THE FINAL BATTLES OF THE PETERSBURG CAMPAIGN: Breaking the Backbone of theRebellion by A. Wilson GreeneReview by: Terry L. JonesLouisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Winter2010), pp. 122-124Published by: Louisiana Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40646365 .

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122 LOUISIANA HISTORY

emony at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C, by carefully but clearly calling for the ordina- tion of women. Henold calls Kane's 1979 address "the culmina- tion of an era, not the beginning of one," effectively demonstrat- ing the limits of real progress for the rights of women in the insti- tutional church, (p. 232) Catholic and Feminist is in many ways a tragic story of a small

group of people trying and failing to overcome deeply embedded prejudices. Henold, however, concludes with reference to the "lib- erating aspect of feminist consciousness" and the many options now available to women and men who sympathize with the Cath- olic feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s, (p. 244) The reader is left with an ambivalent, fitting end to a period in Amer- ican Catholic history rarely mentioned in the everyday affairs of the Catholic Church today. Henold's compassion for her subjects is obvious, as is her wariness of the movement ever achieving a similar level of grassroots activism again. The relationship be- tween feminism and religion is clearer now that Henold has writ- ten this important book.

Louisiana State University Michael Pasquier

THE FINAL BATTLES OF THE PETERSBURG CAMPAIGN: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion. By A. Wilson Greene. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2008. xvii, 573 pp. Foreword, preface, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Cloth $49.95, ISBN 978-1-57233-610-2).

The Petersburg campaign was the Civil War's longest, but it has never received the same attention as other more famous op- erations. This is particularly true of the campaign's final battles that began on March 25, 1865. With the advantage of hindsight, historians tend to view the collapse of Robert E. Lee's defensive line as inevitable. On the contrary, the final Union victory only occurred after heavy and costly fighting. In this book, A. Wilson Greene successfully tells that dramatic story. While this study focuses on what Greene refers to as "The

Breakthrough" of April 2, 1865, the author first sets the stage by giving a brief overview of U. S. Grant's failure to capture Peters- burg in the summer of 1864. He then examines the officers and

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BOOK REVIEWS 123

men who were destined to play a major role in the final battles around Petersburg. These chapters focus on Horatio G. Wright's Union Sixth Corps and A. P. Hill's Confederate Third Corps. Greene also presents in colorful detail what it was like for the soldiers who spent that dreary winter in the trenches. Such top- ics as rations, desertion, sharpshooter fire, boredom, and picket duty are discussed. This reader found it especially interesting to learn that not all Confederates suffered from starvation-like con- ditions. The availability of food seems to have varied greatly from unit to unit. The book's tactical study begins with Lee's unsuccessful attack

on Fort Stedman. When Joseph E. Johnston was unable to stop William T. Sherman's advance in the Carolinas, Lee attacked Grant to force him to shorten his lines so Lee could hold Peters- burg and Richmond with a few troops while leading the rest to join Johnston in North Carolina. There he hoped to defeat Sher- man and then return to Petersburg to defeat Grant. This chapter effectively shows how events in North Carolina affected Lee's strategy in Virginia. When Philip Sheridan arrived with his army from the Shenan-

doah Valley, Grant decided to force Lee out of Petersburg by turn- ing his right flank at Five Forks. Initially, George Pickett's Con- federates stopped Sheridan's drive on March 31, but the next day Sheridan crushed the enemy at Five Forks while Pickett enjoyed a shad bake in the rear. Historians have rightly criticized Pickett for his lack of leadership on April 1, but Greene claims he per- formed admirably the day before when he stopped the Union ad- vance and then made a tactical retreat to save his men from an- nihilation. The climactic moment at Petersburg came on April 2, 1865,

when The Breakthrough occurred on Lee's far right. In a dramat- ic predawn attack, the Sixth Corps overran the thinly held Con- federate position and scooped up hundreds of prisoners. During the confused fighting, Lee was forced to retreat under fire from his headquarters, and A. P. Hill was killed. Lee informed Jeffer- son Davis that he would have to abandon his position that night, but his men had to hold on until dark to complete the evacuation successfully. The Breakthrough's last bloody clash came later in the day when Union troops captured Fort Gregg. The Confede- rate defenders were outnumbered eight-to-one but gamely held their ground until overwhelmed in a vicious hand-to-hand fight. Greene points out that during the day Grant lost 4,000 men to

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124 LOUISIANA HISTORY

Lee's 5,000. More Union soldiers were lost in The Breakthrough than at First Bull Run, Kennesaw Mountain, or many other bet- ter known battles. Greene ends his study with the Rebels on the run toward Ap-

pomattox and the triumphant Yankees entering Petersburg. The book concludes with two appendices and lengthy descriptive end notes. One appendix discusses the appearance of the Petersburg battlefields today (which are surprisingly intact), and the other presents the armies' order of battle. Throughout the book, there are numerous maps that help the reader follow the flow of battle and photographs of various personalities and war scenes. The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign is a welcomed

addition to Civil War military history. It helps fill a gap in the existing literature and is exhaustively researched and well writ- ten. Readers should be aware, however, that this is a tactical study on a regimental level, and at times it is no easy task to fol- low the action. That being said, the detailed maps are invaluable, and Green's skillful use of quotes and human interest stories make it an enjoyable read.

University of Louisiana at Monroe Terry L. Jones

LOUISIANA GOVERNORS: Rulers, Rascals, and Reformers. By Walter G. Cowan and Jack B. McGuire. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008. xv, 305 pp. Acknowledgments, pre- face, index. Cloth $45.00, ISBN 978-1-934110-90-4).

The book to which this one will be compared most often is The Louisiana Governors, edited by Joseph G. Dawson III and pub- lished by Louisiana State University Press. Dawson's book is comprised of a series of essays on Louisiana's individual gover- nors. The essays were written by different historians, but con- formed to a standard template. Each entry begins with an objec- tive introduction to the governor and concludes with an interpre- tive analysis that assesses Louisiana's condition at the time and the governor's contributions to the colony, territory, or state. Col- lectively, the essays recount Louisiana's history through the de- velopment and experiences of its chief executive office. Louisiana Governors: Rulers, Rascals, and Reformers is the

product of collaboration between Walter Graves Cowan, who was

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