Richard S. Ewell - (Civil War America) by Donald C Pfanz (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

General Richard Stoddert Ewell holds a unique place in the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. For four months Ewell was Stonewall Jackson's most trusted subordinate; when Jackson died, Ewell took command of the Second Corps, leading it at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House.

In this biography, Donald Pfanz presents the most detailed portrait yet of the man sometimes referred to as Stonewall Jackson's right arm. Drawing on a rich array of previously untapped original source materials, Pfanz concludes that Ewell was a highly competent general, whose successes on the battlefield far outweighed his failures.

But Pfanz's book is more than a military biography. It also examines Ewell's life before and after the Civil War, including his years at West Point, his service in the Mexican War, his experiences as a dragoon officer in Arizona and New Mexico, and his postwar career as a planter in Mississippi and Tennessee. In all, Pfanz offers an exceptionally detailed portrait of one of the South's most important leaders.

Review Quotes

"[Pfanz] raises interesting questions about Lee's military leadership and his relations with subordinates that have long been overlooked." -- CHOICE

"A shrewd, highly readable, and exhaustively researched account that restores Ewell's reputation as a skilled commander and one who stubbornly gave his all for the Lost Cause." -- Kirkus Reviews

"At once the most thoroughly researched, deeply thought-out, and best written account of the life of General Richard Ewell to date, Donald C. Pfanz's [biography] is as well the finest we are ever likely to get. In the process, it does much to rehabilitate Ewell's image both as a commander and a man, and instantly takes a place on the shelf of essential works on the Army of Northern Virginia." -- William C. Davis, author of The Cause Lost: Myths and Realities of the Confederacy

"By far the best biography of Ewell. The research is impressive." -- American Historical Review

"Fills an important void in the Civil War literature, while also providing valuable discussions of antebellum military life and a portrait of the planter class in the postwar South." -- Journal of American History

"Thanks to Donald Pfanz's thorough and careful treatment, Lee's most eccentric lieutenant has finally received a proper biography. Richard S. Ewell is a fine example of modern scholarship and will become the definitive word on the general for some time to come." -- Columbiad

"The absence of a detailed, scholarly study of Ewell has been one of the least explicable gaps in the annals of Confederate historiography. Donald C. Pfanz's work covers that lacuna so thoroughly that it is hard to imagine another serious Ewell biography anytime soon. . . . A superb biography of a fascinating man. The combination of dogged research, splendid prose, and an important topic ensure Ewell a place on any shelf of leading books about the Army of Northern Virginia." -- Journal of Southern History

"Through a combination of tremendous research and excellent writing, Pfanz has produced an outstanding biography of a man and soldier. He demonstrates that Ewell's rightful place is among Lee's great lieutenants, and for any student of the Army of Northern Virginia, this book is a must." -- Charleston Post & Courier

"Through exhaustive research and incisive analysis, Donald Pfanz gives us an accurate picture of a general both colorful and courageous. At last 'Baldy Dick' Ewell has a worthy biography!" -- James I. Robertson Jr., author of Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend

About the Author

Donald C. Pfanz is a Civil War historian and author of Abraham Lincoln at City Point and War So Terrible: A Popular History of the Battle of Fredericksburg.