along the line. During these operations,
Alexander also predicted that Union forces
would break the stalemate by sinking mine
shafts beneath their positions and urged Lee
to commence countermining operations. He
was on hand for the Battle of the Crater,
which began, as he predicted, with the explo-
sion of a mine sunk beneath Confederate
lines. Shortly after, Alexander was wounded
in the arm by a sniper and left the frontlines
to recuperate. Weeks later, when General Lee
was finally forced to abandon Richmond and
fled west toward Appomattox, Alexander re-
mained one of the handful of stalwarts who
urged him not to surrender. Alexander
nonetheless laid down his arms on April 9,
1865, with the rest of Lee’s army. This last act
concluded the military career of one of the
finest artillery officers in American history.
After the war, Alexander found employ-
ment as a mathematics and engineering in-
structor at the University of South Carolina.
He subsequently acquired great renown and
wealth for his demonstrated expertise in the
railroad business and penned several well-re-
garded texts on the subject. In 1885, President
Grover Cleveland appointed the former Con-
federate artillerist to serve as director of the
Union Pacific Railroad. Alexander also uti-
lized his surveying skills as an arbitrator dur-
ing the boundary dispute between Nicaragua
and Costa Rica. A gifted writer, he con-
tributed several erudite essays about the Civil
War to numerous publications. His own mem-
oirs appeared in 1907 and were widely ap-
plauded for their objectivity—and willingness
to criticize Lee and Longstreet for their gener-
alship. This behavior alienated many of his
former subordinates but is a good indication
of Alexander’s commitment to intellectual
honesty and pristine military analysis. He died
on April 28, 1910, in Savannah, Georgia, a
multifaceted leader of considerable merit.See also
Bragg, Braxton; Jackson, Thomas J. “Stonewall”; John-
ston, Joseph E.; Lee, Robert E.; Longstreet, JamesBibliography
Alexander, Edward P. Military Memoirs of a Confed-
erate: A Critical Narrative.New York: C. Scrib-
ner’s Sons, 1907; Alexander, Marion B., ed. The
Alexander Letters, 1787–1900.Savannah, GA: Priv.
Print for G. L. Baldwin, 1910; Boggs, Marion A., ed.
The Alexander Letters, 1787–1900.Athens: Uni-
versity of Georgia Press, 1980; Brooks, Victor. The
Fredericksburg Campaign. Conshohocken, PA:
Combined, 2000; Coco, Gregory A. Rolling Thun-
der and Iron Rain: The Union and Confederate
Artillery at Gettysburg.Gettysburg, PA: Thomas,
1997; Gallagher, Gary W., ed.Fighting for the Con-
federacy: The Personal Recollections of General
Edward Porter Alexander.Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1989; Golay, Michael. To
Gettysburg and Beyond: The Parallel Lives of
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Edward
Porter Alexander.New York: Crown, 1994; Hoover,
John E. “Edward Porter Alexander.” Richmond
County History31, no. 1 (2000): 11–20; Katcher,
Philip. Confederate Artillerymen.Oxford: Osprey
Military, 2001; Kinard, Jeff. The Battle of the
Crater.Fort Worth, TX: Ryan Place, 1995; Klein,
Maury. Edward Porter Alexander.Athens: Univer-
sity of Georgia Press, 1971; Trudeau, Noah A. The
Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864–
April 1865.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univer-
sity Press, 1993.ALEXANDER, EDWARDPORTER