Under the Southern Cross: Soldier Life with Gordon Bradwell and the Army of Northern Virginia

Isaac Gordon Bradwells captivating personal narrative provides an honest description of those long-ago events of the 1860s which so importantly shaped our countrys history. A volunteer at 18, he was with his company aT the time of its inception and was in combat at the time of Lees surrender. Nearly every aspect of a young privates life in the Lawton-Gordon-Evans Brigade is vividly described. The intimate details he provides of his regiment and the personalities of its men give us insight that is not found elsewhere. We learn from his remarkable story that Bradwell was for a brief time a member of Stonewall Jacksons "Foot cavalry," later among the Confederate infantry making the deepest penetration into the North during the Gettysburg Campaign, and part of the last of Lees army to leave enemy soil after the Gettysburg invasion. He participated in General Ewells first action at the Wilderness, fought with his brigade at the "Bloody Angle" at Spotsylvania Court House, and was with General Early in his 1864 Valley Campaign. After fighting in the unsuccessful attack on Fort Stedman at Petersburg in 1865, Bradwell was one of the last to evacuate the Rebel defenses. He concluded his valiant service in line of battle at Appomatox Court House.