A Confederate Cannoneer at Gettysburg: The Life and Career of Edward Porter Alexander
ISBN: 9781493649341- Includes pictures of Porter Alexander and other Civil War generals, as well as maps of important battles.
- Includes Alexander's descriptions of important battles, including Gettysburg, and his analysis of them from his memoirs.
- Includes a Bibliography for further reading.
- Includes a Table of Contents.
In the narrative of the Civil War, Edward Porter Alexander has loomed larger in death than in life. Just 25 years old when the war broke out, Porter Alexander had already served as an engineer and officer in the U.S. Army, but the native Georgian resigned his commission in May 1861 and joined the Confederacy after his home state seceded.
Porter Alexander spent 1861 as an intelligence officer, and he served as part of a signal guard, but he soon became chief of ordnance for Joseph Johnston's army near Richmond. Half a year later, Johnston would be injured during the Peninsula Campaign at the Battle of Seven Pines, after which he was replaced by Robert E. Lee. Over the course of 1862, Porter Alexander took on more roles in the Army of Northern Virginia's artillery branch, particularly under James Longstreet's 1st Corps.