Ashes of Glory: Richmond at War

by Ernest B. Furgurson

On the day the first shots of the Civil War were fired, a mob in Richmond clambered on top of the Capitol to raise the Confederate flag. Four years later, another flag was raised in its place while the city burned below. A thirteen-year-old girl compared the stars and stripes to "so many bloody gashes." This richly detailed, absorbing book brings to life the years in which Richmond was the symbol of Southern independence and the theater for a drama as splendid, sordid, and tragic as the war itself. Drawing on an array of archival sources, Ashes of Glory portrays Richmond's passion through the voices of soldiers and statesmen, preachers and prostitutes, slaves and slavers. Masterfully orchestrated and finely rendered, the result is a passionate and compelling work of social history.



"Furguson is a lively writer with an eye for the apt quotation and the telling incident...He brings to life a diverse cast of characters."--Newsday


"Succeeds to a remarkable extent...Furguson brings war-torn Richmond to life."--Baltimore Sun

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, United States, Nonfiction, War, Civil War History

464 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 1996

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

That wasn't very civil...

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Furgerson is a good writer. I’ve read two other books by him. They are always well written and researched. While he isn’t as bad as many his leniency towards Lee is more than I prefer.

[James Crabtree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a good job of looking at Richmond as the war progressed, from its selection as the CSA's capital to its burning after the withdrawal of Lee's army. The author uses various vignettes to give the reader insight into the economics, safety, morale and population during the war years and as the war turned against the CSA. One of the few improvements I can think of would be to add a map.

Well worth reading, includes black and white photos.

[Jerel Wilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reread this excellent book to get an overview of what life was like in Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War; it did not disappoint. This book deals with the Confederate home front, so it is less about battles and more about relationships between the many different kinds of people in Richmond during the war.

[Ted Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable and interesting account of the "home front" during the American Civil War. The actual fighting is addressed only as the armies approach Richmond, but details of life in the city are presented: the newspapers, the hospitals, the spies, among other topics, are addressed.

[Eric Atkisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most refreshing accounts of the war I've read in a while, with a unique focus on the personalities and life of the Confederacy's capital during that time. Well worth the read for anyone interested in the history of the Civil War, Richmond, or both.

[Dudley Stadler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashes of Glory was a great book. It covered multiple facets of people who lived in Richmond from the beginning of the Civil War to the end. It brought some battles I have heard of all my life more real. I would recommend this to any historian interested in the Civil War.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Doesn't fight the battles but gives a good flavor of what war on the home front was like.

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biography of Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War. This is not as good a book as Nelson Lankford's Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital, but it offers a panoramic view of Richmond and a good sense of what the Civil War looked like from that geographic and political position. Most of Furguson's sources are, inevitably, white Richmonders and (at the end) white Yankees. I would have liked to have seen more discussion of Black viewpoints, even if only by unpacking more carefully what the white people wrote, but by and large Furguson is not really interested in unpacking what his sources say; his project is clearly to synthesize his array of sources into a coherent narrative.

[Leah Angstman]

My audiobook expired about halfway through, so I DNF'ed and won't rate it because of that, but I was definitely enjoying it while I was listening to it. It had a lot of great tidbits about wartime in Richmond, Virginia, the city at the center of the book, and it pulled sources from both "sides" of the Civil War controversies to keep the book neutral and unbiased. Did a good job of not glorifying the Confederacy, which is an especially hard task when talking about a town that was the headquarters of the whole South.

[Craig McGraw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent companion to his book on Washington DC during the Civil War.