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

Civil War America

by Edward Porter Alexander, Gary W. Gallagher (Editor)

Originally published by UNC Press in 1989, Fighting for the Confederacy is one of the richest personal accounts in all of the vast literature on the Civil War. Alexander was involved in nearly all of the great battles of the East, from First Manassas through Appomattox, and his duties brought him into frequent contact with most of the high command of the Army of Northern Virginia, including Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet.

No other Civil War veteran of his stature matched Alexander's ability to discuss operations in penetrating detail - this is especially true of his description of Gettysburg. His narrative is also remarkable for its utterly candid appraisals of leaders on both sides.

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, Biography, Military History, Memoir, Civil War History

692 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Jack Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard the editor, Gary Gallagher, of the book talk about it. I then had lunch with him. He recommended it to me for the course of study that I am undertaking in my semi-retirement -- U.S. history leading up to the Civil War, the Civil War itself, and the aftermath of the Civil War (which brings us up to today, but I am stopping around the 1890s).

I had a couple of issues with the book. First, it goes into great detail about the various military encounters and the in-betweens with an army. There is, for example, a lot of discussion about who occupied which ridge and which army flanked which. I have little personal interest in the war machinations, other than to know the big picture about the general location, who prevailed in the major battles and how they affected the politics and ultimate outcome. So, because of my lack of personal interest in the details of battles and troop movements, this was a hard slog for me. Still, there were absolutely great portions of the book that stirred my soul. There is much praise for the Generals -- Lee and Grant and for President Lincoln. Grant and Lincoln are praised for their generosity in victory, but, as we all know, Lincoln was assassinated before he could fully formulate and implement his post-war plan.

Second, as with all recollections presented as biography/history, the author has biases that may tilt the discussion in favor of those biases. I had a short email exchange with Gary Gallagher, the editor, about this. He acknowledged this, because nobody regardless of how objective and fair can avoid them. But, Gary,whom I greatly respect for his fairness and objectivity as a historian, said that as much as anyone who has written about the war, Alexander is probably the most objective. For example, he has does not always paint the halo over General Lee's head. General Lee made mistakes and had his quirks. Alexander presents them, although overall (as I shall note in quotes below), he presents Lee in a quite favorable light. By the way he worked closely with Lee for many years up to Appomattox and certainly has a unique vantage point to talk about Lee.

I particularly liked the final chapter, Chapter ___, on Appomattox. Here are some excepts from that chapter:

[p. 512]

After Richmond fell there was nothing left to fight for but honor, & that would have been the case, probably, at any time in the war, certainly in the last two years.

[pp. 527 - 528]

It was very plain that the prospect of being surrendered had suddenly become a topic of general conversation. Indeed, no man who looked at our situation on a map, or who understood the geography of the country, could fail to see that Gen. Grant now had us completely in a trap. He had stood upon the hills at Farmville that morning & watched the last of our column go in. We were now in a sort of jug shaped peninsula between the James River & the Appomattox, & there was but one outlet, the neck of the jug at Appomattox C. H., and to that Grant had the shortest road!

[pp. 531-532] [JAT Introduction: This is presented as a quote of a response Alexander gave Lee before Lee surrendered. I talked with Gallagher about such quotes. He said that the statements were not contemporaneously transcribed but reflect Alexander's recollections many years after the event. Still Gallagher thought that Alexander would have fairly presented the gist of the matter he presents as a quote. This same comment is true of other quotes.]

if there is no hope, & no terms possible, & if this is just the end, & the wreck of all things; there is still one thing that the men who have fought under you for four years now have the right to ask you. You don’t care for military fame & glory, but we are proud of your name & record & the record of this army. We want to leave it to our children. Its last hour has come and a little blood more or less now makes no difference. And the men that have fought under you for four years have got the right to ask you to spare us the mortification of having you ask Grant for terms & have him reply “Unconditional Surrender.” They call him that: U. S. Unconditional Surrender Grant. General, spare us the mortification of having you receive that reply.

