The Army of Northern Virginia\'s chaotic dispersal began even before Lee and Grant met at Appomattox Court House.
Ultimately, what unfolds is the messy birth narrative of the Lost Cause, laying the groundwork for the defiant resilience of rebellion in the years that followed..
Janney takes readers from the deliberations of government and military authorities to the ground-level experiences of common soldiers.
Janney reveals that Lee\'s surrender was less an ending than the start of an interregnum marked by military and political uncertainty, legal and logistical confusion, and continued outbursts of violence.
In this dramatic new history of the weeks and months After Appomattox, Caroline E.
While Federal troops struggled to keep order and sustain a fragile peace, their newly surrendered adversaries seethed with anger and confusion at the sight of Union troops occupying their towns and former slaves celebrating freedom.
But the shock of Lincoln\'s assassination led Northern authorities to see threats of new rebellion in every rail depot and harbor where Confederates gathered for transport, even among those already paroled.
Provost marshals fanned out across Virginia and beyond, seeking nearly 18,000 of Lee\'s men who had yet to surrender.
Fearing a guerrilla war, Grant extended the generous Appomattox terms to every rebel who would surrender himself.
But others broke south and west, hoping to continue the fight.
When word spread that Lee planned to surrender, most remaining troops stacked their arms and accepted paroles allowing them to return home, even as they lamented the loss of their country and cause.
As the Confederates had pushed west at a relentless pace for nearly a week, thousands of wounded and exhausted men fell out of the ranks.
The Army of Northern Virginia\'s chaotic dispersal began even before Lee and Grant met at Appomattox Court House
