Cheap The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-April 1865 (Book) (Noah Andre Trudeau) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-April 1865

"If it becomes a siege, it's just a matter of time..."
"I have ordered a general assault along the lines". With these words, Ulysses Grant initiated the attack that ended the siege at Petersburg in April of 1864 and set in motion the slow retreat of the Confederacy that ultimately ended with their surrender at Appomattox Court House. Noted Civil War historian Noah Trudeau covers this episode of the war comprehensively with "The Last Citadel". Using many first-person accounts and scholarship long ignored by historians, Trudeau has crafted an intriguing look at this often overlooked portion of the war and presents a nice bridge between the much analyzed battle at Cold Harbor and the equally scrutinized Confederate surrender at Appomattox.

Trudeau's strength in this work is his compelling descriptions of the military actions and tactics as the Union forces steal a march on Confederate general R.E. Lee, leaving the front at Cold Harbor and nearly taking Petersburg before Lee can mount a counter-offensive. Only the hesitancy of Union general Baldy Smith (undoubtedly leary from his defeat at Cold Harbor) at exploiting a major opportunity with the Confederate works lightly manned, prevents Petersburg from falling and potentially ending the war many months early. Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard manages this small force effectively and is able to interdict this minor Union offensive until Lee can get his forces to Petersburg.

Probing Union forces then learn that Lee is fronting Petersburg in force and Grant now must decide to attack in full force or settle in for a siege. Trudeau makes an effective argument for Grant's rationale for siege warfare, documenting the many lessons learned from the Federal defeats at Cold Harbor. Once Grant's troops are entrenched, Trudeau covers the many engagements that ensue as Grant encircles the city. Battles south of town along the Weldon Railroad (a major Confederate supply line that Grant is successful at blocking) and the more well-known encounters at the "Crater" and Fort Stedman are balanced with the many smaller skirmishes north of the city, mainly at Deep Bottom and Bermuda Hundred. Trudeau is effective at showing how this slow strangle-hold of the town ultimately drives the Confederate leadership to abandon both Petersburg and the capital at Richmond, essentially sealing the fate of the rebellion.

Although, as mentioned above, Trudeau uses many diary/journal accounts of this period, he fails in my view to really give the feeling of siege warfare, however. It seems that we go from one battle description to the next, and although he devotes some space to discussing the civilian life and actions in town, this period of the war covered 10 months and I never got the true sense of anxiety and frustration that most assuredly they all felt. Another criticism (a fairly normal one coming from readers of military tactics) is the lack of maps. Trudeau includes a confusing set of maps at the beginning of each chapter and the the reader is expected to refer to these throughout the text. I sometimes had to backtrack 40-50 pages to refer to a map and this not only added undue time, but also detracted from the reading quality as well. Trudeau obviously learned this lesson well as his most recent work (this book was written in 1991) on the battle at Gettysburg was annoted with many timely and useful maps. Finally, the seminal battle at Five Forks is curiously given short shrift here. This Union victory was the key ingredient that Grant needed to complete his encirclement of the city and was a major contributor to the Confederate decision to retreat. Also, the actions of Federal generals Philip Sheridan and Gouvenour Warren at Five Forks had far reaching implications for the rest of the war and should have been included. These criticisms are fairly minor however and should not make one hesitate to read this book.

A fast paced and militarily strong account of this little covered portion of the Civil War, Noah Trudeau adds to his already growing reputation as a leading modern Civil War historian with this work. Civil War buffs wil love it and the general reader will certainly get something from it if they are willing to invest the time. Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.

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The Siege of Petersburg
I was moved to read this book by a recent visit to the Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia. I spent the better part of a weekend touring various parts of the Battlefield with Park Rangers, but I still came away confused. The siege lines are lengthy and the key locations of the battle are separated and distant from each other. (I got lost several times driving.)

