author
Edward M. Boykin
1820–1891
A South Carolina physician and Confederate cavalry officer, he left behind a vivid firsthand account of the last days of the Civil War. His best-known book follows the evacuation of Richmond and the retreat that ended at Appomattox.
1 Audiobook
The Falling Flag: Evacuation of Richmond, Retreat and Surrender at Appomattox
by Edward M. Boykin
About the author
Born in Camden, South Carolina, in 1820, Edward M. Boykin was a physician who later served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Records about his military service describe him as an officer in the 7th South Carolina Cavalry, and later sources connect him with promotions to major and lieutenant colonel near the war's end.
He is remembered chiefly for The Falling Flag: Evacuation of Richmond, Retreat and Surrender at Appomattox, first published in 1874. The book draws on his own experience to recount the collapse of the Confederacy in its final days, giving readers a close, personal view of the retreat from Richmond and the surrender at Appomattox.
Boykin died in 1891. For modern readers, his work remains valuable less as a distant overview than as a participant's narrative—direct, immediate, and shaped by someone who witnessed the events he described.