author
J. C. (John C.) Gorman
b. 1834
A Confederate soldier turned printer, editor, and public official, he left behind a vivid first-hand account of the Civil War's final days. His work is especially valued for the way it blends eyewitness detail with the perspective of a veteran looking back on a defining moment in American history.
1 Audiobook
Lee's Last Campaign
by J. C. (John C.) Gorman
About the author
Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, John C. Gorman was raised in North Carolina and trained as a printer while still young. Before the Civil War, he worked in newspaper publishing, a background that shaped the direct, reportorial style later seen in his writing.
During the war, he served in the Confederate army and was present in the Army of Northern Virginia during its last campaign. That experience became the basis for Lee's Last Campaign, the work most closely associated with his name, which offers a personal account of the retreat that ended with Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
After the war, Gorman returned to public and civic life in North Carolina, working in journalism and later holding state posts, including service connected with the adjutant general's office. For readers today, his lasting interest lies in the way he recorded history from the viewpoint of someone who lived through it firsthand.