An Honorable Defeat
The Last Days of the Confederate Government
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $15.56
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Lescault
-
By:
-
William C. Davis
About this listen
In February 1865, the end was clearly in sight for the Confederate government. Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg had dashed the hopes of the Confederate army, and Grant’s victory at Vicksburg had cut the South in two. An Honorable Defeat is the story of the four months that saw the surrender of the South and the assassination of Lincoln by Southern partisans. It is also the story of two men, antagonists yet political partners, who struggled during this time to achieve their own differing visions for the South: Jefferson Davis, the autocratic president of the Confederate States, who vowed never to surrender whatever the cost; and the practical and warm General John C. Breckinridge, secretary of war, who hoped pragmatism would save the shattered remnants of the land he loved so dearly.
Pulitzer Prize nominee William C. Davis traces the astounding flight of these men, and the entire Confederate cabinet, as they flee south from Richmond by train, then by mule, then on foot. Using original research, he narrates, with dramatic style and clear historical accuracy, the futile quarrels of Davis and Breckinridge as they try to evade bands of Northern pursuers and describes their eventual - and separate - captures. The result is a rich canvas of a time of despair and defeat, a charged tale full of physical adventure and political battle that sweeps from the marble halls of Richmond to a dingy room in a Havana hotel.
©2001 William C. Davis (P)2021 Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
-
Look Away!
- A History of the Confederate States of America
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 23 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William C. Davis, one of America’s best Civil War historians, here offers a definitive portrait of the Confederacy unlike any that has come before. Drawing on decades of writing and research among an unprecedented number of archives, Look Away! tells the story of the Confederate States of America not simply as a military saga (although it is that), but rather as a full portrait of a society and incipient nation.
-
-
Not even close
- By Anonymous User on 08-28-23
By: William C. Davis
-
The Impending Crisis
- America Before the Civil War: 1848-1861
- By: David M. Potter, Don E. Fehrenbacher
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern secession.
-
-
A Slog for Sure
- By Brux on 04-13-17
By: David M. Potter, and others
-
The Greatest Fury
- The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From master historian William C. Davis, the definitive story of the Battle of New Orleans, the fight that decided the ultimate fate not only of the War of 1812 but the future course of the fledgling American republic. It was a battle that could not be won. Outnumbered farmers, merchants, backwoodsmen, smugglers, slaves, and Choctaw Indians, many of them unarmed, were up against the cream of the British army, professional soldiers who had defeated the great Napoleon and set Washington, DC, ablaze.
-
-
Mispronounced names and locations
- By Anonymous User on 06-02-22
By: William C. Davis
-
The Middle Kingdoms
- A New History of Central Europe
- By: Martyn Rady
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture.
-
-
Marred by the errors in the modern section
- By Paul Boothroyd on 10-20-23
By: Martyn Rady
-
Mr. Lincoln's Army
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificent history of the opening years of the Civil War by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton. The first book in Bruce Catton's Pulitzer Prize-winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln's Army is a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan.
-
-
Very poor reader with great material
- By L Day on 07-28-16
By: Bruce Catton
-
Revolutionary Spring
- Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Christopher Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As history, the uprisings of 1848 have long been overshadowed by the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century. And yet in 1848 nearly all of Europe was aflame with conflict. Parallel political tumults spread like brush fire across the entire continent, leading to significant changes that continue to shape our world today. These battles for the future were fought with one eye kept squarely on the past. Revolutionary Spring is a new understanding of 1848 that offers chilling parallels to our present moment.
-
-
Like the revolutions, it got off to a good start
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
-
Look Away!
- A History of the Confederate States of America
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 23 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William C. Davis, one of America’s best Civil War historians, here offers a definitive portrait of the Confederacy unlike any that has come before. Drawing on decades of writing and research among an unprecedented number of archives, Look Away! tells the story of the Confederate States of America not simply as a military saga (although it is that), but rather as a full portrait of a society and incipient nation.
