Gettysburg Requiem : The Life and Lost Causes of Confederate Colonel William C. Oates

William C. Oates is best remembered as the Confederate officer defeated at Gettysburg's Little Round Top, losing a golden opportunity to turn the Union's flank and win the battle—and perhaps the war. Now, Glenn W. LaFantasie—bestselling author of Twilight at Little Round Top —has written a gripping biography of Oates, a narrative that reads like a novel and that reveals, for the first time, the compelling and sometimes astonishing dimensions of this remarkable individual. Oates was no moonlight-and-magnolias Southerner, as LaFantasie shows. Raised in the hard-scrabble Wiregrass Country of Alabama, he ran away from home as a teenager, roamed through Louisiana and Texas—where he took up card sharking—and finally returned to Alabama, to pull himself up by his bootstraps and become a respected attorney. During the war, he rose to the rank of colonel, served under Stonewall Jackson and Lee, was wounded six times and lost an arm. Returning home, he became wealthy investing in land and cotton, married a woman half his age, and launched a successful political career, becoming a seven-term congressman and ultimately governor. LaFantasie shows how, for Oates and many others of his generation, the war never really ended—he remained devoted to the Lost Cause, and spent the rest of his life waging the political battles of Reconstruction. Yet in one of the final acts of his political career, Oates championed the cause of suffrage for black Americans, delivering an impassioned speech at his state's constitutional convention. Here then is a richly evocative story of Southern life before, Fduring, and after the Civil War, based on first-time and exclusive access to family papers and never-before-seen archives. Finalist, Jefferson Davis Award, Museum of the Confederacy William C. Oates is best remembered as the Confederate officer defeated at Gettysburg's Little Round Top, losing a golden opportunity to turn the Union's flank and win the battle--and perhaps the war. Now, Glenn W. LaFantasie--bestselling author of Twilight at Little Round Top --has written a gripping biography of Oates, a narrative that reads like a novel and that reveals, for the first time, the compelling and sometimes astonishing dimensions of this remarkable individual. Oates was no moonlight-and-magnolias Southerner, as LaFantasie shows. Raised in the hard-scrabble Wiregrass Country of Alabama, he ran away from home as a teenager, roamed through Louisiana and Texas--where he took up card sharking--and finally returned to Alabama, to pull himself up by his bootstraps and become a respected attorney. During the war, he rose to the rank of colonel, served under Stonewall Jackson and Lee, was wounded six times and lost an arm. Returning home, he became wealthy investing in land and cotton, married a woman half his age, and launched a successful political career, becoming a seven-term congressman and ultimately governor. LaFantasie shows how, for Oates and many others of his generation, the war never really ended--he remained devoted to the Lost Cause, and spent the rest of his life waging the political battles of Reconstruction. Yet in one of the final acts of his political career, Oates championed the cause of suffrage for black Americans, delivering an impassioned speech at his state's constitutional convention. Here then is a richly evocative story of Southern life before, Fduring, and after the Civil War, based on first-time and exclusive access to family papers and never-before-seen archives. Finalist, Jefferson Davis Award, Museum of the Confederacy William C. Oates is best remembered as the Confederate officer defeated at Gettysburg's Little Round Top, losing a golden opportunity to turn the Union's flank and win the battle - and perhaps the war. Now, Glenn W. LaFantasie - bestselling author of "Twilight at Little Round Top"--Has written a gripping biography of Oates, a narrative that reads like a novel and that reveals, for the first time, the compelling and sometimes astonishing dimensions of this remarkable individual. Oates was no moonlight-and-magnolias Southerner, as LaFantasie shows. Raised in the hard-scrabble Wiregrass Country of Alabama, he ran away from home as a teenager, roamed through Louisiana and Texas - where he took up card sharking - and finally returned to Alabama, to pull himself up by his bootstraps and become a respected attorney. During the war, he rose to the rank of colonel, served under Stonewall Jackson and Lee, was wounded six times and lost an arm. Returning home, he became wealthy investing in land and cotton, married a woman half his age, and launched a successful political career, becoming a seven-term congressman and ultimately governor.; LaFantasie shows how, for Oates and many others of his generation, the war never really ended - he remained devoted to the Lost Cause, and spent the rest of his life waging the political battles of Reconstruction. Yet, in one of the final acts of his political career, Oates championed the cause of suffrage for black Americans, delivering an impassioned speech at his state's constitutional convention. Here, then is a richly evocative story of Southern life before, during, and after the Civil War, based on first-time and exclusive access of family papers and never-before-seen archives "Glenn W. LaFantasie--bestselling author of Twilight at Little Round Top--has written a gripping biography of Oates, a narrative that reads like a novel and that reveals, for the first time, the compelling and sometimes astonishing dimensions of this remarkable individual. Oates was no moonlight-and-magnolias Southerner, as LaFantasie shows. Raised in the hard-scrabble Wiregrass Country of Alabama, he ran away from home as a teenager, roamed through Louisiana and Texas--where he took up card sharking--and finally returned to Alabama, to pull himself up by his bootstraps and become a respected attorney. During the war, he rose to the rank of colonel, served under Stonewall Jackson and Lee, was wounded six times and lost an arm. Returning home, he became wealthy investing in land and cotton, married a woman half his age, and launched a successful political career, becoming a seven-term congressman and ultimately governor. LaFantasie shows how, for Oates and many others of his generation, the war never really ended--he remained devoted to the Lost Cause, and spent the rest of his life waging the political battles of Reconstruction. Yet in one of the final acts of his political career, Oates championed the cause of suffrage for black Americans, delivering an impassioned speech at his state's constitutional convention."--Publisher discription (October 2006) Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Illustrations......Page 17 Introduction......Page 19 1 Rough and Tumble Days......Page 37 2 Baptism by Fire......Page 63 3 An Unchristian State of Mind......Page 85 4 Ragged Jacks......Page 105 5 Boulders Like Gravestones......Page 125 6 In the Purple Gloom......Page 147 7 Gone to Flickering......Page 173 8 The End of Chivalry......Page 191 9 Before the Bar......Page 209 10 The One-Armed Hero of Henry County......Page 229 11 Striking to Hurt......Page 259 12 A Soldier in His Heart......Page 281 13 Stumbling Toward Equality......Page 299 14 Requiem......Page 323 Abbreviations Used......Page 347 Notes......Page 351 Selected Bibliography......Page 403 A......Page 433 B......Page 434 C......Page 435 D......Page 436 F......Page 437 G......Page 438 H......Page 439 L......Page 440 M......Page 442 O......Page 443 P......Page 444 R......Page 445 S......Page 446 T......Page 448 W......Page 449 Z......Page 450 William C Oates is best remembered as the Confederate officer defeated at Gettysburg's Little Round Top, losing a golden opportunity to win the battle. Written by the author of ""Twilight at Little Round Top"", this biography of Oates talks about the compelling and sometimes astonishing dimensions of this remarkable individual