Description

This is a difficult book to find, our quantity is limited.

Here in General Lee’s Farewell  is the story behind the creation of the “Greatest Document in Southern History” General Order No. 9 was created on the morning of April 10th, 1865 at Appomattox, Virginia. This was at the end of a long and bloody retreat from Petersburg, some 100 miles to the east. Lee surrendered what was left of his army, some 28,000 men. Afterwards, Lee commissioned Colonel Charles Marshall, his Military Secretary to write a congraulatory farewell to his vanquished troops. Marshall did a draft of this order which Lee ordered changed. The draft was lost for some 90 years, only surfacing in 1959. It bore warlike wording that did not appear in the final order. This book tells the story of Lee’s staff, his family, his gallant retreat across Virginia and the story of the surrender. It also tells of his later life, and how the original order came to be found. The foreword is by General John W. Mountcastle, USA (RET) former Chief of Military History, United States Army, and a Don Troiani painting graces the rear cover.