THE BEGINNING AND THE END

Months before Fort Sumter was attacked even before the Confederacy was formed fiftysix U S forts arsenals and ships were seized by the first states to secede and oneseventh of the U S Army was surrendered to the militia in Texas The Beginning and the End tells the dramatic story of these events largely ignored in Civil War histories and describes the Confederacys other war preparations It relates how without guidance from the floundering Buchanan administration a decisive army lieutenant saved Fort Pickens at Pensacola in January while a naval commodore was courtmartialed for not resisting the seizure of the navy yard there and how other junior officers protected the two forts at the Keys The second part of the book explains why following the final campaigns of March 1865 Southern surrenders continued for several months after Appomattox When Lee who had just become generalinchief declined to end the war by surrendering all Confederate forces he left the remaining C S generals to struggle with a hopeless situation while Davis fled to Georgia In absorbing detail it relates the background of Johnstons surrender on April 26 in North Carolina Taylors in Alabama on May 4 Joness in Florida on May 10the same day that Davis was capturedand KirbySmiths west of the Mississippi on May 26 The book concludes with the surrender of Indian Territory tribes the release of prisoners of war and the firing of the last shot in Aleutian waters on June 28 This work is complimented with maps illustrations and a combined fullname plus subject index Dayton E Pryor is a lifelong student of American history who grew up in Camp Hill Pennsylvania the farthest point of Confederate advance He has a B A in history from Bethany College and a M A in economics from the University of Chicago This book tells the dramatic stories often not detailed in history books Joan Griffis Commercial News