Edward Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander
Edward Porter Alexander photo taken between 1862 and 1864
Born	(1835-05-26)May 26, 1835 Washington, Georgia
Died	April 28, 1910(1910-04-28) (aged 74) Savannah, Georgia
Place of burial	Magnolia Cemetery, Augusta, Georgia
Allegiance	United States  Confederate States of America
Service/branch	United States Army  Confederate States Army Engineers, Artillery
Years of service	1857–61 (USA) 1861–65 (CSA)
Rank	Second Lieutenant (USA) Brigadier General (CSA)
Commands held	Artillery
Battles/wars	American Civil War First Battle of Bull Run Peninsula Campaign Battle of Williamsburg Battle of Gaines' Mill Northern Virginia Campaign Second Battle of Bull Run Maryland Campaign Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville Battle of Gettysburg Knoxville Campaign Overland Campaign Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Battle of Cold Harbor Richmond-Petersburg Campaign Battle of the Crater Battle of Chaffin's Farm
Other work	Railroad executive, planter, and author

American Civil War

Edward Porter Alexander (May 26, 1835 – April 28, 1910) was a military engineer, railroad executive, planter, and author. He served first as an officer in the United States Army and later, during the American Civil War (1861–1865), in the Confederate Army, rising to the rank of brigadier general.

Alexander was the officer in charge of the massive artillery bombardment preceding Pickett's Charge, on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and is also noted for his early use of signals and observation balloons during combat. After the Civil War, he taught mathematics at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, spent time in Nicaragua, and wrote extensive memoirs and analyses of the war, which have received much praise for their insight and objectivity. His Military Memoirs of a Confederate were published in 1907. An extensive personal account of his military training and his participation in the Civil War was rediscovered long after his death and published in 1989 as Fighting for the Confederacy.

Alexander, known to his friends as Porter, was born in Washington, Georgia into a wealthy and distinguished family of planters of the Old South. He was the sixth of ten children of Adam Leopold Alexander and Sarah Hillhouse Gilbert Alexander. He became the brother-in-law of Alexander R. Lawton and Jeremy F. Gilmer. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1857, third in his class of 38 cadets, and was brevetted a second lieutenant of engineers. He briefly taught engineering and fencing at the academy before he was ordered to report to Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston for the Utah War expedition. That mission ended before he could reach Johnston, and Alexander returned to West Point. He participated in a number of weapon experiments and worked as an assistant to Major Albert J. Myer, the first officer assigned to the Signal Corps and the inventor of the code for "wig-wag" signal flags, or "aerial telegraphy". Alexander was promoted to second lieutenant on October 10, 1858.