DESTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION: Personal Experiences of the Late War

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1879. First Edition. Four pages of black and white illustrations, 8vo, publisher's original brown cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and blocked with border decorations and triple rules on the covers.. 274, (6 ads) pp. A very good and handsome copy, with some light age mellowing to the spine and a bit of minor wear or rubbing to the tips, the hinges strong and the text-block clean and in excellent order... FIRST EDITION OF THIS FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THE CIVIL WAR BY -GENERAL TAYLOR OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. Taylor (January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879) was an American planter, politician, military historian, and Confederate general. Following the outbreak of the American Civil War, Taylor joined the Confederate States Army, serving first as a brigade commander in Virginia and later as an army commander in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Taylor commanded the District of West Louisiana and opposed United States troops advancing through upper northwest Louisiana during the Red River Campaign of 1864. He was the only son of Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States. After the war and Reconstruction, Taylor published this memoir about his experiences.
When Taylor was promoted to the rank of major general on July 28, 1862 he became the youngest major general in the Confederacy. His promotion, over three more senior commanders, caused a bit of an uproar and a charge of favoritism. But President Jefferson Davis wrote a letter that noted Taylor's leadership capabilities and promise and said that General Jackson had recommended Taylor. He was ordered to Opelousas, Louisiana, to conscript and enroll troops in the District of Western Louisiana, part of the Trans-Mississippi Department, west of the river.
In 1864, Taylor defeated U.S. General Nathaniel P. Banks in the Red River Campaign with a smaller force, commanding the Confederate forces in the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 8–9. He pursued Banks back to the Mississippi River and, for his efforts, received the thanks of the Confederate Congress. At these two battles, the two commanders whom Taylor had come to rely on: U.S. Brigadier Generals Alfred Mouton and Thomas Green, were killed while leading their men into combat. On April 8, 1864, Taylor was promoted to lieutenant general, despite having asked to be relieved because of his distrust of his superior in the campaign, General Edmund Kirby Smith. The Congress of the Confederate States issued a joint resolution, which officially thanked Taylor and his soldiers for their military service during the Red River Campaign. Wiki