Book Description

In this volume of biographical essays, all vividly written, extensively researched, Charles L. Dufour recounts the lives of nine Confederate officers, who served their cause with dedication, skill and bravery. “Porter Alexander is not a household name today, but he should be remembered as one of Robert E. Lee’s most valuable officers. Bold and imaginative, Alexander was an artillerist whose service was requested by every Confederate army commander. He and eight other “men in gray” come to life in vivid sketches by Charles L. Dufour. Singled out are Dick Taylor, the handsome son of former president Zachary Taylor who led the Louisiana Brigade; Turner Ashby, an expert horseman whose death in battle typified the doomed gallantry of the Rebels; Pat Cleburne of the Army of Tennessee, who was called “the Stonewall of the West”; “Savez” Read, a navy man who terrorized the Atlantic seaboard in a one-gun sailing vessel; Willie Pegram, a shy Virginian who was a bold cannoneer; Lucius B. Northrop, whose abrasive personality complicated his task of feeding the army; William Mahone, whose ferocious fighting spirit belied his bantam size; and Henry Hotze, who served brilliantly as a Confederate agent and propagandist.”-Print ed.