Five Forks: Waterloo of the Confederacy

by Robert Alexander

The Battle of Five Forks was one of the the last battles of the American Civil War. A week later, Lee surrendered. Two weeks later, Lincoln was dead. In this meditation on that battle, Alexander juxtaposes the story of the battle, which he tells through narrative, letters, and journal entries, with his own impressions, viewing the South through Northern eyes. In addition, he views contemporary American society through the story of the Civil War and specifically through the story of Five Forks. If it is true that we meet our past coming to us out of the future, then, Alexander posits, America is still grappling with issues unresolved by the Civil War. Those issues are not just the obvious ones of race and class, or of North vs. South, but also the more ephemeral issues surrounding the mythos Americans live by.
     Alexander is not a historian, and this is much more a literary work than a battle story. However, the immediacy with which Alexander tells his tale leads the reader to experience Five Forks—the land, the smells, the cries—as if present there in 1865. Thus, he does not just describe a battle; he captures the spirit of all battles, all wars.

Genres: History, Civil War

158 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2003

About the author

Robert Alexander grew up in Massachusetts. He attended the University of Wisconsin, and for several years taught in the Madison public schools. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, he worked for many years as a freelance editor. From 1993-1999, he was a consulting editor at New Rivers Press, and from 1999-2001 he served as New Rivers' creative director. He is the founding editor of the Marie Alexander Poetry Series at White Pine Press (www.mariealexanderseries.com). He divides his time between southern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a HARD book to get through. It has next to nothing to do with the battle of five forks. Basically the author uses this book as a way to tell very vague personal stories, and social justice stories that can kind of connect to the civil war. Other then learning Pickett had a shad picnic by hatchers run, almost 15-20 times it is mentioned, there is almost nothing in this book directly tied to battle that's talked about. Very poor book to be selling at the visitor center.

[R. Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where to start?

I almost don't even want this on my bookshelf. This isn't a Civil War book. It certainly isn't a book about how Five Forks if the "Waterloo of the Confederacy." Robert Alexander studied English and has published a book on poetry - fine. Shelby Foote is often considered more of a novelist than a historian, but he's responsible for some of the best texts on the Civil War that I've ever heard of.

This isn't a history book. It's barely even a book! Alexander might write half a page of prose, loosely connected to a point near the end of the Civil War, and then follow it with massive block quotes that are, at best, tangentially related to the point he just made. And when I said "massive," I mean anywhere from a half a page to three pages long. Meaning, the barely relevant block quotes are three fucking times the size of Alexander's own writing!

And I really do want to stress the random fucking musings of Robert Alexander. Occasionally he attempts to address the Battle of Five Forks, but does so in such a highfalutin fashion that it's hard to see through the thick veneer of pretentious bullshit he uses to smother perfectly good history. When he cuts the shit and actually tries to address the battle itself, it comes across as clumsy and awkward - obviously far out of his comfort level.

And that's when he's on topic! Sometimes he'll dedicate book space to a high schooler's rendition of what caused the Civil War. He does this multiple times, late in a text that's supposedly about the penultimate Civil War battle.

Sadly, though, half of this book isn't even that much on topic. Sometimes he just rambles, and goes into some seriously weird, borderline offensive shit. On page 82, I decided to stop taking him seriously when I read this:

"Like it or not, the dirty little secret of racism is sexual in nature: the desire we feel for the Other, the drive to mingle our DNA and increase the genetic stability of the next generation."

Thanks for solving racism, Robert Alexander!

[Gerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

The description is apt. It's a meditation. If you like such, have at it. If you know nothing about the battle of Five Forks, this may be a little interesting. If you want some real history, get something--anything--else. It was amusing to compare what the author saw at the Five Forks battlefield to what I've seen just this year, a decade of improvements. Otherwise I found it of little use.