Wandering to Glory; Confederate Veterans Remember Evans' Brigade

Colombia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2002. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xviii, [2], 331, [1] pages. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page. Inscription reads For David Maxwell: Colleague & Friend D B Stone. Endpaper maps. Includes List of Illustrations, Preface, Acknowledgments, Introduction, Appendices, Notes, Bibliography, and Index, as well as 46 black and white illustration. DeWitt Boyd Stone Jr. pieces together the words of officers and soldiers in an imaginative, nontraditional brigade history of one of the Confederacy's most active combat troops. The troops numbered more than 8,300 and hailed from nearly every district in South Carolina. Their letters, diaries, and official reports reveal much about the state's participation in the war, from combat and camp life to death, desertion, capture, and furlough. From the eloquent writings of William Porcher Dubose to the tall tales of Dock Owcen, a multitude of voices give life to the brigade's war-time experiences. The accounts also illustrate the diverse social, economic, and educational backgrounds of the soldiers and officers drawn together in the brigade. Stone blends firsthand accounts from a variety of source to tell the colorful story of Brigadier General Nathan George "Shanks" Evans and his "Tram Brigade." An independent South Carolina unit never permanently attached to a particular army, Evans' Brigade traveled widely, making its way from one frontline to another and earning its nickname. Stone profiles the unit's accomplished commander, who gained fame at the First Battle of Manassas, and traces its impressive war record, from Second Manassas to its moment of glory at the Battle of the Crater. Nearly ten percent of all South Carolinians who fought in the Confederate army were members of Evans' Brigade. Their writings shed light on, among other events, Gen. Evans' conduct at Kinston and Goldboro, the commander's subsequent feud with Colonel Fitz William McMaster, the dispute about which Confederate unit should be credited with winning the Battle of the Crater, and troop sufferings during the Petersburg siege. DeWitt Boyd Stone, Jr., is an administrator at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. He is a descendant of two longtime Anderson County families; one of his great-grandfathers founded Lander, and another, who provided the inspiration for this volume, served in the 18th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. Stone has had a distinguished academic career in chemistry and science education at the University of Tennessee, the University of Zurich, and the National Science Foundation. Inscribed to David Maxwell, possibly Dr. David Maxwell who served as president of Drake University from 1999-2015 and held a faculty appointment as professor of literature. He was named president emeritus by the Drake Board of Trustees upon his retirement. Prior, Dr. Maxwell was the director of the National Foreign Language Center in Washington, D.C. from 1993 to 1999, after serving as president of Whitman College from 1989 to 1993. He was at Tufts University from 1971 to 1989.