-
-
Not even close
- By Anonymous User on 08-28-23
By: William C. Davis
-
The Impending Crisis
- America Before the Civil War: 1848-1861
- By: David M. Potter, Don E. Fehrenbacher
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern secession.
-
-
A Slog for Sure
- By Brux on 04-13-17
By: David M. Potter, and others
-
The Greatest Fury
- The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From master historian William C. Davis, the definitive story of the Battle of New Orleans, the fight that decided the ultimate fate not only of the War of 1812 but the future course of the fledgling American republic. It was a battle that could not be won. Outnumbered farmers, merchants, backwoodsmen, smugglers, slaves, and Choctaw Indians, many of them unarmed, were up against the cream of the British army, professional soldiers who had defeated the great Napoleon and set Washington, DC, ablaze.
-
-
Mispronounced names and locations
- By Anonymous User on 06-02-22
By: William C. Davis
-
The Middle Kingdoms
- A New History of Central Europe
- By: Martyn Rady
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture.
-
-
Marred by the errors in the modern section
- By Paul Boothroyd on 10-20-23
By: Martyn Rady
-
Mr. Lincoln's Army
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificent history of the opening years of the Civil War by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton. The first book in Bruce Catton's Pulitzer Prize-winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln's Army is a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan.
-
-
Very poor reader with great material
- By L Day on 07-28-16
By: Bruce Catton
-
Revolutionary Spring
- Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Christopher Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As history, the uprisings of 1848 have long been overshadowed by the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century. And yet in 1848 nearly all of Europe was aflame with conflict. Parallel political tumults spread like brush fire across the entire continent, leading to significant changes that continue to shape our world today. These battles for the future were fought with one eye kept squarely on the past. Revolutionary Spring is a new understanding of 1848 that offers chilling parallels to our present moment.
-
-
Like the revolutions, it got off to a good start
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
-
Phantom Terror
- Political Paranoia and the Creation of the Modern State, 1789 - 1848
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phantom Terror explores this troubled, fascinating period, when politicians and cultural leaders from Edmund Burke to Mary Shelley were forced to choose sides and either support or resist the counterrevolutionary spirit embodied in the newly omnipotent central states. The turbulent political situation that coalesced during this era would lead directly to the revolutions of 1848 and to the collapse of order in World War I.
-
-
Amazing
- By Mike Johnson on 07-14-15
By: Adam Zamoyski
-
President Garfield
- From Radical to Unifier
- By: CW Goodyear
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In “the most comprehensive Garfield biography in almost fifty years” (The Wall Street Journal), C.W. Goodyear charts the life and times of one of the most remarkable Americans ever to win the Presidency. Progressive firebrand and conservative compromiser; Union war hero and founder of the first Department of Education; Supreme Court attorney and abolitionist preacher; mathematician and canalman; crooked election-fixed and clean-government champion; Congressional chieftain and gentleman-farmer; the last president to be born in a log cabin; the second to be assassinated.
-
-
A wonderful servant to the world
- By James T. Hackett on 08-15-23
By: CW Goodyear
-
Our First Civil War
- Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution.
-
-
Not a fresh take on the Revolution
- By James on 01-05-22
By: H. W. Brands
-
Battle Cry of Freedom
- The Civil War Era
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 39 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Battle Cry of Freedom vividly traces how a new nation was forged when a war both sides were sure would amount to little dragged for four years and cost more American lives than all other wars combined. Narrator Jonathan Davis powerful reading brings to life the many voices of the Civil War.
-
-
Excellent Book
- By J. Weston on 12-11-20
-
Fateful Lightning
- A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 26 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Fateful Lightning, two-time Lincoln Prize-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. He examines the strategy, the tactics, and the logistics of the Civil War and brings the most recent historical thinking to bear on emancipation, the presidency and the war powers, the blockade and international law, and the role of intellectuals, North and South.
-
-
The worst part of this book is it's title
- By Rodney on 11-19-13
By: Allen C. Guelzo
-
Bismarck's War
- The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Rachel Chrastil
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century. In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full.
-
-
It's rare I don't finish a book...
