New Book Tells Full History of Civil War North Carolina Cavalry Commander for First Time

March 7, 2016, El Dorado Hills, CA – Savas Beatie recently announced the release of Sheridan Barringer’s new book, Fighting for General Lee: Confederate General Rufus Barringer and the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade, which details the entire history of this little known but long-deserving cavalry general for the first time.

Rufus Barringer fought on horseback through most of the Civil War with General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and rose to lead the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade in some of the war’s most difficult combats. Drawing upon a wide array of newspapers, diaries, letters, and previously unpublished family documents and photographs, as well as other firsthand accounts, author Sheridan Barringer paints a broad, deep, and colorful portrait of this overlooked Southern cavalry commander. Despite its subject matter, the book provides a balanced account that concludes Barringer was a dependable, hard-hitting warrior increasingly called upon to lead attacks against superior Union forces.

“Comrades described him as ‘a most excellent officer’ who displayed ‘great skill and valor’ in battle, and as ‘one of the best organizers and disciplinarians in the service,’ but until now, General Rufus Barringer escaped the attention of serious biographers. It fell to Sheridan ‘Butch’ Barringer, a cousin of the Tar Heel cavalryman, to pen this welcome and deeply researched biography. Fighting for General Lee fills a gap in the literature of North Carolina’s contribution to the war that will stand as the definitive word on General Barringer,” said Chris Hartley, author of Stuart’s Tarheels: James B. Gordon and His North Carolina Cavalry in the Civil War.

Author Barringer is pleased with the end result of his research and writing. “Altogether, the journey has been an extremely rewarding experience, and hopefully, highlights Rufus Barringer’s contributions made to the citizens of the ‘Old North State,’” said Barringer.

About the Author: Sheridan R. “Butch” Barringer lives with his wife, Pam, in Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Tech and worked as a mechanical engineer and project manager for nearly four decades with NASA. Butch’s interests include studying Civil War history, with an emphasis on the cavalry, and physics and cosmology. Butch has two other books under contract with Savas Beatie: a biography of General Thomas L. Rosser, and an edited memoir written by Rosser. He is currently at work on a biography of Colonel Thomas T. Munford.

About Savas Beatie LLC: Savas Beatie LLC is a leading military and general history publishing company. Read more about Fighting for General Lee, including excerpts from the book: http://tinyurl.com/zshso5t.

Contact: Michele Sams, Savas Beatie LLC
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 916-941-6896, Fax: 916-941-6895