Lee's Young Artillerist
William R. J. Pegram forged a record as one of the most prominent artillerists in the Army of Northern Virginia. He participated in every major battle in Virginia and rose form sergeant to full colonel by the end of the war. Neither zealot nor fanatic, Pegram shared the values of the South's ruling elite, and Peter S. Carmichael argues that he entered Confederate service to defend a way fo life he believed was ordained but God. Lee's Young Artillerist looks at Pegram as a case study to explore the worldview of slaveholders in the antebellum South.
- Journal of American HistoryThis is not just another military biography.... This remarkable book will prove impossible to ignore. Based on a large collection of superb family letters and a wide array of other priamry sources, Peter S. Carmichael's portrait of William R. J. Pegram offers a mixture of excellent narrative, revealing anecdotes, and precise accounts of battles and campaigns, all accomplished with the sophistication of the best of the new military history—a growing genre that places fighting soldiers squarely in the midst of their social, intellectual, and political environments.
- H-Net Book ReviewThe author's prose has the spirit to pull the reader into the life of a young officer who believed passionately in the justice of his cause. For those of us who live in a time when 'duty' and 'honor' are words without meaning to many, Pegram's example from another day is refreshingly reassuring.
- Civil War NewsCarmichael has written a first rate biography of one of the South's finest. He challenges those Civil War historians who conclude that a weakened belief in slavery and loss of will and morale contributed to the defeat of the Confederacy.
Peter S. Carmichael is Assistant Professor of History at Western Carolina University.
