In various states of wait during my protracted journey to Grand Junction, I was able to finish the last book in a brilliant trilogy, Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. This book can be added to my book tag set.

Gringrich and Forstchen conclude one of the bigger what-ifs in American military history: what if, instead of authorizing Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee prevents the slaughter on Cemetery Hill and uses his men to split the Army of Potomac, as suggested by his right-hand man, General Pete Longstreet? While the work is fiction, the books present a highly plausible scenario based on what is known about the players involved.

In Never Call Retreat, the final battles unfold, and Lee’s plan to take Washington is subverted by double-agents along the railroads, the use of Washington garrison troops to reconstitute the Army of the Potomac that Lee smashed in the first book, Grant’s various counters to Lee’s actions, and finally thousands of black volunteers digging miles of fortifications in the final battle. In the end, Lee still surrenders and the South doesn’t rise again, but Sherman’s all-out march to the sea and all its destruction is avoided.

The journey to the end details the demeanor of Grant, Lee, Longstreet, and officers in both the Union and Confederate forces. The history lesson is in the character development rather than the results of battle. Lee is depicted as quite the religious man, stopping in various chapels to pray over his actions. Longstreet is the voice of reason, but his deliberate slowness to act often hinders his results. Grant is a recovering alcoholic who gets headaches during battle and grosses out easily over war carnage, yet he is an honorable man who obeys the rules of war.

These rules of war offer a certain humanity provided within the inhumanity of war. Hospitals tended to both Union and Confederate forces, prisoners were often traded and allowed to fight again, truce flags were flown to clear the battlefields of the infirmed, and messengers between the two forces were honor-bound not to reveal the strengths of the other side that they saw.

If you even have a remote appreciation for military history, I cannot recommend these books highly enough. They are easy-to-read yet contain a lot of details. The hand-drawn maps throughout the books are a nice touch, and photos of the major players are included. The language is graphic but not vulgar. The authors let us inside the minds of these men and foster a new respect for the military of both sides. Don’t just get this book; read all three in sequence.