The Young Lions: Confederate Cadets at War

by James Lee Conrad

Overview

Focusing on the South’s four major military colleges—the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), the South Carolina Military Academy (later The Citadel), the Georgia Military Institute, and the University of Alabama—The Young Lions is the story of young Confederate military cadets at war. From the opening of VMI in 1839 through the struggles of all the schools to remain open during the war, the death of Stonewall Jackson (a VMI professor), and the Pyrrhic victory of the Battle of New Market to the burning of the University of Alabama in 1865, this book reveals the everyday dramatic actions of cadets on battlefield and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811768405
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	02/01/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

James Lee Conrad is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, the Cumberland School of Law, and the National Law Center at George Washington University. His work has been published in Civil War Times and America’s Civil War.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 Schools of the Citizen-Soldier 1

Chapter 2 1861-Secession and Service 29

Chapter 3 1862-Transformations and Troubles 47

Chapter 4 1863-Coming of Age 63

Chapter 5 1864-"The Glory of…the Year 64" 85

Chapter 6 1865-"Come Retribution" 129

Chapter 7 "Entitled to All the Honor of Soldiers" 151

Chapter 8 Reconstruction 161

Notes 169

Bibliography 186

Index 191

Editorial Reviews

Conrad’s book is rich in detail, with names, facts, and dates telling a comprehensive story of these "boy soldiers."

Military Review

James Lee Conrad has skillfully told a lively and poignant tale of a much-neglected topic.

Journal of Southern History

A very useful look at the contributions of Southern cadets to the Confederate war effort and the best account of the experiences of underage soldiers in either army during the Civil War.

Georgia Historical Quarterly

The Virginia Military Academy, which later became the Virginia Military Institute (VMI); the South Carolina Military Academy; the Georgia Military Academy; and the University of Alabama Corps of Cadets all served a vital role in preparing raw recruits for the military. They also served as de facto "West Points" for the South, and their graduates made up the majority of Confederate field officers. This is a detailed history of these schools and their role in the Civil War. It is also a very readable account of the problems involved in keeping the schools open during the war and the part that young students played. Conrad, a graduate of VMI, has divided his work in sections by year, and within each year he gives a detailed account of events at each institution, as well as any engagements in which its cadets participated. Recommended for all Civil War collections.W. Walter Wicker, Louisiana Tech Univ., Ruston (ret.)

Library Journal