Preview: Barringer, “Fighting for General Lee”

Newly released from Savas Beatie is Sheridan R. “Butch” Barringer’s biography Fighting for General Lee: Confederate General Rufus Barringer and the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade. Barringer (Rufus, that is) served in the cavalry from the Peninsula until his capture at Namozine Church on April 3, 1865, first as a lieutenant in the 1st N. C. Cavalry and finally as Brigadier General in command of the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade (he was seriously wounded in the face at Brandy Station in June, 1863 and missed the Gettysburg Campaign). During his captivity, he was introduced to Abraham Lincoln at City Point, VA. After the war, the author argues, Barringer was a vocal supporter cooperation with Reconstruction efforts.

What you get: 282 pages of narrative, with footnotes at the bottom of the page where they belong, and plenty of photographs and maps. In addition to interviewing the General’s descendants over the years, the bibliography indicates the author consulted numerous manuscript collections and newspaper archives, in addition to published primary and secondary accounts. Testimonials include cav guys Ed Longacre, Chris Hartley, and Eric Wittenberg, as well as long time public historian Chris Calkins.