Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee's Gallant General

by Gary W. Gallagher

Stephen Dodson Ramseur, born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, in 1837, compiled an enviable record as a brigadier in the Army of Northern Virginia. Commissioned major general the day after his twenty-seventh birthday, he was the youngest West Pointer to achieve that rank in the Confederate army. He later showed great skill as a divisional leader in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaigns before he was fatally wounded at Cedar Creek on 19 October of that year.Based on Ramseur's extensive personal papers as well as on other sources, this absorbing biography examines the life of one of the South's most talented commanders and brings into sharper focus some of the crosscurrents of this turbulent period.

Genres: Civil War, Biography, American Civil War

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Gary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia, is the author or editor of many books in the field of Civil War history, including The Confederate War; Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War; and The Union War.

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid biography of an accomplished but still relatively obscure Confederate general. Writing is a bit dry, but you get a feeling for the man. I liked the West Point part best: it was a window into a place I heard much about but rarely could gleam any details. That might be my only complaint here; Gallagher does not dig in deep. We do not find out much about the world that made Ramseur, who outside of his military abilities, was unexceptional. Like most young Southerners he was religious, devoted to slavery, proud, and thought the North was a separate society. The fire-eaters still need a cohesive study of their ideology and group composition. It is interesting that Ramseur did not wait for North Carolina to secede; he was in Montgomery in 1861 looking for a command. His early death might have been the best thing for his reputation. He was a die-hard secessionist who advocated fighting to the last man. I can't see him taking Reconstruction well at all.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well-written biography of a North Carolinian Civil War General.

Ramseur was active in all of the major eastern theater compaigns until his death.

[Metal Nyankos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gallagher is one of the most prolific and consistently readable historians writing today - I am a big fan. His book on Stephen Dodson Ramseur, a lesser known general in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, is well-written and engaging. Gallagher is successful in painting a nuanced portrait of a man torn between his desire for military laurels and his devotion to his Christian (read: humble) principles. The two most interesting sections are on Ramseur's time at West Point and later his time fighting in the Shenandoah in 1864; a campaign often overlooked because, well, it isn't as sexy or stylish as Jackson's blitzkrieg-like valley campaign in 1862. As an (albeit weird bonus), it's actually kind of fun to see a neutral-in-tone biography written about a guy who absolutely hated and loathed the Yankees. And to think, Ramsuer wasn't even a Red Sox fan.

[William Olenick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This older (1985) biography of Stephen D Ramseur is a great read. The subject delves into interesting themes and crosses into the lives of some of the lesser covered officers. It also covers the general history of the eastern theater in which the Army of Northern Virginia participated.