Gray Fox : Robert E. Lee & the Civil War

KIRKUS REVIEW Lee's command, despite his own military genius, was one of almost unmixed tragedy, confusion and helplessness. He came to lead the forces of Virginia only after long indecision and prayer. The army placed under him possessed neither arms, shoes or supplies. His generals were neither loyal nor obedient to his orders, and Lee, suffering from a single weakness, did not have the courage to remove them. Vital strategic plans fell into the wrong hands; sickness and death in Lee's own family matched his grief on the death of Jackson, his chief and bravest support in battle. The details, precise and intimate, of Lee's day by day experiences are retold- as if by an eye witness. Lee's family attitudes, his stoicism, his horse, his search for a pencil when correcting the draft of his surrender- all this is vivid, immediate and convincing. The accounts of action are especially impressive. Certainly obligatory for Civil War enthusiasts, for history students, and for others a moving portrait.