A Stillness at Appomattox (63a) by Catton, Bruce

The Civil War will never lack for authors, both fiction and historical. Only a handful will leave a reader with an indellible impression. Among these few: Douglas Southall Freeman, Shelby Foote and James M. McPherson. Each has written outstanding works on the war: Freeman; R.E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants, Foote; Shiloh and his magisterial three volume narrative and McPherson, his brilliant Battle Cry of Freedom.Magnificent works all, but in a class by himself is Bruce Catton. I recall my father raving about Catton; "When you read him, it's like you're there," he said. Unfortunately, I wasn't so quick to take his advice. Then, in 2000, I saw David McCullough on C-Span 2 and he raved about "A Stillness at Appomattox." Then, I decided to give it a try.Lucky for me. I've read many accounts regarding the last agonizing year of the war, but none has matched Catton for sheer storytelling power. One marches with the Army of the Potomac as it seeks out Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. You witness and somehow, almost take part as these, the war's two military giants, Grant and Lee collide. You see the mistakes and agonize with the men yet, you always stand in awe of the everyday valor these heroes of the Blue and the Gray make. But despite battlefield blunders and poor leadership, draftees who are more likely to desert than face the enemy, the men of the Army of the Potomac never lose their faith in themselves and it is this spirit that drives the Army to ultimate victory.Words fail me to describe how awesome this book is. I thought it would have aged badly, but it hasn't. It's truly a timeless work. This book, along with Mr. Lincoln's Army and Glory Road constitute the greatest tribute to the men of the Army of the Potomac and in a way, the Army of Northern Virginia as well. Enjoy.

Bruce Catton is, in my opinion, the most readable author of American Civil War history. Whenever I've labored through some book I wanted to read but have struggled with, I reward myself with something he has written. This trilogy is, as all his work is, thoroughly researched and very balanced. It would be hard to detect any bias in this native Michiganer of the first half of the 20th century, though I vaguely suspect he had more sympathy for the South, if only for the "pluck" (he likes that word in fact) of their "David vs. Goliath" undertaking. This 3rd volume is the Pulitzer Prize winner, and with good reason. Essentially, Catton deals here with the classic struggle of Grant vs. Lee, but he does so in such a way that illuminates Grant in a light that is not only pleasing, but obviously genuine. This fine Army of the Potomac, so thoroughly identified with McClellan, was in fact a sharp instrument waiting for a leader like Grant to come along and put it to good use. Grant implicitly understood the assignment and the way to carry it out in the shortest time possible, which argues for his humanity, not his cruelty as other authors have intimated. Proof of his character is clear in the Instrument of Surrender, which was as far-sighted as any such document could have been (Sherman's, just a bit later, may have been a bit too generous for the politicians; it had to be revised in order to be accepted by Washington and to prevent the renewal of hostilities with Johnston). In any case, the real beauty of any of Catton's works is his insight not so much into the Grants and Lees, but into the common soldier of both sides; what made them fight so savagely one moment, but embrace one another so fully the next? The answer lay in the strange brotherhood that developed between the men of the Army of Northern Virginia and those of the Army of the Potomac. These men, after many years of hardship and privation and death, were a bit more likely to see their generals as the cause of their suffering and a lot more likely to see the tens and hundreds of thousands on both sides who stayed home while they fought as the real enemy. In this common bond, Catton intimates, lay the seed which made reunification at least palatable in the minds of so many men from so many distant places.

Unfortunately, much of Bruce Catton's works are out of print but, most titles are readily available in out of print bookshops. I read this title, which is currently in print, along with the first two, out of print, titles in the great Army of the Potomac trilogy. A Stillness at Appomattox is a great book in it's own right but, it is a particular treat to read the entire three volume set. Not only is the history interesting but, it is so well written that the enjoyment of reading it is incrteased many fold. I particularly thought that Catton's description of Gen. Phil Sheridan's campaign in the Shenedoah Valley was particularly vivid and fascinating. As is Catton's wont, the book ends rather abruptly, leading to the end of the military aspects of the war but not really describing the actual surrender ceremonies at Appomattox Courthouse. He also used this technique in an earlier (out of print) volume as he led the reader to the Gettysburgh Address but then stopped abruptly as Lincoln got up to speak, not describing the address or the reaction to it. Catton does this so well that it really works. He is truly one of my favorite authors. I am now reading my out of print copies of Catton's second great trilogy, The Centennial History of the Civil War.I recommend his out of print as well as his currently available Civil War histories highly.