Richard Taylor: Soldier Prince of Dixie

by T. Michael Parrish

Overview

Using widely scattered and previously unknown primary sources, Parrish's biography of Confederate general Richard Taylor presents him as one of the Civil War's most brilliant generals, eliciting strong performances from his troops in the face of manifold obstacles in three theaters of action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469615035
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	03/01/2014
Series:	Civil War America
Edition description:	1
Pages:	570
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.60(d)

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An engaging and exhaustively researched biography of an important and intriguing, though rarely studied, Confederate leader.—Kirkus Reviews

Son of a president, plantation aristocrat, distinguished soldier, and author of an oft-quoted memoir, Richard Taylor epitomized much of what was the Southern Confederacy. Michael Parrish has not merely assembled a wealth of information on Taylor; in this long-needed biography, Parrish has as well caught the excitement and the achievements of Taylor as no previous writer ever has.—James I. Robertson, Jr., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Richard Taylor has long been a neglected Confederate hero. In Richard Taylor: Soldier Prince of Dixie, T. Michael Parrish at last gives Taylor his due. . . . This is good biography and fine military history. Especially valuable are the sections on Taylor's service in the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy and his heroic efforts to sustain the South during the last months of war.—Frank E. Vandiver, Texas A&M University

Editorial Reviews

This definitive biography by the author of Confederate Imprints: A Bibliography presents Taylor, familiar to historians as one of the Confederacy's better generals, in a broader context. A wealthy plantation owner, son of President Zachary Taylor, he saw himself as a principled aristocrat and conservative critic of democracy (whether northern or southern), failing to realize that his position was sustained by his involvement in the democratic struggle for power and capitalist competition for wealth. Only Taylor's service to the Confederacy, during which he proved himself as both a combat leader and an administrator, reflected his ideal of public duty. His postwar assertion of southern rights within the Democratic party confirmed his status as the titular ``soldier prince of Dixie''--a characterization well suited to a life lived on the boundary between myth and reality. ( Aug .)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Confederate General Taylor was the son of one president (Zachary Taylor) and the brother-in-law of another (Confederate Jefferson Davis). In addition to his military career, he was active politically and was a gifted writer. Taylor's most important command was his repulse of the Union's Red River campaign. This book examines all the facets of Taylor's life but is, at heart, a military biography. Because Parrish presents a surprisingly favorable view of Taylor's military ability, a section comparing his opinions with those of other generals would have been very useful. Nevertheless, academic libraries may want to consider this solid though unanalytical biography.-- Fritz Buckallew, Univ. of Central Oklahoma Lib., Edmond

Library Journal

An engaging and exhaustively researched biography of an important and intriguing, though rarely studied, Confederate leader.

Kirkus Reviews

In this long-needed biography, Parrish has . . . caught the excitement and the achievements of Taylor as no previous writer ever has.

James I. Robertson, Jr., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

This is good biography and fine military history.

Frank E. Vandiver, Texas A&M University

From the Publisher