Towards an indefinite shore

the long version

In his fourth volume devoted to the coordinated campaign waged by Ulysses S. Grant to defeat the Confederacy, author Don Lowry brings his narrative to its fateful conclusion in a chronological approach to events that is truly unique. As the war's final tragic months unfold, the author combines detailed accounts of the fall of Petersburg, the occupation of Richmond, and the surrender at Appomattox with many lesser-known or unjustly-ignored incidents. Through the main military narrative is woven the continuing story of futile diplomatic efforts to end the war and the movements of John Wilkes Booth and the other Lincoln conspirators toward the fatal rendezvous at Ford's Theater. Full attention is given to the last weeks of the Civil War after Appomattox, with extensive coverage of the surrender of Johnston's army and of Confederate forces in Texas, the trial of the Lincoln conspirators, the early days of Andrew Johnson's presidency, and the tense manhunt for the now-fugitive Jefferson Davis and other Confederate leaders.