Review: The Civil War, The Final Year Told by Those Who Lived It

The Civil War: The Final Year Told by Those Who Lived It

Edited by Aaron Sheehan-Dean

Too often the study of the American Civil War is approached as if looking at a review mirror, looking back at events passed and knowing their outcome.  Such a view of an historical event diminishes the experience of those who lived through it.  For instance, we know that Abraham Lincoln handily won the 1864 Presidential Election and defeated Major-General George B. McClellan, but Lincoln was so uncertain of its outcome that on August 23, 1864 wrote a memo to his cabinet, agreeing that they will “co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards,” and had them sign it without showing them its contents.

Though one can never remove the historical knowledge of the outcome of the war, reading the documents, letters and diaries of the people who lived through the Civil War gives one a sense of immediacy of the events depicted and their yet unknown resolutions that you just don’t get in most history text books.

The Library of America, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War has produced a four volume set of books covering the entire span of the war, each one covering one year of the war, and using only the primary source material that other authors often use to write their books. “The Civil War: The Final Year Told By Those Who Lived It,” is the fourth and final volume in the series.

Beginning with the Southern diarist Catherine Edmonston’s entry for March 8, 1864 and ending with Union Major-General Gordon Granger’s General Orders No. 3 of June 19, 1865 announcing to the people of Texas that all slaves are now free, this volume covers the breadth, width and depth of the wars final and tumultuous year.

Notable inclusions in this hefty 1024 page tome include a May 11, 1864, letter from Ulysses S. Grant to Edwin M. Stanton and Henry W. Halleck, proposing that he will “fight it out on this line if it takes all summer;” Abraham Lincoln’s memorandum to his cabinet mentioned above; William T. Sherman’s September 12, 1864 letter to Atlanta’s mayor, James M. Calhoun and others, in which he states, “war is cruelty;” Sherman’s October 9, 1864 message to Grant promising to “make Georgia howl;” the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution forever abolishing slavery; Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address;  Grant’s terms for the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia;  and Robert E. Lee’s General Orders No. 9, his farewell message, are all among the many documents in this book which are too numerous to mention.

Aaron Sheehan-Dean has done a wonderful job of collecting and editing this selection of documents.  Each item is prefaced by a brief explanatory paragraph and then the document, in its entirety, follows.  Included at the end of this volume is a narrative chronology, biographical notes, notes on the texts, end notes, and lastly an index.

“The Civil War: The Final Year Told by Those Who Lived It” along with its previous three sister volumes, is an excellent resource for Civil War scholars or novices alike.

ISBN 978-1598532944, Library of America, © 2014, Hardcover, 1024 pages, Maps, Chronology, Biographical Notes, Note on the Texts, Notes & Index. $40.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.