The Confederate Surrender at Greensboro

Drawing upon more than 200 eyewitness accounts, this work chronicles the largest troop surrender of the Civil War, at Greensboro—one of the most confusing, frustrating and tension-filled events of the war. Long overshadowed by Appomattox, this event was equally important in ending the war, and is much more representative of how most Americans in 1865 experienced the conflict’s end. The book includes a timeline, organizational charts, an order of battle, maps, and illustrations. It also uses many unpublished accounts and provides information on Confederate campsites that have been lost to development and neglect.

Robert M. Dunkerly, a park ranger at Richmond National Battlefield Park, is an historian, author, and speaker involved in historic preservation and research.

Robert M. Dunkerly

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 232
Bibliographic Info: 35 photos, 3 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7362-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0381-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1

1. From Tennessee to North Carolina 5
2. Consolidation and Retreat 13
3. Arrival in the Gate City 49
4. Funny Drunk, Gentlemanly Drunk, and Dog Drunk 82
5. All Was Confusion and Unrest 107
6. The Yankees Arrive 120
7. Occupation 153
8. Everything Is in Confusion 164
Conclusion 176

Appendices 181
I: Confederate Organizational Chart, March 31, 1865 181
II: Confederate Organizational Chart, April 26, 1865 182
III: Confederate Order of Battle, April 26, 1865 183
IV: An 1865 Time Line 189
V: Governor Vance’s Proclamation 192
VI: Walking Tour 193
VII: Captured Confederate War Matériel 195

Chapter Notes 199
Bibliography 213
Index 227

• Winner, Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal—Daughters of the Confederacy
• “a remarkable account…wonderful anecdotes and fascinating facts about the surrender. This is a fine book about one of the war’s most overlooked events”—Blue & Gray Magazine
• “valuable…Dunkerly excels at using Confederate soldiers’ own words”—The Journal of Southern History
• “this is a good read for anyone interested in the days of the Civil War, covering events largely left untreated in most accounts”—Strategy Page
• “this is a good read for anyone interested in the days of the Civil War, covering events largely left untreated in most accounts.”—The NYMAS Review