Lee’s Colonels: A Biographical Register of the Field Officers of the Army of Northern Virginia
Illustrated, appendix, 551 pages, 2009 updated reprint. Broadfoot Publishing Co., 1907 Buena Vista Circle, Wilmington, NC 28411-7892 $35 plus shipping. Bob Krick’s Lee’s Colonels has been the definitive source on the subject for more than 30 years. Now in its fifth edition and heavily revised, it remains one of the most important Civil War reference works of our lifetime. Over the years Krick has mined hundreds of sources for his data. This includes the usual suspects — National Archives, Museum of the Confederacy, Virginia Historical Society, et al. Beyond that he has been in contact with scores of historians and students of the war, plus several hundred descendants of Army of Northern Virginia officers. The cumulative result of the author’s long labors in the field of historic research is a biographical listing of more than 2,000 line officers who served in the Army of Northern Virginia. These biographical entries contain from three to more than a dozen lines of pertinent information such as dates of birth and death, physical descriptions, in some cases major battles engaged and postwar domiciles. From this listing we sometimes find neat “Gee Whiz” facts. For example, William Allen claimed to have lost $450,000 in property during the war, stating, “I’m perhaps the largest loser in the southern Confederacy.” Maybe so, but to counter this he was said to be “One of the strongest men known in his day.” Francis P. Anderson, lieutenant colonel of the 59th Virginia, had been a filibusterer in Nicaragua before the war. A subordinate described him as “beastly intoxicated, loud and lascivious” and fond of “abandoned women.” James Henry Drake was described as a good curser and “much beloved by his men.” Henry Burroughs Holliday was a major in the 27th Georgia. He fought in Mexico and brought home an adopted Mexican who later served in the 30th Georgia. He was also the father of gunfighter “Doc” Holliday. John Baptiste Eugene Prados, major of the 8th Louisiana, was killed while pursuing a deserter aboard a schooner on Lake Pontchartrain. While all of this anecdotal trivia is interesting, the book is so much more. Krick has added new material to more than half the biographies. There is a revised statistical section that looks at ages, education, height, pre- and postwar occupations and the like. An appendix lists 3,524 who did not serve with Lee. A 16-page insert on high-quality coated paper contains 58 photos, many of them never before published. This book is a must have for any serious student of the Confederacy. The fifth edition of Lee’s Colonels proves that Bob Krick still retains the title of “Grand Vizier” of all things Army of Northern Virginia. Ted Alexander Ted Alexander is a historian and author of more than 100 articles for various publications and several books. He is Park Historian at Antietam National Battlefield.
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