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Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander

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E. Porter Alexander gives us one of the finest memoirs of the Civil War. His prose is lean, lacking the ruffles and flourishes so beloved by the Victorians. He had none of the false modesty that makes such reading tiresome. His book was not intended for a general audience, as were his "Military Memoirs." Hence there is great frankness and frequent passion in his story. He gives honest accounts of his immediate superiors, Longstreet and Lee; and criticizes as well as praises.

Gary Gallagher, a noted historian, is to be thanked for rescuing these papers from oblivion. Alexander was a well born 25-year old West Point graduate when the war began. His career was quickly advanced because of his mental agility and military astuteness. During the Peninsula campaign, he was in reconnaissance. He was one of the first to use hot-air balloons for surveillance of the enemy. This makes for exciting reading. It was relatively easy to get UP in the balloons of the time, but getting Down was a chancy business! He was transferred to Artillery where he remained throughout the war. It was Alexander who laid the artillery charges at Gettysburg on that fateful afternoon of July 3, 1863.

Alexander's prose is never dry, often humorous, and sometimes luminous. Following is his impression of the burning of Richmond, Monday, April 3, 1865: "-It was after sunrise of a bright morning when from the Manchester high grounds we turned to take our last look at the old city for which we had fought so long & so hard. It was a sad, a terrible & a solemn sight. I don't know that any moment in the whole war impressed me more deeply with all its stern realities than this. The whole river front seemed to be in flames, amid which occasional heavy explosions were heard & the black smoke spreading & hanging over the city seemed to be full of dreadful portents. I rode on with a distinctly heavy heart & with a peculiar sort of feeling of orphanage." (pp 529, "Fighting for the Confederacy")

I think that as time goes by, Porter Alexander's personal memoirs, written for his family and thus very candid, will come to be seen as an outstanding work both of historical reminiscence and of 19th century writing. The Introduction, in which Alexander tells of some incidents from his boyhood, is worth the entire book. But, there is more. Alexander worked either as signals officer, ordnance officer or artillery commander for virtually everybody in the Army of Northern Virginia, including Beauregard, J.E. Johnston, Stonewall Jackson, Longstreet, and Lee. He participated in virtually every major battle. He has the rare ability to desribe events in a fresh and modern manner, so that the reader is there with him in the thick of things. I can only imagine the thrill that the editor must have had when he found these papers at UNC in 1989. Alexander apparently wrote a more formal history of the Civil War published in 1907 with which I am not familiar. Although the frontispiece shows an unremarkable face, the writing shows the glowing intelligence and enthusiasm that must have impressed his superiors and led to his being given one responsible assignment after another. By being present, but a generation younger than the ANV leaders, he is able to give both intimate, but also critical pictures of them. This book is indispensible to anyone with an interest in the Civil War in the Eastern Theater. A true classic.

One of the most enjoyable memoirs I've ever read. I disagree with the reviewer who said Alexander tended to bragg about his accomplishments. If anything, I thought this book rather modest. However, Alexander is not shy about sharing his opinions, but this did not impress me as bragging. His vignettes of the leaders he had personnal dealings with are priceless and add a dimension to my impressions of men such as Lee and Longstreet. The book left me wanting to know about Alexander the man. No good biography of him exists to my knowledge. I read one account a number of years ago in 'Civil War Times Illustrated' that stated he had a rather nasty temper. I was unable to form a mental picture of the man from reading his book because the narrative is that of a good-natured fellow teling the openly honest story of his war service. I was left wanting to get to know this person a little better. This is a must read.

General Alexander's "Military Memoirs" saw great commercial and critical success when it was published shortly after the turn of the century. His children were constantly asking him for more of a "what it was like" memoir, without all the scholarly overtones. To satisfy them, he drafted a 1200 page manuscript while away on a job in Nicaragua. It disappeared over the years, and was only rediscovered about 10 years ago. With some excellent editing to fill in the blanks in the author's memory, "Fighting for the Confederacy" should be required reading for every Civil War enthusiast.
Compared to his other work, this book is much more personal and informal. He includes some great detail on what military service was like in Utah Territory and California immediately before the war. Like his other book though, he is neither a romantic about the Confederacy (or apologetic for that matter), nor sparing of his views of commanders North or South. If you have an interest in the Civil War, but not especially details of the campaigns, this is probably the better book by Alexander-praise indeed. However, the military historian would benefit from this book as well as "Military Memoirs". Highly Recommended.

