Edward Porter Alexander (1835–1910)

This is certainly the best study of the Army of Northern Virginia from the viewpoint of a participant. Unlike others, Alexander doesn't hesitate to criticize; nor does he waste time trying to defend himself. I've always especially appreciated his critique of the use (or misuse) of Confederate artillery at Gettysburg. And he was of course in command of this arm during Pickett's Charge. Readers may also be interested in Fighting for the Confederacy, essentially, an unedited -- or minimally show more edited -- version of Alexander's original manuscript. (I'll add, as a personal aside, one of my favorite ebay finds as a collector of manuscripts and postal history was an internal signature of Alexander's on an envelope to his wife. Unrecognized by the dealer or others during the 7-day auction, I got it for .99!!!!!!!!!!!) show less

Terrific memoir of a respected middle-ranking officer of the Army of Northern Virginia. Colonel Alexander has produced a good story, relatively balanced, of what he experienced, which was the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, and Longstreet's excursion to the West for Chickamauga and Knoxville. He does tend to inflate (or maybe not!) Confederate successes. There are times where later scholarship revised his account. Nonetheless, it is a required read for a serious student of the show more American Civil War. show less

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Alexander wrote two books: a personal memoir intended for his children, which remained unnoticed until 1989, when it was published to enormous critical acclaim as Fighting for the Confederacy; and this book, Military Memoirs of a Confederate, which was first published in 1907 and immediately recognized as a classic. Unlike Fighting for the Confederacy, which was based largely on Alexander's own recollections, Military Memoirs relies on a vast amount of research. It is undoubtedly show more the most accurate and most important firsthand general history of the Civil War. show less