- By Chris Corsini on 09-26-23
By: Rachel Chrastil
-
1861: The Civil War Awakening
- By: Adam Goodheart
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of our defining national drama, 1861 presents a gripping and original account of how the Civil War began. 1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields. Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded, inspiring a new generation to reject their parents' faith in compromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in the name of an ideal.
-
-
Not what I expected
- By Sol on 07-01-11
By: Adam Goodheart
-
No Man’s Land
- 1918, the Last Year of the Great War
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. In this audiobook, participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year.
-
-
Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
- By Hellocat on 04-04-18
By: John Toland
-
The Blazing World
- A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
- By: Jonathan Healey
- Narrated by: Oliver Hembrough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.
-
-
Been looking for this book for a long time
- By cmurrell on 07-30-23
By: Jonathan Healey
-
Longstreet
- The Confederate General Who Defied the South
- By: Elizabeth Varon
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was the most remarkable political about-face in American history. During the Civil War, General James Longstreet fought tenaciously for the Confederacy. He was alongside Lee at Gettysburg (and counseled him not to order the ill-fated attacks on entrenched Union forces there). He won a major Confederate victory at Chickamauga and was seriously wounded during a later battle.
-
-
Interesting history. Got very preachy. Don't buy.
- By Charles on 05-13-24
By: Elizabeth Varon
-
The Wandering Army
- The Campaigns That Transformed the British Way of War
- By: Huw J. Davies
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A compelling history of the British Army in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—showing how the military gathered knowledge from campaigns across the globe.
-
-
A Standard for Historical Writing
- By Dennis Jameson on 02-04-23
By: Huw J. Davies
-
American Moonshot
- John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
- By: Douglas Brinkley
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the award-winning historian and perennial New York Times best-selling author takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and America’s race to the moon.
-
-
This narrator sounds like a frikkin robot! 👎👎👎
- By Timothy Anderson on 04-04-19
By: Douglas Brinkley
What listeners say about An Honorable Defeat
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Syd D
- 06-08-24
A Riveting Account of the Confederacy's Final Days
I recently finished listening to An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government by William C. Davis, narrated by John Lescault, and found it to be a fantastic read. Having always wanted to learn about the final days of the Confederacy, this book provided an excellently written, in-depth account of the struggles faced by Lee's army leading to his surrender.
The narrative thoroughly covers Jefferson Davis' transition to a fugitive and his eventual capture. What stood out to me personally was the detailed account of John C. Breckinridge’s role as Secretary of War and his intriguing international escape from the US Government. The storytelling was incredible, and Lescault’s narration was the best I’ve heard. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this pivotal moment in history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brian
- 02-14-24
History buff?
if you are interested history of the Civil War than this book is for you.
listen to the final hope of the CSA leaders.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- adds
- 09-09-23
Wow
First a warning that the recording is a bit off. Some times it is extremely fast and then suddenly slows. Aside from that the stories of escape and attempts to escape by the Confederate cabinet just become more and more crazy. The details provided by the author are incredible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Youth in Asia
- 09-05-23
EPIC!
I seldom complete an audiobook so quickly, but this one is absolutely enthralling. William C. Davis is such a good writer, and I have enjoyed at least a half dozen of his works, but An Honorable Defeat is just so good. Beginning with the last days of the Siege of Petersburg, the book tells of the efforts of the Secretary of War, the illustrious statesman and general John C. Breckinridge, to influence President Davis and to wind down the war.
After the fall of Petersburg, the evacuation of Richmond, and a Confederate government in almost continuous flight, the author provides a riveting play-by-play of the disintegration of both the war effort and of Davis’ inner circle, and of the fascinating adventures of the diverging parties of government officials attempting to escape capture. The irony in all of this is that, during the dying gasps of the Confederate cause, its most powerful and respected official and representative was not the contentious President Davis, but rather the renowned Kentucky statesman and former US Vice President whose loss of the Presidential Election of 1860 had, against his own wishes, brought about secession in the first place.
The author is, as always, neutral and fair in his assessment of complicated and often self-contradictory historical personages. I can’t say enough good things about this book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!