Recommended Reading: Across the Dark River: The Odyssey of the 56th N.C. Infantry in the American Civil War. Description: The 56th was one of a few Confederate regiments that, in a three day and night battle, held Petersburg, Virginia, against Grant's Army of the Potomac at bay until Lee could rush the Army of Northern Virginia to its assistance. The regiment played an important part in all the battles in the Richmond-Petersburg area until the end of the war. These included The Crater, Globe Tavern, Fort Stedman, Five Forks, and Sayler's Creek (aka Sailor's and Saylor's Creek). And it was represented by a handful of men at Appomattox Court House. During the last months of the war, the regiment was virtually annihilated in the final battles around Petersburg and Richmond. But in its final destruction, it found itself as a stalwart military unit -- as well as giving unexpectedly a final, more lasting message to modern America. And, as an added bonus, the book describes these events in realistic detail.