A Year in the South: 1865: The True Story of Four Ordinary People Who Lived Through the Most Tumultuous Twelve Months in American History Paperback – May 11, 2004

The year 1865 was a year of phenomenal upheaval in the states that comprised the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant in early April. By the end of the month, all other Confederate forces had surrendered. The region was economically devastated – inflation had already been destroying the value of Confederate money, and now Confederate government bonds (and debts owed) were worthless.More significantly, the social structure, already changing because of the demands of the war, teetered into collapse. Railroads had been destroyed in war, and roads, never a priority in the pre-war South, had been left to deteriorate. The old society, with larger planters at the top, was swept away. The labor force, largely composed of slaves, had already been melting toward Union lines. Hunger stalked many areas. Law and order was breaking down, with groups of Confederate deserters, people left homeless, and people with old scores to settle roaming the countryside. Livestock, often critical to plant and harvest, had been confiscated by both Confederate government agents and invading Union troops. And after the surrender of Confederate armies, soldiers had to make their way home across a scarred and devastated landscape.This is the context for a fascinating account of the year 1865 by historian Stephen Ash. Published in 2004, A Year in the South 1865 details the lives of four people in different parts of the South, how they lived, what they experienced, and how they survived. Each of the four kept detailed journals of their experiences and lives before, during, and after the Civil War, and Ash uses those journals and extensive research about the history of the regions where they lived to create a remarkable account.Louis Hughes was a slave for a plantation owner in northern Mississippi. He occupied a privileged place in the slave hierarchy – the butler at the big house.Cornelia McDonald was a widow. Her husband Angus, a Confederate officer, had died in late 1864 outside of Richmond. They had lived in Winchester, Virginia, in the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley. But the valley was repeatedly attacked, looted, and devastated by Union troops, and before her husband’s death, Cornelia had moved herself and seven children to Lexington, in the southwest part of the state and away from the main theaters of the war.John Robertson was a young man from eastern Tennessee, who joined Confederate forces even though his region of the state was strongly pro-Union. He was captured after battle and imprisoned, and released after taking the loyalty oath to the Union. He returned to eastern Tennessee, where received the call to become a minister.And Samuel Agnew was a minister who lived with his wife on his father’s plantation in Panola County, Mississippi, some 60 or so miles south of Memphis.They were four ordinary people, but Ash’s narrative treatment of their lives provides more insight into what was happening in the South than any number of biographies of more famous people. He has a knack for telling an engaging story, and follows each of the four through the seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall of 1865 to illustrate their lives, their fears, and their hopes. After reading the accounts of each, the reader is glad that Ash includes an epilogue that explains what happened to each of the four after 1865 – and they all lived into the first decade of the 20th century.Ash is professor emeritus of American history at the University of Tennessee. He received a B.S. in education degree from Gettysburg College and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American history from the University of Tennessee. He is the author of numerous books about the history of the Civil War period.A Year in the South 1865 is a wonderful story of four ordinary people who lived in an extraordinary time.

Greatly enjoyed reading this book based on the first person accounts of 4 people who lived through the final days of the Civil War. Often history books are filled with facts and a few anecdotes of real people. This book, however, brings history to life as it gives the personal story of these individuals who lived in the south in the final days of the war. Highly recommended.

This book will spark your imagination and take you away. A fantastic read. I could not put it down. I needed to know what happens next, lol.Buy it, it is worth every penny.

The author selects four individuals who actually lived in the South in 1865 and paints a vivid picture of what it was like to live in the waning months of the most destructive conflict in American history. He makes the story jump with authenticity. The reader gets a genuine feeling of the Civil War within the Civil War in Tennessee where eastern and western TN residents battled each other over their loyalties to (respectively) North and South, the life of a proud Southern family whose fortunes decline with the South's fortunes as the war progresses, and a revealing look at the life of a slave in the South as the war was ending. I strongly recommend reading this book. It is easily read. I communicated with the author, a professor at a major university in the South, and he was kind enough to respond to my compliments. Highly, highly recommended read. I regularly pull it off the shelf and read sections of it again just to regain a feeling of what it was like to be there. As an amateur Civil War historian I was lucky to stumble across this read. rh

A different kind of read. It was interesting to learn about one year in the lives of these 4 different people. What each season brought and how each handled the difficulties that came dealing with the war's aftermath. towards the end of the book I was getting a little concerned that I'd not appreciate the ending not having any conclusions, but thankfully there is an "Epilogue" that does finish off the stories nicely. I'd enjoy reading more true events like this in history. It gives true feelings and doesn't gloss over prejudices that each person felt and experienced. Enjoyed reading these true accounts of each one of their lives.

I purchased this book because my daughter chose this book for a summer reading project. She wasn't too thrilled to have to read non fiction over the summer but she said the book actually was quite interesting. She wrote a paper on the book which had to persuade people to read the book and also do a PowerPoint presentation the first week of school. She got an A and also was surprised because, at least in her class, it was the only book the teacher asked to read. It must have sounded interesting to him! We will probably donate to the library now because we initially got it from the library but there was too much demand for it and she couldn't keep it out long enough so that is why we purchased it.

Excellent book - I ordered it after reading a short recommendation in the WSJ and am most happy I did. 1865 was an important year - the stories of the 4 individuals who make up this book are of page-turning quality, especially knowing that the accounts are non-fiction. Highly recommended for anyone who likes to read history.

The book is an unvarnished look at life in the south at the end of the civil war. It is a well written account from four distinctive view points.

Reading the stories of three ordinary individuals from Civil War America is a great balance to the overview social histories and accounts of military campaigns.