[*533] [JAT Introduction This is not a quote, but is Alexander's recollection of Lee's rejection of alternatives to surrender that Alexander pressed on Lee. One alternative was to release the troops and let them try to meet up with other armies. They were desparation alternatives, and Lee wisely rejected them. The Alexander recalls:]

Then I thought I had never half known before what a big heart & brain our general had. I was so ashamed of having proposed to him such a foolish and wild cat scheme as my suggestion had been that I felt like begging him to forget that he had ever heard it. And not only did my own little plan, of running away if ever I saw a white flag, vanish into thin air, but nothing could now have induced me to miss the opportunity of contributing by presence, example, & every means in my power to carrying out the general’s wishes in every respect. It seemed now an inestimable privilege to serve under him to the very last moment, & that no scene in the whole life of the Army of Northern Virginia would be more honorable than the one which was now to close its record.

[p. 540]

Indeed Gen. Grant’s conduct toward us in the whole matter is worthy of the very highest praise & indicates a great & broad & generous mind. For all time it will be a good thing for the whole United States, that of all the Federal generals it fell to Grant to receive the surrender of Lee. The terms of the surrender were drawn up by Gen. Grant himself in a brief note rapidly written, & all the details as afterward carried out seem to me a remarkable model of practical simplicity. This is Gen. Grant’s letter, which, being accepted by Gen. Lee in a brief note, then became the contract of surrender:

Appomattox Ct.H., Va., April 9th, 1865

General R. E. Lee, Commanding C.S.A.

General: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly [exchanged], and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked, and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities so long as they observe their paroles, and the laws in force where they may reside.

I’ve always been particularly impressed with the last sentence, which in such few & simple & unobjectionable words, practically gave an amnesty to every surrendered soldier for all political offences. The subject had not been discussed, nor referred to in any way. Nor did there seem, at that time, any likelihood that there would ever be any vindictive desire to hang or punish our prominent men for treason. Nor would there have been had Mr. Lincoln lived.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an astonishingly great book! Despite the differences between our politics, I'd have liked to have known Edward Porter Alexander. This book is much deeper than almost any other memoir I've ever read, and it's definitely much more interesting than most biographies of the Civil War genre. EPA wrote this book without any intention of its being read by anyone but his children, and his candor is coupled with his being at so many significant events in the war. EPA's views are surprisingly different from what I expected of a Rebel, and his references to blacks and slavery are not at all the stuff of KKK pamphlets (very much to my relief--even when racism comes with the territory, I detest reading racist beliefs). This is by far, regardless of genre, one of the very best books I've ever read, and it's a helluva lot of fun to read!

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely well written and balanced view of the experiences of General Alexander in the Civil War. I recommend this as highly as Shelby Foote's 'The Civil War.' Unless you are a true reader of histories of the Civil War you might have overlooked this man, but rectify that quickly. Although, on second thought I qualify that by saying if you saw Gettysburg or Gods and Generals you might have caught on that he was more important than you realized.

Besides Gettysburg, General Alexander was at Chickamauga with Longstreet. And then back north to the siege of Petersburg and actually suspected the Yankees were tunneling under the lines of the Confederates before the Battle of the Crater, but was not taken seriously. The General was at Appomattox with General Lee where he made a suggestion regarding the end of the war that he was rebuked by General Lee. You will have to read the book for that story.

An interesting life postwar as well. Oh, did I mention he was a Georgia boy? Washington, GA that is. A teacher of mathematics and arbiter for President Grover Cleveland, a duck hunting friend.

Great life.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most fascinating and readable Civil War books I've come across. I don't know how I overlooked it, or failed to hear of it, for so many years.

Alexander's tale of service in the Confederate Army goes from the beginning of the war to Appomattox, almost all of it in the Army of Northern Virginia. His narrative is thorough, with fascinating details and showing what appears to be pretty remarkable recall. Because this book was compiled many decades after Alexander's death, and was not intended by him to be published in this form, it carries an un-edited feel of authenticity. Even given its 'rough' form, Alexander's writing is fluid and shows a laconic sense of humor.

