the Union to deal with the citizens fairly yet firmly.

I make it a practice to avoid most Civil War narratives like the plague; those that are half-way literate usually are so larded with...glosses that my gag reflex kicks in.
Richmond Burning, on the other hand, should lift historian Nelson Lankrford into the top ranks of American narrative non-fiction writers. Lankford is such a great wordsmith that you can actually smell the clouds of smoke and despair rising over the Confederate capital in those final days. And unlike the top rank of popular history writers who always seem to be on public television, Lankford clearly does his own research and is in command of a trove of new information and insights.
Lankford's book is the one I'm giving for Christmas presents to friends and relatives, all descendants---like me---from resolute Union soldiers for whom Richmond Burning marked an event that definies us as a nation even today.
James Srodes
Washington, DC

Nelson Lankford knows that history is about storytelling. He does a superb job of bringing to life the men and women who lived through the tumult of Richmond's abandonment by the Confederate army and government and its fall to the Union army in the first few days of April, 1865. If you have not read anything about the demise of the Confederacy you must read this book. If you are an avid reader of books on the Civil War, you certainly must read this book. If you are not that interested in Civil War history, but are genuinely curious about Americans of the Victorian era, well, then, read this book. Mr. Lankford has presented us with a major contribution to our understanding of not only how the capital of the Confederacy crumbled, but why it happened the way it did.

Nelson Lankford has constructed one of the finest books on the final stages of the war in Virginia/Richmond. This is not a historical account this is an adventure. I read this like a great mystery novel, not having any idea what comes next. His words are astonoshingly well crafted and he takes pain staking ease to sew in the relevent historical data to teach you a lesson.

The best part of the book is the quotes. Most of them come from civilian actors in the Richmond drama. I've read many books on the war and I hold a Bachelors degree in history, soon to being graduate work on my Masters and I could care less what soldiers and officers and politicians have to say about the war. I get a good enough idea about battlefield situations from narratives by McPherson and Foote. This is a wonderful effort about the civilian consequences surrounding the overtaking of a city.

Like I said, this is an adventure. Yes, the Union won the war. But this book keeps you on such pins and needles that you don't know how it's going to end. Every others sentence for the first few chapters is about the approaching Union army. It just made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck like watching a well constructed scene from Hitchcock.

The historical data is pertinent and on point. There are no useless random facts in here like how many horses jumped the fence in front of the stone wall before the defending general had his crouching ranks stand up and fire. Everything in here is important, but not too much to handle. The blend of narrative and historical data is 100% balanced out to give you a satisfying read. Even if you can't stand history, you read this and forget it's about history because it isn't a battle retelling.

This is one of the finest books about the history of the Civil War I have read since James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom." Is it worth the money? You bet. Is it worth a second and third read? You bet. Is it worth recommending to your freidns after you read it so they can know what really happened and how? You bet. Most importantly, is it essential for everyone's understanding about history, some of the most important history our nation has ever seen, the most pivotal of events in the most pivotal of times in our nations history? You better believe it.

Mr. Lankford and "Richmond Burning" receive my highest recommendation.

It is hard to see how this book could be improved upon. It is meticulously researched and footnoted, and there is a comprehensive bibliography. The viewpoint of the author is not pro-secessionist, albeit he tells us he lives in Richmond. This book literally allows one to live the last days of Confederate Richmond with the people who were there, and I found this was an experience well worth the time spent reading the book. It is a good supplementary companion to Jay Winik's April 1865: The Month that Saved America.

I did not read this book as a Civil War buff, but from an interest in the city of Richmond, Virginia. In the first 50 pages or so I struggled with Lankford's frustrating insistence on inserting seldom used words. Some were in my dictionary and I learned a new word or two....However, after that point none of the strange/unusual words showed up anymore, Lankford settling down to recounting a story of the end of the Civil War as it occured in Richmond, through the use of extemely well researched information that is laid out in timeline fashion, in a matter of fact manner. One gets the viewpoints from the Yankees and the Rebels alike. Was interesting and scholarly...