A tremendous historical find, this book is the original manuscript for Alexander Porter's great Civil war cornerstone book "Military Memoirs of a Confederate". The original manuscript was edited into Military Memoirs so this book is essentially the uncut version of the original containing more personal views of the Confederate who was a great witness and participate Longstreet's First Corps and thus Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He was in charge of Longstreet's artillery barrage at Gettysburg's 3rd day and he had to make the judgment call when it was most advantageous to advance Picket's (actually Longstreet's) charge, he was in the west at Chattanoga, Chickamaugua and the relative disastrous Tennessee campaign, he was with Lee at Appomattox venturing the comment to Lee that they fight on as a guerilla force which was disdained by Lee and he made the accurate and most famous appraisal of the Seven Days battles where Lee struggled to get his divisions to cooperate by expressing that the Confederates knew as much about the lay of the land "as they did about Africa". Unusual post war Confederate autobiography in that Alexander is objective, relatively free of ego and offers his opinions on the whys and how comes without personal animosity. Plus, he was a major participant, close to Longstreet and in turn he had a great vantage point in observing Lee. The book belongs on every Civil War collector's shelf.

Edward Alexander wrote his recollections as a gift to his family well after the fact while serving in a government post in Central America. Of particular interest to me were his stories of life in the Confederate capitol and the day-to-day life experiences of a soldier of the Confederacy during the war. For much of the war he was a colonel/general of artillery. He comments on the battles in which he fought from this limited perspective. Happily, such "technical" commentary is also limited in his work. The book is well written, easy to read; and, for the most part entertaining and informative while at the same time historically accurate.

If you only read one civil war memoir, this is the one to read. There are so many positives to be found in this book that I don't think I can list them all. On the other hand I didn't find anything at all that I would consider a negative.

General Alexander wrote this book for his family at his daughter's request. She wanted to be sure that they had a clear record of the General's role in the war. Since Alexander never intended for this to be published, it is not written in the deep, dry, and dull formal Victorian style. Instead it is written almost as a long letter to his family and is therefore easy to read and understand. I spent several long nights, well past my bedtime, engrossed in the General's story. That seldom happens with a dull book.

Alexander's having written this for his family is also a plus in that he is entirely honest. He has no ax to grind, no score to settle, and no point to make. Many civil war leaders, both military and civilian wrote memoirs after the war. Unfortunately, most were written with the idea of aggrandizing themselves or proving they weren't at fault for a particular failure. Longstreet for example, wrote an excellent book but he spends all too much time trying to defend himself from the vicious attacks that were being launched on him. There is none of that here. Alexander calls things as he sees them. For example he heaps praise on General Lee for the most part, but where he finds fault, he says so. There is also a great deal of praise for General Grant to be found in these pages.

Finally, in various capacities Alexander was in close contact with the Confederate high command throughout the war. From First Bull Run to Appomattox Alexander was there. He was with the Virginia Army in all of its major efforts and was with Longstreet on his trip to Tennessee. Seldom can one find this kind of insight into both of the Confederacy's major armies. There are amusing tales, stories of the hardships faced by the common solider, and touching reflections on Alexander's last meeting with some of his comrades who were killed in battle.

Do not pass this opportunity up. This book is an enjoyable read and is full of insight. If any book belongs in a well-stocked civil war library, this one does. Alexander probably did as much service to his native south with this book as he did during four years of war.

