The Last Full Measure

After Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee returns to Virginia with a damaged army while Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain recovers from illness and wounds. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln gives Ulysses S. Grant authority over the Union armies, and Grant begins a campaign that refuses to release pressure after each battle. The Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor carry both armies towards the fortified lines around Petersburg.

The prolonged siege reduces Lee’s ability to defend Richmond and ends in the retreat to Appomattox. Shaara follows Lee, Grant and Chamberlain through the military and personal decisions that close the war, including surrender and the formal reception of the Confederate infantry. The novel completes the trilogy while considering how victory, defeat and reconciliation are remembered by survivors.