Warrior in Gray

the long version

"A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Rodes was commissioned colonel of his 5th Alabama Infantry in May 1861. Quickly impressing his superiors he was awarded his first star shortly after First Manassas. Rodes first distinguished himself in battle at Seven Pines. From that instance, the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia were his. He gained his major generalcy immediately after taking Stonewall Jackson's leading division into combat at Chancellorsville. A Union bullet ended his career east of Winchester on September 19, 1864." "Before her death, Rodes' widow, Mrs. Virginia H.W. Rodes, burned all his letters and papers in her possession. It is only now, with James K. Swisher's pioneering scholarship in Warrior in Gray, that today's students of that great American conflict can understand this division commander of the Army of Northern Virginia."--BOOK JACKET.