The Forgotten Trail to Appomattox

Of the forty-five Civil War Battles that the National Park Service lists as “Decisive,” only about half have been preserved by the Park Service, and include such sacred places as Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Petersburg, Manassas, Antietam, Spotsylvania, and Shiloh.

Many of the other battles, no less important, weren’t so lucky. Some of these other places have been lost to time or neglect or urbanization, but just as many have been preserved by states, local governments, or preservation organizations.

These are the battlefields, along with other landmarks, that Randy Denmon explores in The Forgotten Trail to Appomattox. It is part military history, part travelogue, and part personal insight, in the spirt of Bill Bryson’s books, such as A Walk in the Woods: it is both informative and entertaining.