"A. C." - The Remarkable Life of Alexander Calhoun Ardrey: 21st Mississippi Infantry Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865

In June of 1861, when the Civil War had just begun to ravage American soil and soul, a young man made a spontaneous decision that would alter the course of his life. Alexander Calhoun Ardrey, or A. C. to those who knew him, found himself at Fort Adams, Mississippi, where the steamboat on which he had been working was docked. Ardrey never returned to the boat, electing instead to enlist as a private in Company E, 21st Regiment Mississippi Infantry in Woodville, Wilkinson County. What the nineteen-year-old likely did not anticipate when he signed up was surviving four punishing years in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, and emerging from a defeated Confederacy with an extraordinary war record. This is a new work of historical biography by Joan S. Ardrey, wife of the Confederate soldier's great-grandson. Rigorously researched and full of evocative detail of Ardrey's impressive life, this unprecedented Civil War account adds significantly to the canon by following one soldier from early enlistment through his postwar life as a prominent businessman in Dallas. Painting a richly nuanced portrait of this singular man, the book begins with the early days of his grandfather, James Alexander Ardrey, who left South Carolina for a hardscrabble life as a farmer in Mississippi, and ends with Ardrey's enduring marriage and its powerful and positive impact on his life. A rare depiction of one man's journey from the beginning of the war through its most brutal events, "A. C - The Remarkable Life of Alexander Calhoun Ardrey" is a valuable addition to any Civil War library, as well as an accessible, action-packed read. As A. C proves his mettle on the battlefields of Virginia and in the boardrooms of Dallas, he offers a moving example of American courage and perseverance that is sure to inspire and astound.