A Young General And The Fall Of Richmond

After fighting in numerous campaigns in Louisiana and Virginia, on April 3, 1865, Major General Godfrey Weitzel marched his troops into Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, capturing the city for the Union and precipitating the eventual collapse of the Southern states’ rebellion. Despite his military achievements and his association with many of the great names of American history, Weitzel (1835–1884) is perhaps the least known of all the Union generals.

G. William Quatman’s minute-by-minute narrative of the fall of Richmond lends new insight into the war’s end, and his keen research into archival sources adds depth and nuance to the events and the personalities that shaped the course of the Civil War.