General Edward Porter Alexander was the master gunner of the Confederacy, and undeniably one of the great American artillerists. He was involved in nearly all of the great battles of the East, from First Manassas through Appomattox; on the second day at Gettysburg, Alexander's battalion executed one of the greatest artillery charges of the war; Longstreet relied upon him for reconnaissance, and Stonewall Jackson wanted him made an infantry general.

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...

First published in 1907, Military Memoirs of a Confederate is regarded by many historians as one of the most important and dispassionate first-hand general accounts of the American Civil War. Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander had no use for bitter "Lost Cause" theories to explain the South's defeat. Alexander was willing to objectively evaluate and criticize prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the long, bloody conflict that forged a nation.

The memoir opens with Alexander,...