Stephen Dodson Ramseur, born in Lincolnton, North Carolina in 1837, compiled an enviable record as a brigadier in the Army of Northern Virginia. Commissioned major general the day after his 27th birthday, he was the youngest West Pointer to achieve that rank in the Confederate army. He later showed great skill as a divisional leader in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaigns before he was fatally wounded at Cedar Creek on October 19th of that year. Based on Ramseur's extensive personal papers as well as on other sources, this absorbing biography examines the life of one of the south's most talented commanders and brings into sharper focus some of the crosscurrents of this turbulent period.

Includes index.

Preface -- Prologue -- 1. Who knows but that I may write my history with my sword? -- 2. For myself, I believe an awful crisis is approaching -- 3. I want to get under a moving man -- 4. My brigade behaved splendidly as it always does -- 5. We intend to fight the thing out -- 6. There is a rumor that I have been made major general -- 7. Natural obstacles alone prevented our taking Washington -- 8. He died as became a confederate soldier and a firm believer -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.