"John T. Wilder was an entrepreneur, Civil War general, and business leader who would become influential in the development of post-Civil War Chattanooga. A northern transplant who made his early fortune in the iron industry, Wilder would gain notoriety in the Western Theater through his victories at the battles of Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and throughout the Tullahoma and Atlanta Campaigns while leading the famous "Lightning Brigade." After the Civil...

"In The Last Southern Fire-Eater, renowned historian of the American South William Link examines the life of Roger Atkinson Pryor-a Virginia secessionist, Civil War general, and earnest advocate of postwar sectional reconciliation. Link shows that Pryor's life involved a series of re-makings. As a newspaper editor and politician, Pryor began his career as a moderate but eventually enthusiastically endorsed secessionism and war. Unlike most "fire-eaters,"...