Joseph Altsheler - The Tree of Appomattox

"The Tree of Appomattox" concludes the series of connected romances dealing with the Civil War, begun in "The Guns of Bull Run," and continued successively through "The Guns of Shiloh," "The Scouts of Stonewall," "The Sword of Antietam," "The Star of Gettysburg," "The Rock of Chickamauga" and "The Shades of the Wilderness" to the present volume. It has been completed at the expense of vast labor, and the author has striven at all times to be correct, wherever facts are involved. So far, at least, no historic detail has been challenged by critic or reader.

More than half a century has passed since the Civil War's close. Not many of the actors in it are left. It was one of the most tremendous upheavals in the life of any nation, and it was the greatest of all struggles, until the World War began, but scarcely any trace of partisan rancor or bitterness is left. So, it has become easier to write of it with a sense of fairness and detachment, and the lapse of time has made the perspective clear and sharp.

However lacking he may be in other respects, the author perhaps had an advantage in being born, and having grown up in a border state, where sentiment was about equally divided concerning the Civil War. He was surrounded during his early youth by men who fought on one side or the other, and their stories of camp, march and battle were almost a part of the air he breathed. So he hopes that this circumstance has aided him to give a truthful color to the picture of the mighty combat, waged for four such long and terrible years.

VOLUMES IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

THE GUNS OF BULL RUN.

THE GUNS OF SHILOH.

THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL.

THE SWORD OF ANTIETAM.

THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG.

THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA.

THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS.

THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

HARRY KENTON, A Lad Who Fights on the Southern Side.

DICK MASON, Cousin of Harry Kenton, Who Fights on the Northern Side.

COLONEL GEORGE KENTON, Father of Harry Kenton.

MRS. MASON, Mother of Dick Mason.

JULIANA, Mrs. Mason's Devoted Colored Servant.

COLONEL ARTHUR WINCHESTER, Dick Mason's Regimental Commander.

COLONEL LEONIDAS TALBOT, Commander of the Invincibles, a Southern Regiment.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL HECTOR ST. HILAIRE, Second in Command of the Invincibles.

ALAN HERTFORD, A Northern Cavalry Leader.

PHILIP SHERBURNE, A Southern Cavalry Leader.

WILLIAM J. SHEPARD, A Northern Spy.

DANIEL WHITLEY, A Northern Sergeant and Veteran of the Plains.

GEORGE WARNER, A Vermont Youth Who Loves Mathematics.

FRANK PENNINGTON, A Nebraska Youth, Friend of Dick Mason.

ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, A Native of Charleston, Friend of Harry Kenton.

TOM LANGDON, Friend of Harry Kenton.

GEORGE DALTON, Friend of Harry Kenton.

BILL SKELLY, Mountaineer and Guerrilla.

TOM SLADE, A Guerrilla Chief.

SAM JARVIS, The Singing Mountaineer.

IKE SIMMONS, Jarvis' Nephew.

AUNT "SUSE," A Centenarian and Prophetess.

BILL PETTY, A Mountaineer and Guide.

JULIEN DE LANGEAIS, A Musician and Soldier from Louisiana.

JOHN CARRINGTON, Famous Northern Artillery Officer.

DR. RUSSELL, Principal of the Pendleton School.

ARTHUR TRAVERS, A Lawyer.

JAMES BERTRAND, A Messenger from the South.

JOHN NEWCOMB, A Pennsylvania Colonel.

JOHN MARKHAM, A Northern Officer.

JOHN WATSON, A Northern Contractor.

WILLIAM CURTIS, A Southern Merchant and Blockade Runner.

MRS. CURTIS, Wife of William Curtis.

HENRIETTA CARDEN, A Seamstress in Richmond.

DICK JONES, A North Carolina Mountaineer.

VICTOR WOODVILLE, A Young Mississippi Officer.

JOHN WOODVILLE, Father of Victor Woodville.

CHARLES WOODVILLE, Uncle of Victor Woodville.

COLONEL BEDFORD, A Northern Officer.

CHARLES GORDON, A Southern Staff Officer.

JOHN LANHAM, An Editor.

JUDGE KENDRICK, A Lawyer.

MR. CULVER, A State Senator.

MR. BRACKEN, A Tobacco Grower.

ARTHUR WHITRIDGE, A State Senator.

HISTORICAL CHARACTERS

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States.

JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy.

JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, Member of the Confederate Cabinet.

U. S. GRANT, Northern Commander.

ROBERT E. LEE, Southern Commander.

STONEWALL JACKSON, Southern General.

PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, Northern General.

GEORGE H. THOMAS, "The Rock of Chickamauga."

ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Southern General.

A. P. HILL, Southern General.

W. S. HANCOCK, Northern General.

GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Northern General.

AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, Northern General.

TURNER ASHBY, Southern Cavalry Leader.

J. E. B. STUART, Southern Cavalry Leader.

JOSEPH HOOKER, Northern General.

RICHARD S. EWELL, Southern General.

JUBAL EARLY, Southern General.

WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, Northern General.

SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, Southern General.

LEONIDAS POLK, Southern General and Bishop.

BRAXTON BRAGG, Southern General.

NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, Southern Cavalry Leader.

JOHN MORGAN, Southern Cavalry Leader.

GEORGE J. MEADE, Northern General.

DON CARLOS BUELL, Northern General.

W. T. SHERMAN, Northern General.

JAMES LONGSTREET, Southern General.

P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Southern General.

WILLIAM L. YANCEY, Alabama Orator.

JAMES A. GARFIELD, Northern General, afterwards President of the United States.

And many others

IMPORTANT BATTLES DESCRIBED IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

BULL RUN

KERNSTOWN

CROSS KEYS

WINCHESTER

PORT REPUBLIC

THE SEVEN DAYS

MILL SPRING

FORT DONELSON

SHILOH

PERRYVILLE

STONE RIVER

THE SECOND MANASSAS

ANTIETAM

FREDERICKSBURG

CHANCELLORSVILLE

GETTYSBURG

CHAMPION HILL

VICKSBURG

CHICKAMAUGA

MISSIONARY RIDGE

THE WILDERNESS

SPOTTSYLVANIA

COLD HARBOR

FISHER'S HILL

CEDAR CREEK

APPOMATTOX

Although he was an officer in full uniform he was a youth in years, and he had the spirits of youth. Moreover, it was one of the finest apple trees he had ever seen and the apples hung everywhere, round, ripe and red, fairly asking to be taken and eaten. Dick Mason looked up at them longingly. They made him think of the orchards at home in his own state, and a touch of coolness in the air sharpened his appetite for them all the more.

"If you want 'em so badly, Dick," said Warner, "why don't you climb the tree and get 'em? There's plenty for you and also for Pennington and me."

"I see. You're as anxious for apples as I am, and you wish me to gather 'em for you by making a strong appeal to my own desires. It's your clever New England way."

"We're forbidden to take anything from the people, but it won't hurt to keep a few apples from rotting on the ground. If you won't get 'em Pennington will."

"I understand you, George. You're trying to play Frank against me, while you keep yourself safe. You'll go far. Never mind. I'll gather apples for us all."

He leaped up, caught the lowest bough, swung himself lightly into the fork, and then climbing a little higher, reached for the reddest and ripest apples, which he flung down in a bountiful supply.

"Now, gluttons," he said, "satiate yourselves, but save a lot for me."

Then he went up as far as the boughs would sustain him and took a look over the country. Apple trees do not grow very tall, but Dick's tree stood on the highest point in the orchard, and he had a fine view, a view that was in truth the most remarkable the North American continent had yet afforded.