The Civil War : A Narrative The Civil War : A Narrative ( 1958 – 1974 ) is a three volume , 2 , 968 - page , 1 . 2 million - word history of the American Civil War by Shelby Foote . Although previously known as a novelist , Foote is most famous for this non - fictional narrative history . While it touches on political and social themes , the main thrust of the work is military history . The individual volumes include " Fort Sumter to Perryville " ( 1958 ) , " Fredericksburg to Meridian " ( 1963 ) , and " Red River to Appomattox " ( 1974 ) . Writing . On the strength of his novel " Shiloh " , Random House asked Foote for a short Civil War history . Foote soon realized that the project would require much more time and energy . Random House agreed , and using the money from his 1955 Guggenheim Fellowship ( Foote won Guggenheims also in 1956 and 1959 ) , Foote set out to write the trilogy ' s first volume , " Fort Sumter to Perryville " . This 400 , 000 - word account was published in 1958 . By 1963 Foote had finished the second volume , " Fredericksburg to Meridian " . In 1964 he began Volume 3 , " Red River to Appomattox " , but found himself repeatedly distracted by the ongoing events in the nation and was not able to finish and publish it until 1974 . Writing the third volume took as many years as had the first two combined . Volumes . " Fort Sumter to Perryville " . The first volume covers the roots of the war to the Battle of Perryville on October 8 , 1862 . All the significant battles are here , from Bull Run through Shiloh , the Seven Days Battles , Second Bull Run to Antietam , and Perryville in the fall of 1862 , but so are the smaller and often equally important engagements on both land and sea : Ball ' s Bluff , Fort Donelson , Pea Ridge , Island No . Ten , New Orleans , " Monitor " versus " Merrimac " , and Stonewall Jackson ' s Valley Campaign . " Fredericksburg to Meridian " . The second volume is dominated by the almost continual confrontation of great armies . The starting point for this volume is the Battle of Fredericksburg , fought on December 13 , 1862 , between General Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj . Gen . Ambrose E . Burnside . For the fourth time , the Army of the Potomac attempts to take Richmond , resulting in the bloodbath at Fredericksburg . Then Joseph Hooker tries again , only to be repulsed at Chancellorsville as Stonewall Jackson turns his flank , resulting in Jackson ' s mortal wounding . In the West , one of the most complex and determined sieges of the war has begun . Here , Ulysses S . Grant ' s seven relentless efforts against Vicksburg demonstrate Lincoln ' s and Grant ' s determination . With Vicksburg finally under siege , Lee again invades the North . The three - day conflict at Gettysburg receives significant coverage . ( The lengthy chapter on Gettysburg has also been published as a separate book , " Stars in Their Courses : The Gettysburg Campaign , June – July 1863 " ; his account of Vicksburg was published separately as " The Beleaguered City : The Vicksburg Campaign , December 1862 – July 1863 " . ) " Red River to Appomattox " . The final volume opens with the beginning of the two final , major confrontations of the war : Grant against Lee in Virginia , and Sherman pressing Johnston in north Georgia in 1864 . The narrative describes the events and battles from Sherman ' s March to the Sea to Lincoln ' s assassination and the surrender of Lee at Appomattox . Detailed release information . Original release by Random House : Vintage Books , a Random House subsidiary , issued the series as trade paperbacks in 1986 : Beginning in 1999 , Time – Life published a fourteen volume " 40th Anniversary Edition " with contemporary photographs and illustrations . This edition was sold by subscription , but when Time – Life exited the book business , remaindered copies appeared in bookstores . Relatively few copies of volume 13 were printed , increasing the value of that volume and the set as a whole . The divisions were based on keeping each volume to 288 – 300 pages ( a few are shorter or longer ) , rather than historic or thematic considerations . Each volume has its own index , which appears to be more detailed than the indexes in the three - volume edition . For example , " Rockfish Gap " appears in volume 13 of the Time – Life set , but not in volume 3 of the original edition . In 2005 , Random House published the narratives as nine volumes by splitting the original three into three volumes each . Some of the maps from the original work , hand drawn by Foote , were replaced by more elaborate , full - color maps that originally appeared in the Time - Life Civil War history series . Photographs and artwork were also added . In 2011 , Random House released a new edition of the trilogy , edited by Jon Meacham , along with a companion volume by Meacham entitled " American Homer : Reflections on Shelby Foote and His Classic " The Civil War : A Narrative :