Edward Porter Alexander (American National Biography)
Scholarship
Alexander's most enduring postwar legacy was a body of writings about his Confederate service. He published important essays in the popular Battles and Leaders of the Civil War series (4 vols., 1887-1888), the Southern Historical Society Papers ("The Seven Days Battle" [Jan. 1876]; "Causes of Lee's Defeat at Gettysburg" [Sept. 1877]; "Sketch of Longstreet's Division" [Oct., Nov., and Dec. 1881 and Jan.-Feb. 1882]; "The Battle of Fredericksburg" [Aug.-Sept. 1882 and Oct.-Nov. 1882]; and "Confederate Artillery Service" [Feb.-Mar. 1883]), and the 1908 Annual Report of the American Historical Association. While in Nicaragua, he wrote a long memoir intended for his family (published in 1989 as Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander, ed. Gary W. Gallagher), which he revised heavily to produce Military Memoirs of a Confederate: A Critical Narrative (1907). Unmatched among the writings of ex-Confederates for their impartiality and brilliant analysis, Alexander's two reminiscences also offer splendid anecdotes about prominent individuals and famous events.
Gary W. Gallagher, "Alexander, Edward Porter," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00011.html.