This classic report originally appeared as a series of articles in the Nation between July 8, 1865, and April 11, 1866. Dennett traveled in seven states Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi at the very beginning of Reconstruction. His remarkably prophetic account of the recently defeated South is a major source for the history of this transition.

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The last days of fighting in the Civil War's eastern theatre have been wrapped in mythology since the moment of Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House. This volume of essays by leading scholars of the Civil War era offers a fresh and nuanced view of the eastern war's closing chapter, blending military, social, cultural, and political history to reassess the ways in which the war ended.

The Army of Northern Virginia's chaotic dispersal began even before Lee and Grant met at Appomattox Court House. 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. 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. But others broke south and west, hoping to continue the fight. Fearing a guerrilla war, Grant extended the generous Appomattox terms to every rebel...