E.P. Alexander, Longstreet and Lee's Chief of Artillery, wrote two books. This book, his first, was written while Alexander was in Central America, without access to the Official Records, etc. Thus, he wrote primarily from memory. Alexander started the work at the urgings of his children and did not intend the work to be published. It was meant for his family only. As a result, it is a very personal account of his life during the Civil War. He does go into detail regarding battles in which he participated and freely offers his opinions about various strategies, tactics and leaders. (If no one but his family was to read it, then there was no one to offend.) In his opinions Alexander comes across as scrupulously honest and straight-forward, not to mention intelligent. Later Alexander decided to write a 2nd book; and at first he used these recollections as the basis for that book (whose title I forget). He then gave up this tactic and wrote his 2nd book from "scratch". So now, Gary Gallagher has once again come to the rescue and pieced together Alexander's first writings - which is this particular book......Overall, I found this to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I have read. It is very funny at times; then often sad. It contains much information about battles; and also insights into the leaders of those battles. But while his 2nd book is a strict military tract about the Civil War, this 1st book also gives the reader a "feel" for the people involved. It was a joy to read - one great book!

Gen. Alexander's prose is surprisingly colorful. I reached for the book every spare minute I had. I especially enjoyed how he blended his personal experiences into a broader narrative of the entire war. I found myself looking forward to each anecdote and observation. He really makes the reader feel the presence of the moment and he describes the attitudes of the common Rebel soldier toward the "Cause" in better terms than I have ever read. I relished evey detail--and there were many. I did get the distinct feeling that Alexander had a huge ego. He bragged on his own abilities and actions many times, and at the end he seemed to say that he could personally have changed the course of Reconstruction, if only he could have gotten a personal interview with Pres. Davis after the surrender. That was too far-fetched for me, but I greatly enjoyed the entire read. His descriptions of the various campaigns might be better understood by using another source of battlefield maps than the hand-drawn ones in his text.

This is a wonderfully engaging memoir, written by E. Porter Alexander, engineer, staff officer, and, as most recall him, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's First Corps artillery guru. What sets this book apart is its honest, candid view of events from Alexander's perspective. Not the usual glorification of the cause and its leaders as with many other actors from the Civil War. This book stayed hidden from sight for many years after it was completed; it is a blessing to those who study the Civil War that it came to see the light of day with publication. The Introduction concludes by stating that (page xxiii): "'Fighting for the Confederacy' is a book to be savored, one of those wonderful volumes that is both instructive and pleasurable to read."

One line that exemplifies this, focusing on Lieutenant General Leonidas Pope, a corps commander in the Western Theater's Army of Tennessee, is enchanting. Polk was a bishop in his church and, for some unfathomable reason, had the confidence of President Jefferson Davis and General Braxton Bragg. When Alexander and the troops of General James Longstreet's First Corps joined Bragg's army at Chickamauga, he observed that (page 289): "So all our pious people with one consent & with secret conviction that the Lord would surely favor a bishop turned in & made him a lieut. Gen., which the Lord had not." A sly way of saying that Polk was a disaster as a general (and, indeed, Alexander was accurate in his assessment).

A couple passages that make this volume--and Alexander's method--so refreshing. At the close of his discussion of the battle of Chancellorsville, Alexander notes that Union Commanding General Joseph Hooker lost his courage and will--as did his top commanders. Alexander observes that the Union Army was intact, outnumbered the Confederate force and could have won the battle with better leadership. Then, in a passage extraordinary for a Confederate officer, he says (page 217) "Had it been Grant in command, he would not have dreamed of giving up the fight." This suggests a perspective on the war that many partisans--whether Union or Confederate--never had. Indeed, had the Union Army listened to Generals Meade and Reynolds who were arguing strenuously to counterattack the Confederate forces, the end result might have been a significant Union victory. We'll never know, of course, but Alexander does suggest an alternative history.

Then, Gettysburg. . . . Here is the poignant scene, told from Alexander's perspective, where Longstreet must order Pickett's forces (and others) to advance. But Longstreet fears a disaster, and obviously is in a state of inner turmoil (see pages 254 and following). At one point, it is almost as if he were giving Alexander the task of deciding whether or not the charge takes place. At a later time, Longstreet expresses openly his fear (page 261): "I don't want to make this attack--I believe it will fail--I do not see how it can succeed--I would not make it even now, but that Gen. Lee has ordered & expects it."

So, in the end, this is a wonderful first person description of the war, one of the finest of Civil War memoirs.