For some battlefields I have seen, such as Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, or Vicksburg, a vist can illuminate and can be more informative than a casual reading of several books. For Petersburg, the reverse is true. I think this is due to the length of the siege (from June 1864-April 1865), to the complexity of the military operations, and to the interrelationship of the Petersburg siege with activites elswhere, particularly Sheridan's raids in the Shenendoah Valley and Sherman's taking of Atlanta and March to the sea. I found I needed to hold these events in mind in understanding the siege, rather than simply view the battlefield. Trudeau's book, which I found during my visit to Petersburg, helped me to do this.

Noah Andre Trudeau's "The Last Citadel" explains the Petersburg Siege and places it in its context in ending the Civil War. Perhaps most importantly for me, he explains how the decisive event of the siege occurred before it even began: Grant's brilliant move following the Union disaster at Cold Harbor, in which he stole a march on General Lee, crossed the James River, (a risky and audacious move) and attacked Petersburg from the South. Lee had forseen this move. He told Confederate General Jubal Early at Cold Harbor that: "we must destroy this army of Grant's before he gets to the James River. If he gets there it will become a siege, and then it will be a mere question of time." These were prophetic words but Lee was unable to react quickly enough when Grant moved his army from its trenches at Cold Harbor and crossed the James River.

The object of the siege was to capture the City of Petersburg and then move on the Confederate capitol of Richmond from the South. The siege itself was combined, as Trudeau shows, with operations directly on Richmond, staged from an area slightly north of Petersburg called the Bermuda Hundred. When Petersburg fell at last, the Union moved immediately into Richmond. General Lee surrendered at Appatomatox only one week later.

Trudeau's book is divided into four large Parts, together with a Prologue and an Epilogue. The book covers the early days of the siege (Petersburg probably could have been taken immediately after Grant crossed the James River with more aggressive efforts from the Union commanders), the famous incident of the Crater, operations against the southern railroads providing supplies to Petersburg, southern attempts to break the siege, the long, weary winter of the siege, and much else. Each part of the book begins with a short quotation from General Grant's "Final Report of Operations, March 1864 -- May, 1865". The four parts are each divided into short chapters which are, in turn, subdivided by short bold-faced headings each highlighting a critical moment or event. Thus the scene shifts rapidly from the Union lines to those of the South, from General Grant's deliberations to those of General Lee, from the battles to the trenches. It is, on the whole, an effective means of presenting the story. It held my attention and helped me understand the sometimes confusing sequences of events.

There are excellent discussions of the famous Battle of the Crater and of General Lee's numerous attempts to take the initiative and break the siege. I found the best and most poignant writing in Part IV of the book which details the breaking of the Confederate lines in April, 1865. Trudeau explains how Lee's lines were simply stretched too thin and how Grant after laboring to create this situation, was able to exploit it with an all-out assault. There is a good treatment of the battle of Five Forks, which led to the break -- this discussion occurs at the end of the chapter rather than at the beginning. I viewed and heard a discussion of the Five Forks site during my visit to Petersburg -- Five Forks is some distance from most of the rest of the Battlefield -- But I didn't really understand the significance of the site until I read Trudeau's book.

There are eloquent accounts of the evacuation of Petersburg and of visits during the siege by President Lincoln. Trudeau's Epilogue is thoughtful and a good summation of the book and the siege.

The maps in the book were helpful. And I particularly enjoyed the many drawings and illustrations in the book. These illustrations were made contemporaneously with the events they describe and have not often been reproduced.

This book is a good account of a critical but sometimes underestimated battle in our country's Civil War.

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Excellent summary of an overlooked part of the Civil War
This book seems to be the only resource out there for people wanting to better understand the ten month seige of Petersburg. Trudeau writes in an engaging narrative style and handles his subject skillfully. The parts that mention the explosion at the docks in City Point and the rapid narrative that describes the battle of Fort Stedman stand out as a few of the many satisfying moments in the book. Having been a Seasonal Park Ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield, I found "The Last Citadel" an indispensable resource and heartily reccomend it to all students of the Civil War.