Description
Provides one of the first complete biographies of John Pelham, an Alabama native and Confederate artillery commander in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, known for his great courage in battle.
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Maxwell, a long time Civil War enthusiast and retired high school US history teacher, chronicles the life and death of John Pelham, seeking to rectify what he sees as discrepancies and incomplete accounts in the three biographies of him already published. The product of years of his own fascination and study, Maxwell is very much interested in penetrating the mythic status Pelham enjoyed in his own time and to what extent his early death played in sealing this image. Pelham was referred to as "the perfect lion" by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, considered one great battle away from being awarded the rank of General himself, and regarded in both the North and South as a consummate gentleman. While most accounts describe Pelham as an unassailable character, Maxwell has dug up unpublished and less flattering stories of Pelham as a fist-fighting cadet at West Point and about his inability to discipline the local militia upon his return from the Academy. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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