The work by Professor Gallagher of editing these narratives together, and providing detailed footnotes and commentary, is also impressive, and helps tie Alexander's recollections neatly together with other writings both from contemporaries of the war and of modern historians.

I loved reading this book and generally found it hard to put down.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best among the many Confederate memoirs out there. Alexander writes with lucidity and clear focus on his subject matter. He also pulls no punches in his criticism of fellow soldiers, from the private all the way up to General Lee. I have read this book through at least three times over the last couple years and always find new take aways from it. Well worth the time spent on it.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not read this book word for word, especially about the movement of individual military units. I did love the book, however, for the personal opinions General Alexander revealed about many of the major participants in the Confederate and Union military. The stories he tells about every day life, both the mundane and horrific and serious and humerous, were fasinating. Since I am not a military expert, General Alexander's explanation of why individual battles were won and lost was revealing and helped my understand the conduct of the war. This book incorporated much of what I have read in other books about the conduct of the war and what soldiers went through. General Alexander, for example, tells of taking clothing, money, and letters off dead soldiers and deserting to take care of families back home. I'm sure his memoires have been used as source material for many writers. We are fortunate to have his words 150 years after the start of the Civil War.

[LaDene Mayville · Rating 1 out of 5]

The blatant murdering of innocent Union men at Fredericksburg--when Gen. Alexander decided to show how accurate his cannons were by using the enemy as targets--is when this book lost my interest. It's one thing to fight an enemy in battle; I understand that people are killed and, while unfortunate, it is a consequence. However, to single out innocent men, after the fighting has stopped, and use the enemy for target practice to stroke one's ego is unconscionable!

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book, edited by Gary Gallagher. Alexander made the challenges of an army engineer and artillery officer fascinating , by his obvious dedication, thoroughness and interest in his role. Far from being dry, its full of interesting vignettes and stories of his early and military life and the people he met and with whom he spent his fighting years. His descriptions show, in spite of spirited determination to succeed amidst hardship and deprivation, the steady decline of the South. His opinions on various decisions made by the leadership, and events are logically and frankly given, as these recollections were originally intended for his family, not for general publication. They are also made valuable for the time lapse, written later in life, thus giving Alexander time to reflect with gained perspective on these past events.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most definitive narration of the Civil War ever written, first published in 1989. Largely written 25-30 yrs after the war, a personal memoir by an officer who served directly on the staff (ordinance/artillery/signals) of Generals: Beauregard, Johnston, Lee, Jackson, Stuart, and Longstreet. From a Lt in 1858, and past his promotion to General in 1864, he captures the life of a West Point graduate and engineer. The story of his trips west in the 1850s remind me of scenes from the movie "Dances with Wolves". He also captures friends and acquaintances in "aside" retrospect - people otherwise forgotten to history. Overall, it reads more like a novel than a textbook, yet he does not hold back on critical analysis of tactics, that is more than second guessing -particularly at "7 Pines" and "Gettysburg".

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long but easy read of one officer's high-stakes experience with the US Civil War. I've read a good number of history books on this massive topic but this one stands apart for me. The book is essentially the guy's recollections, distillations and reflections of their wartime diary some 30+ years later. Since the writing was not intended as a commercial endeavor, the book was arguably more accessible, authentic, and eminently more enjoyable. I often thought while ending an evening of reading that I would like to stay up and keep reading until I finish the book. That said, having an interest in the topic (and likely some prior knowledge) is a requisite in getting such a level of satisfaction as I did out of this.

[Sandra Oldfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting that this could have been a difficult read given that it was written 100 years ago but it was just the opposite. Alexander has such a conversational style in this memoir that flowed and added a lot of interesting details to books that are just written on the battles. I really enjoyed reading about what would happen after a major battle, like Gettysburg, with where they went, their thoughts, small details of what they would see. Often the aftermath is completely erased from books.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A terrific text if you're a Civil War buff, this is the memoir of a Confederate General and an all-round gentleman and nice guy. Not a brief summary, though: Alexander takes you through every battle, every aspect of the war.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is possibly the best memoir of the Civil War. This was not written for the public but for his family instead. It is very frank and honest. It is very enlightening.

[Clinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexander (EPA) first wrote his memoirs at the insistence of his daughter, with no intent of publishing it. It was for family only, so EPA pulled no punches when analyzing the skills and decisions of other generals and politicians. He later wrote a toned down history book of the war for public consumption, published around 1890. His original version was lost. 100 years later, a historian reviewing EPA's manuscripts realized that one of the book's assumed drafts was actually the long lost family version. He was able to confirm this by comparing it to comments that EPA included in letters to his daughter about his efforts. This book is that version. As other reviewers have noted, the writing is excellent and very personal. The only complaint I have is the annotation of every little change identified in the manuscript and other comments. At times, these provide valuable context, but are frequently a distraction. I also enjoyed the inclusion of maps, hand-drawn by EPA. I just wish that they were in color.

[Clare Hoyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting and honest first hand account of the Confederate side of the war.

[Thomas Warger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully detailed and humane view (of the horrors of the war) from the second echelon of leadership.

[Rick Gaskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Gives a great sense of the day-to-day life of a Civil War officer. The last sentence of the book will bring a tear to your eye.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest memoirs from the Civil War. Don't miss this one!

[Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insights. Would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t have to take a 3 month break because of school

[Mary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult read, but a powerful first hand account of the Civil War.

[Bob Green]

Excellent primary source for those who enjoy Civil War history. General Edward Porter Alexander’s comments about June 30, 1862 and the Battle of Glendale (Frayser’s Farm) are priceless.

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives details on the U.S. Civil War from the beginning to the end. The book cover could be better.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best memoirs I have ever read. Porter Alexander provides us valuable information about his service during the war and his insights, which are quite good. He was at First Bull Run and served until the end. He witnessed so much and was almost decapitated by a shell during Chancellorsville. Alexander is fair, I think. He gives credit where credit is due to both sides. Despite being part of the Army of Northern Virginia, he criticized Lee for the loss at Gettysburg. That was the chapter I was looking forward to the most and it was very insightful. Read for yourselves, friends! This is not a dry memoir by any means. It is very exciting to read this book. If we want to learn history, we must look at both sides whether we agree with them or not.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the autobiographical account of General Edward Porter Alexander who served for the Confederacy during the War Between the States (Civil War). He served as a combat engineer, aide to General Robert E. Lee, and commander of artillery at the Battle of Gettysburg. I learned a lot about the role of engineers and the staff in planning and conducting battles. It is an excellent inside account from the confederate perspective. It is also enlightening about the conciliation, and hindsight after the war. The national vision of the New England colonies prevailed in driving the destiny of the nation.

[WRH · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title says, this is the personal recollections of Edward Porter Alexander who was Longstreet's Chief of Artillery during the Civil War. It was written in notebooks in the late 1800's mainly for his children and was not intended for publication. The author found the notebooks in some archives and set about organizing and preparing them for publication. Alexander is a wondeful story teller and has a very good memory of the events at a number of the major battles during the war. I'd highly recommend it to a Civil War buff.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as close as we will come to an unbiased perspective of the Confederacy. Critical portraits of everyone from Lee on down. Some strategic thinking about the war over all. Written in a very easy to read style. I highly recommend it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, fluid style. Alexander gives a strikingly honest portrait of the immortal generals with whom he served. Willing to be critical, E.P. tends to stick to the narrative around him, only rarely lapsing into self-portraiture.

[Franz · Rating 5 out of 5]

a first-hand recollection of almost all the major battles in the eastern war theater of the civil war, written by a man who showed singular objectivity despite his strong views. for everyone interested in the civil war, a must read !

[Hartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to read from the southern side of the story.