This is not only the first biography of Brigadier General Elisha Paxton; it is a fresh insight into the nature of Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate army, and the secessionist movement. Like Stonewall Jackson, Elisha Franklin Paxton enjoyed status among the economic, social, and intellectual elite of Lexington, Virginia before the Civil War. Political debates at Lexington's Franklin Society put Elisha Paxton and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on icy terms before the war. Just a few years later, in November 1862, Paxton was promoted directly from the rank of major to that of brigadier general and placed in command of the Stonewall Brigade, one of the most respected and feared formations on either side of the conflict. The appointment was made by Lee at the personal request of Paxton's prewar adversary, Stonewall Jackson. Paxton, with no prewar military experience before the war, had become Stonewall's most trusted acolyte. Elisha Paxton's brief life was full of both achievement and contradictions. How did a volunteer soldier rise to command a brigade in less than two years? Why did Stonewall place such faith in a man he would not even speak with before the war? How could a devout Christian, who described slavery as "violation of god's law," become a fervent secessionist? The experiences of Elisha Paxton provide fascinating insight into the workings of the Confederate army and the mind of Stonewall Jackson.

A dispassionate study of Paxton's writings leads to uncomfortable discussions about Paxton's personal morality and the greater political and social context of the Civil War. Author Gerald L. Maatman Jr. dives into all of the above in objective, scholarly, and comprehensive fashion in this sweeping biography of Brigadier General Elisha F. Paxton.