Edward Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander (born May 26, 1835 in Washington , Georgia , † April 28, 1910 in Savannah , Georgia) was a Brigadier General of the Confederate Army in the Civil War .

Life

Alexander was born the sixth of eight children to Sarah and Adam Alexander in Wilkes County. From 1853 he attended the military academy in West Point , New York , which he left in 1857 as the third best of his class with the rank of lieutenant . After a brief assignment in the US Army , he went back to West Point to teach there. Here he met Bettie Mason, whom he married in 1860 and with whom he had five children.

After the conflict between the northern and southern states came to a head , he joined the Confederate Army as captain of the pioneer troops . During his first assignment at Manassas Junction under General Beauregard , he used a telescope on a watchtower to observe and report the movements of the Union's troops. He then developed a message system using flags, which was successfully used in the First Battle of the Bull Run . In late 1862 he was promoted to colonel and was given command of the artillery of the 1st Corps of the Northern Virginia Army . His well-placed cannons at the Battle of Fredericksburg December 11-15, 1862, played a crucial role in the victory over the Potomac Army , as well as the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd and 5th, 1863, after which he was promoted to Brigadier General . Alexander was also the officer responsible for the massive artillery bombardment off Pickett's charge on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg .

In this capacity he then led the artillery in the battles at Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor from May 31 to June 12, 1864, where he was hit in the shoulder by a sniper . He recovered completely and at the end of March 1865 took part in the Appomattox campaign .

In the post-Civil War period, Alexander worked in civil and military engineering, taught mathematics at the University of South Carolina, and became a writer. In 1869 he left the university to become President of the Columbia Oil Company and in 1871 President of the Columbia and Augusta Railroad, and the following year, President of the Savannah and Memphis Railroad . Due to his military experience, US President Grover Cleveland sent him to Central America in 1897 to settle the conflict between Nicaragua and Costa Rica . During this time he also wrote his memoirs, published in 1907 under the title Military Memoirs of a Confederate . He also wrote during this time Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander .

Alexander died in Savannah and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta , Georgia.

According to him, Alexander City named in Alabama.

See also

• List of Confederate Generals in the Civil War
• List of generals of the Union in the Civil War

literature

• Maury Klein: Edward Porter Alexander . University of Georgia Press, Athens 1971, ISBN 0-8203-0278-3 (English).

Web links

• Edward Porter Alexander in the database of Find a Grave (English)