Review (PDF) The Passing Of The Armies: An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac

                
              
Review (PDF) 
The Passing Of The Armies: An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac
1865, and as the Appomattox Campaign gets underway the Civil War enters its final stages. From investing Petersburg to the battle of White Oak Road and the battle of Five Forks, the Union Army under Grant is pursuing Lee across a battle-scarred Virginia.Amongst them is Brigadier General J. L. Chamberlain, commanding the 1st Brigade of the Union Army’s V Corps.At Appomattox, Lee, his line of retreat cut and his army surrounded, was left with little choice but to surrender.On April 12, Chamberlain presided over the formal parade marking the surrender of the Confederates’ arms and colours.Impressed by the demeanour of Lee’s soldiers, and recognising the day’s significance, he had his men salute their former foes; it would prove a controversial, yet defining moment.Treating troop movements, the storm of battle, the army’s spirit and an unusual respect for the enemy with equal eloquence, this is a very human account of a war that divided a nation."This is one of the finest accounts of a campaign penned by a Federal soldier....A stellar work of Civil War history -- a classic." - The Civil War in Books  “One of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army.” General John Brown Gordon.  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914) was a college professor from Maine who volunteered for the Union Army in 1862. Awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg, he ended the war a Brevet Major General. A Republican, after the war he entered politics, serving four consecutive terms of office as the Governor of Maine. Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
File Size: 1589 KB
Print Length: 241 pages
Publisher: Albion Press (November 16, 2015)
Publication Date: November 16, 2015
Sold by:  Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0184I7QCE
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Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting:  Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #120,961 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)   #10 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Campaigns & Battlefields   #12 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Regimental Histories   #69 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Military > Strategy
It is almost as if this book was written two ways and then interleaved together. It was written as a detailed chronicle of the events of the last days of the Civil War in Virginia (you really need a map to follow what's happening). It was also written as an attempt to arrive at a reconciliation of a noble cause with the often ignoble means of advancing it. The chronicle is fairly plain-spoken and detailed. When he tries for the reconciliation, his language bursts into high-flown overly poetic educationese, complete with allusion, metaphor, Classical quotations, and excessive intimations of immortality. Egad. It's not just the time or entirely the education. Many Civil War figures who wrote books, while not at that level, were at least moderately well-educated, and they had no trouble writing excellent expository English with grammatical precision that puts modern schooling to shame. Chamberlain is special.I think that the language, that many think is overly Victorian, might offer an insight into the man's mind. Much of it reads as if it reflects the internal musings of a man who felt the strong bonding emotions of an army at war--the unity of purpose, the comradeship under extreme stress, shared hardships, even the danger--and found them soul-satisfying, but who had trouble finding an ethical resolution between these feelings and the necessary cruelty that results from them. Unlike the professional military men who accept war's consequences as an evil but unavoidable part of their vocation (see Grant, sending thousands to their deaths while showing total intolerance for abuse of animals; he couldn't even hunt), Chamberlain does not seem to have reconciled himself to the deaths of people who, as individuals, do not deserve to die.
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