Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2006 Issue
The Civil War from Chapel Hill Rare Books
Confederate General and presidential son Richard Taylor.
While Taylor continued to fight after Lee's surrender, Major General Bryan Grimes led the last of Lee's troops to continue the fight. Grimes' forces were still battling at Appomattox while Lee was reaching his agreement with Grant on the morning of April 9, 1865. Reportedly, when told of the surrender, he initially wanted to move his forces to join others in North Carolina still fighting the Union. However, he was convinced that this was not the wise choice, surrendered his troops and returned home, never to engage in politics again. Grimes was assassinated in 1880 as a result of a personal dispute. Item 179, by Henry London, was published in 1886 in memory of Grimes: Memorial Address on the Life and Services of Bryan Grimes... $300.
As long as we're on "lasts of," somewhere in here is the last Confederate imprint. It is not certain which book so qualifies, but it is believed to be one of these two. Item 354 has most often been called the last Confederate imprint. The book is Observations in the North: Eight Months in Prison and On Parole, by Edward Pollard. It is one of only three Confederate prison narratives published during the war. Reviewing the book on March 24, 1865, the Richmond Evening Courier stated that wide circulation of this book would give southern forces "abundant reason for brave resolution and unwavering hope in the eventual security of Confederate liberties..." Evidently circulation was not widespread enough as it was barely two week later that Lee surrendered. $1,150.
The other possible candidate for last Confederate imprint is Prisoner of War, or Five Months Among the Yankees...during an Enforced Summer Residence North, by Anthony Keiley. This is a second Confederate prison narrative, and Keiley was lucky that his enforced residence in Elmira, New York, occurred in the summer rather than winter. Elmira in winter is no place for a southern boy. Chapel Hill speculates that this book may be the last Confederate imprint as it is the scarcer, fewer copies having been distributed beyond Richmond before that city burned, but emphasizes there is no hard evidence to establish a priority between the two prison books. Item 333. $3,000.
Now for the lighter side of the Civil War. How do you find something humorous in this horrific war? Evidently, Confederate soldier A.C. McLeary was able to, and recounted these tales in Humorous Incidents of the Civil War. This book was published around 1903, so perhaps the worst memories had faded a bit by then. Give McLeary credit for finding a way to make people laugh. Commenting on his combat success, he says, "Well, I killed as many of them as they did of me." Item 191. $275.
