Lee's Last Campaign

The Story of Lee and His Men Against Grant - 1864

De: Clifford Dowdey

Narrado por: Kevin Charles

One of the defining works in Civil War studies and should be essential reading for all.

By May 1864, General Robert E. Lee had been transformed from a young soldier into a gray-haired patriarch of the Confederate cause. As Lee struggled to keep his ragged soldiers alive, he faced pressure from two fronts. Grant’s Union Army not only had superior numbers, but a steadfast infrastructure of railroads and industrialized supply routes. Lee’s Last Campaign is a triumph of historic research and elegant writing. In this essential analysis of General Lee’s military strategy, Dowdey follows the triumphs and tragedies of the Army of Northern Virginia as it breathed its last gasps at the end of the Civil War.

©1960 Clifford Dowdey, Copyright renewed 1999, 2011 by Carolyn Dunaway (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Civil War history at its best!!

This book is an excellent review of Lee's Petersburg campaign through Appomatttox. It is good for the beginner listner as well as a more advanced Civil War historian. The presentation is better than the sample on the listner page would indicate. I would highly recomend this book. It is GREAT!

If you love R.E. Lee...

Any additional comments?

Considering myself somewhat of a Civil War buff I was a bit taken aback by a few of Mr. Dowdey's conclusions. He strongly believes that Master Robert was almost infallible, Longstreet is overrated, Davis was an idiot, and Jackson had he lived would of made all the difference. The truth is probably somewhere in between what is contained in the book and what we have commonly been taught but he makes some very strong arguments to back up his claims. He fully realizes that some of his conclusions are out of the norm and he takes the time to point out the contrasts. For me these were the most enjoyable parts of the book, hence my 4 star rating for the story.
The production quality is poor. The words are spoken clearly but there are multiple post productions edits. Kevin Charles is OK but he has the type of voice that allowed me drift from time to time.
I do recommend this book but if you are looking for a balanced account you are probably looking in the wrong place.

Classic, if Dated, Account

PS-I still stand by my review overall, but I wrote it when I was about half way through the book. Dowdey's unfair and angry criticism of Grant and his lieutenants (especially Sheridan) only mounts as the book continues. So does his dedication to the Lost Cause narrative that holds that the Confederates lost only due to the overwhelming and clumsily applied weight of numbers and technology with no regard for Southern gallantry and decency. His narrative fairly drips with his feelings about the unfairness of "The Northern War of Aggression" against the noble South. This is far from a balanced assessment.

(ORIGINAL REVIEW)

Dowdey first published this work in 1960, and it carries many of the same problems and limitations of this era of Civil War history writing. As other reviewers have noted, Dowdey certainly has his biases and follows many of the same lines as the "Lost Cause" and a God-like Lee myths: the Union won by numbers alone, Lee was nearly always brilliantly perceptive, Grant was a bludgeoning butcher, etc. You will also find efforts to deemphasize slavery as a major reason for the war and to emphasize Lee's and many other slave-owners in the Confederacy supposed opposition to slavery, or even their "abolitionism." Much of the scholarship of the past 60 decades challenges all of these conclusions--no one should take these claims at face value without reading later (and generally better, on these topics) works.

At the same time, despite its flaws, Dowdey has many strengths and there is more complexity here than my summary suggests. Even in Dowdey's approach, Lee was not perfect. He made mistakes and had difficulties with his subordinates and superiors (Jefferson Davis), though Dowdey's analysis of their motives and character (especially Longstreet's) might be questioned. Dowdey's analysis of Grant seems to reflect the fact he either did not read Grant's Memoirs or didn't take them seriously, since these and more recent secondary works generally point to Grant being forced into a war of attrition not just by Lee's actions but by limitations put on him by the Administration (he had to shield Washington) and shortcomings of other armies, aside from Sherman's, in failing to launch successful campaigns across the South meant to draw off Confederate forces. So too, Grant lost many veterans prior to the '63 campaign as enlistments expired--Confederates were in for the duration, unless they died, were wounded, captured, or deserted. Grant pushed through, but tried his best to out maneuver, out march, and out fight the Confederates, finally stealing a march on them to Petersburg, though he was not on the scene (as he perhaps should have been) to force the issue. Grant did not get things all his own way, and while he definitely made mistakes (Cold Harbor), he ultimately succeeded, not just because of numbers but also because he was a better general than Dowdey gives him credit for and the imperfect Army of the Potomac's soldiers were as tough as the Army of Northern Virginia.

Where Dowdey truly excels, in way that makes up for some of his work's limitations, is in his writing style. Like Bruce Catton (from the same era and some of the same limitations) and Shelby Foote (with similar issues), Dowdey writes beautifully and skillfully paints a picture that brings events and men to life. If you want a book to truly enjoy and to engage your imagination on the topic of Lee's army in 1864-65, Dowdey is an excellent choice. This sort of writing is rare among historians. But by no means should this book be your only source for learning about this era or this campaign (no one book should be). However, if you keep Dowdey's limitations in mind and don't leave some of his assertions unquestioned, you could do a lot worse than spend some time with this book.

More Lost Cause R.E. Lee worship

He sure does not like Longstreet or Davis. Or really anyone who isn’t Massa Lee. The south never stood a chance and Lee knew it, Lee was an emancipationist, Lee was too much of a gentleman to stand up to Davis- the drivel goes on and on. I was really surprised that books like this were still written as of 2013. Anyone who thinks they’re getting a good view of this campaign should look elsewhere. If you love you some Robert E Lee fan fiction, this is right up your alley.