Richard Wheeler brings this narrative to life with haunting images of the final days of the Civil War: President Lincoln walking through the streets of Richmond, drawing an admiring crowd of blacks; Confederate and Union troops gathering in the fields around Appomattox Court House, mingling with former foes, experiencing disbelief, bitterness, relief. This account is as much a tribute to Confederate courage as it is a record of the final triumph of the Union cause. The breakthrough at Petersburg, the evacuation of Richmond and the final surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865: what must it have been to witness the events as they happened? A Confederate officer fiercely arguing with a woman who insists that her husband should desert the Stonewall Brigade; General Grant entering negotiations with General Lee while trying to shake off a sick headache. There were many great moments in the final months of the Civil War and many apparently trivial ones, too.