First, let me say I am a bit taken aback by one reviewers comments about how the book was filled with "minor" characters and other such as Robt. E Lee are only lightly touched upon.

You have GOT to be kidding. I can't think of another time in history that's been over-written about more than the civil war. If a reader is looking for a general historical overview of the civil war, then I would say this book is not for you, but I don't think the author was trying to lead people to believe that this was was THAT book either. This was a refreshing read on a topic (the civil war) that I've read many times over. Unlike other books that focused on the major players and the various battles of the civil war, this book focused (exactly as the title suggests) on Richmond Va and about a months time right before during and right after the end of the civil war.

I found it an easy read and anyone interested in the history of this city but not the civil war will likely enjoy this book.

For those of us wanted more and more of Robt. E Lee, I suggest you look elsewhere, and no doubt you won't have far to go...

A fast-paced read, that, excuse me for using it, fulfills that trite phrase of "reads like a novel" which many writers seek to achieve. That said, the author is a responsible writer in that the book includes both footnotes and an extensive bibliography.

There are some drawbacks that I would like to piont out--Mr. Lankford breezes through the events of Five Forks, providing bare-bones detail, despite the fact that what happened there sealed the fate of Richmond. Now, I know Five Forks isn't IN Richmond, so he must limit his time to peripheral places but the drama that unfolded there needed to be expanded greatly since this book obviously strives for literarcy as well as historical merit. Including a detailed treatment of Five Forks would only add to the reader's appreciation of the direct cause of Richmond's fall. Conversely, he wastes far too much time on the failed Campbell iniative that amounted to nothing. Also, one must question his interpretation of certain sources. He quotes from a Southern officer who wrote over the loss of many of his men at Sayler's Creek, the officer states that his emotions mingled "pride with with grief" and cites such sentiments as the basis of future long-standing enmity towards Notherners. No such sentiments are expressed in the quote though, just something akin to fatherly pride mingled with great sadness over the loss of lives he held dear.

Beyond that, I don't feel that he treats Robert E. Lee fairly, especially when he calls him "delusional" for a message he dispatched that harbored some optimism over being able to continue the fight after Richmond. Mr. Lankford is practicing hindsight bias here. By this criteria, the last months of the war were all "delusional" for Lee as we can clearly see, with our wonderful 21st century eyes, that the South had no hope of winning and could thus question why he simply didn't surrender following Lincoln's 1864 reelection. First and foremost, General Lee was always a soldier doing his duty and that duty included trying to struggle on as best he could, providing some optimism when possible, against mountains of adversity.

Despite all this, this book is well-wroth reading and is a good companion to the various books on Appomattox.

This is a very niche book for the experienced civil war buff. A startling, and riveting account of the last days of Richmond as the confederacy collapsed around the citizens. Now we must remmemebr these poeple had been under siege but untill these last days many were living in a dzae, somehow hopeing to god that the war would not come to their city on the hill in their beloved Virginia. We must remmember that much fighting had been closer to Peterburg. This book gives a blow by blow account of the many people cought up in this great conflageration.

As has been noted this book is slightly biased and portrays the North as the liberators coming to subdue the viscious south, which had to be crushed into repenting for the sins of slavery. Probably this is the only negative aspect of the book.

Lankford collected a vast array of historical documents, newspaper articles, and book excerpts to author "Richmond Burning." Lankford's research goes well beyond what a typical civil war author has accomplished. He conveys the views and actions of military leaders, politicians, civilian bystanders, war profiteers, ex-slaves, spies, criminals, reporters, and soldiers of both sides. Unfortunately, the information Lankford has organized does not flow like a well written book should. He fits numerous pieces of research into an awkwardly fitting puzzle. Whether intentional or not, Lankford manipulates the research to convey a subtle disdain for "white southerners" who supported the Confederate cause. His love for the city of Richmond is vivid, however. The virtuous northern victory clearly outweighs social and economic decay that plagues much of the city today.