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The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina
To understand the long march of events in North Carolina from secession to surrender is to understand the entire Civil War--a personal war waged by Confederates and Unionists, free blacks and the enslaved, farm women and plantation belles, Cherokees and mountaineers, conscripts and volunteers, gentleman officers and poor privates. In the state's complex loyalties, its sprawling and diverse geography, and its dual role as a home front and a battlefield, North Carolina embodies the essence of the whole epic struggle in all its terrible glory.
Philip Gerard presents this dramatic convergence of events through the stories of the individuals who endured them--reporting the war as if it were happening in the present rather than with settled hindsight--to capture the dreadful suspense of lives caught up in a conflict whose ending had not yet been written. As Gerard reveals, whatever the grand political causes for war, whatever great battles decided its outcome, and however abstract it might seem to readers a century and a half later, the war was always personal.
Philip Gerard presents this dramatic convergence of events through the stories of the individuals who endured them--reporting the war as if it were happening in the present rather than with settled hindsight--to capture the dreadful suspense of lives caught up in a conflict whose ending had not yet been written. As Gerard reveals, whatever the grand political causes for war, whatever great battles decided its outcome, and however abstract it might seem to readers a century and a half later, the war was always personal.
376 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2021
22 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Philip Gerard
37 books14 followersPhilip Gerard is the author of 13 books, including The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina. Gerard was the author of Our State's Civil War series. He currently teaches in the department of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 5, 2025
Representing the distillation of a series of essays published in "Our State" (being North Carolina) in the 2010s, I don't doubt that this seemed like a clever idea by the editorial staff to give the assignment to a literary writer like Gerard, in the hopes of making the antiquarian new again.
As for myself, while I can respect the effort, I'd be a liar if I didn't find the result less than compelling; it was all a little too pat for me. Still, I have to give Gerard points for his afterword, where he considers how this writing project created for him the sense of the "Great American Mystery," of how so much violence could be perpetrated and still not generate a clear break from the great American original sin of chattel slavery, and does so with some eloquence. My thought is that in the process of the generation-long countdown to this war, it became an "honor" fight for a culture that was not inclined to back down in the face of challenge.
Actual rating: 3.5.
As for myself, while I can respect the effort, I'd be a liar if I didn't find the result less than compelling; it was all a little too pat for me. Still, I have to give Gerard points for his afterword, where he considers how this writing project created for him the sense of the "Great American Mystery," of how so much violence could be perpetrated and still not generate a clear break from the great American original sin of chattel slavery, and does so with some eloquence. My thought is that in the process of the generation-long countdown to this war, it became an "honor" fight for a culture that was not inclined to back down in the face of challenge.
Actual rating: 3.5.
March 17, 2020
Review to come.
October 20, 2022
For anyone interested in North Carolina, this is a must-read!
An excellent book that provides a variety of sources and stories/facts about the Civil War in North Carolina. Having vacationed for years at Oak Island, NC, and visiting Southport (Smithville) and Wilmington, I could picture the places and events. Along with stopping at the Bentonville Battlegrounds on our way down, this book will come alive for you. The chapters on Fort Fisher until the end of the book are wonderfully described.
If you are interested in more than military tactics, this series of chapters, initially as articles for Our State magazine, will be a hard book to put down.
An excellent book that provides a variety of sources and stories/facts about the Civil War in North Carolina. Having vacationed for years at Oak Island, NC, and visiting Southport (Smithville) and Wilmington, I could picture the places and events. Along with stopping at the Bentonville Battlegrounds on our way down, this book will come alive for you. The chapters on Fort Fisher until the end of the book are wonderfully described.
If you are interested in more than military tactics, this series of chapters, initially as articles for Our State magazine, will be a hard book to put down.
May 15, 2021
I've admired Philip's work as a reader and colleague at UNCW. Wonderful book! Philip is a fantastic storyteller who expertly weaves national and state threads with the interesting individual NC characters of the Civil War. It is indeed a NC tale, filled w/ the compassion, bravery, sorrow, cruelty, and even redemption of the participants. In his powerful final paragraph, Philip asserts that we must understand them to know ourselves. So true!
December 14, 2021
As I continue learning of my adopted home state's role in the War Between the States, this was an excellent read. Fascinating stories about North Carolina, its people, and their roles in the conflict, a very informative read. I highly recommend it.
June 7, 2022
Fun read with short vignettes. Gives Avery personal view of the war
June 11, 2024
This book paints a interesting picture of North Carolinians during the civil war through a series of short stories. Easy to read!
April 25, 2019
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
What a fascinating read! Because the book began as a series of single articles that were then put together, there's an excellent synthesis of both macro- and micro-history of the Civil War in North Carolina. The author has done an excellent job of really bringing each small moment to life and through them, painting an excellent picture of the end of the war in North Carolina. Additionally, because the format began as small articles, each chapter is really easy to read on its own, a great coffee-table read for history-buffs. The material is great for those interested in learning more, but there's enough new details and tales that even Civil War buffs will learn something new. I would highly recommend for anyone remotely interested in the Civil War!
Because I just finished creating a Civil War in Raleigh Trolley Tour, I found this book to be immensely helpful in understanding the broader importance of North Carolina in the Civil War as well. You won't go wrong with this book.
What a fascinating read! Because the book began as a series of single articles that were then put together, there's an excellent synthesis of both macro- and micro-history of the Civil War in North Carolina. The author has done an excellent job of really bringing each small moment to life and through them, painting an excellent picture of the end of the war in North Carolina. Additionally, because the format began as small articles, each chapter is really easy to read on its own, a great coffee-table read for history-buffs. The material is great for those interested in learning more, but there's enough new details and tales that even Civil War buffs will learn something new. I would highly recommend for anyone remotely interested in the Civil War!
Because I just finished creating a Civil War in Raleigh Trolley Tour, I found this book to be immensely helpful in understanding the broader importance of North Carolina in the Civil War as well. You won't go wrong with this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews