#Gettysburg Battle - 150th Anniversary

Our library is actually a Memorial to those in Lowell who gave their lives to preserve the Union. For our beautiful  second floor the city purchased the three massive murals painted by the French-born artist Paul Phillipoteaux. Two of the paintings depict early victories for General U.S. Grant (The Battle of Shiloh and The Battle of Fort Donelson) and a third painting showing Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox.  Phillipoteaux is best known for his painting of the Cyclorama of Gettysburg, now permanently housed at the Gettysburg National Battlefield. The canvases were painted for traveling carnival display and were purchased by the City of Lowell for a mere $1,500 from the Griffin Amusement Company.

Here is some recent  fiction and nonfiction if yoou’d like to read up more on the Civil War.

Widow of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green

This book is part of a  series based on the real life stories of women who lived and worked during the Civil War. The author has done extensive research around the lives of military women during the Civil War for a nonfiction title and became inspired to share their stories in a fictionalized depiction based on her historical research.  http://lowell.mvlc.org/eg/opac/record/1431625?query=Widow%20of%20Gettysburg;qtype=keyword;fi%3Asearch_format=;locg=42

Clouds of Glory: the Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee by Michael Korda

Portrait of Lee as a brilliant general, a devoted family man, and principled gentleman who disliked slavery and disagreed with secession, yet who refused command of the Union Army in 1861 because he could not “draw his sword” against his beloved Virginia. Well-rounded and realistic, Clouds of Glory analyzes Lee’s command during the Civil War and explores his responsibility for the fatal stalemate at Antietam, his defeat at Gettysburg (as well the many troubling controversies still surrounding it) and ultimately, his failed strategy for winning the war. As Korda shows, Lee’s dignity, courage, leadership, and modesty made him a hero on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line and a revered American icon who is recognized today as the nation’s preeminent military leader. http://lowell.mvlc.org/eg/opac/record/1538588?query=robert%20e%20lee;qtype=title;locg=42;sort=pubdate.descending