A Stillness at Appomattox A Stillness at Appomattox ( 1953 ) is an award - winning , non - fiction book written by Bruce Catton . It recounts the American Civil War ' s final year , describing the campaigns of Ulysses S . Grant in Virginia during 1864 to the end of the war in 1865 . It is the final volume of the Army of the Potomac trilogy that includes " Mr . Lincoln ' s Army " ( 1951 ) and " Glory Road " ( 1952 ) . Content . " A Stillness at Appomattox " is a history on the American Civil War that recounts the final year . Some of Catton ' s extensive work describes the Battle of the Wilderness , the assault of the Mule Shoe at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House , the Battle of Cold Harbor , the Battle of the Crater and the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse . Catton ' s work describes the campaigns of Ulysses S . Grant in Virginia during 1864 . The lengthy work follows Grant ' s campaigns from early 1864 to the end of the war . Other American Civil War generals he describes include George Gordon Meade , Philip Sheridan , and Robert E . Lee . It is the third volume of the Army of the Potomac trilogy that includes " Mr . Lincoln ' s Army " ( 1951 ) and " Glory Road " ( 1952 ) . Sources . Notes at the end of the book show that Catton used various collections of unpublished letters written by Federal soldiers , personal diaries of spouses and relatives , memoirs of soldiers and their families and official war records . These are described in length as they pertain to the various chapters at the end of Catton ' s work . Also here are many autobiographies , biographical studies and memoirs of descendents of soldiers and ranking personnel . There is even a collection of letters referenced from Major General U . S . Grant III on recalling anecdotes and family recollections about his famous grandfather Ulysses S . Grant . Catton notes that he relied heavily on " War of the Rebellion : A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies " published by the United States Department of War in 1902 . Other major works he consulted were " Appleton ' s Cyclopedia of American Biography " ( 1888 ) , edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske , and " Dictionary of American Biography " ( 1943 ) , edited by Dumas Malone . Catton also provides a list of over 200 other works he consulted in a Bibliography for this work . The citation of the award reads : Bruce Catton . Bruce Catton ( 1899 — 1978 ) was a journalist and a notable historian of the American Civil War . Catton was known as a narrative historian who specialized in popular histories that emphasized the colorful characters and vignettes of history , in addition to the simple dates , facts , and analyses . His works , although well - researched , were generally not presented in a rigorous academic style , supported by footnotes . In the long line of Civil War historians , Catton is arguably the most prolific and popular of all , with Shelby Foote his only conceivable rival . Oliver Jensen , who succeeded him as editor of " American Heritage " magazine , wrote : " There is a near - magic power of imagination in Catton ' s work that seemed to project him physically into the battlefields , along the dusty roads and to the campfires of another age . "