Loading images...
Sons of Privilege: The Charleston Light Dragoons in the Civil War, by W Eric Emerson
€5.00

Quay Books
Sons of Privilege traces the wartime experiences of a unique Confederate cavalry unit drawn together from South Carolina's most prestigious families of planters, merchants, and politicos.
Examining the military exploits of the Charleston Light Dragoons, W. Eric Emerson finds that the elite status of its membership dictated the terms of the dragoons' service. For much of the war, the dragoons were stationed close to home and faced little immediate danger. As the South's resources waned, however, such deference faded, and the dragoons were thrust into the bloody combat of Virginia.
Recounting the unit's 1864 baptism by fire at the Battle of Haw's Shop, Emerson suggests that the dragoons' unrealistic expectations about their military prowess led the men to fight with more bravery than discretion. Thus the unit suffered heavy losses, and by 1865 only a handful survived.
Emerson tracks the return of the survivors to ruined homes and businesses, the struggle to rebuild lost fortunes, and the resurrection of exclusive social organizations that would separate them from Charleston's more prosperous newcomers. He chronicles efforts of veterans to reestablish the unit and evaluates the influence of writings by survivors on the postwar veneration of the dragoons.
More from Quay Books Browse Quay Books All
Modern Caribbean Cuisine, by Wendy Rahamut
€10.00
€35.00
71% off
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
€7.00
€12.00
41% off
American Massacre, by Sally Denton
€5.00
€15.00
66% off
The Front, by Mandasue Heller
€4.00
€9.00
55% off
The Foolish Gentlewoman, by Margery Sharp
€7.00
Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, by Lee Smolin
€5.00
€15.00
66% off
Drummer Hoff, by Barbara Emberley, Illustrated by Ed Emberley
€5.00
€9.00
44% off
Ed Sheeran - Divide and Conquer, by David Nolan
€5.00
€10.00
50% off