Civil War
Immediately following Alabama's secession from the Union, Law joined the Alabama Militia as a captain. In April 1861 he transferred to the Confederate States Army as a captain in the 4th Alabama Infantry, a unit he helped recruit from students at his high school. The 4th Alabama was also known as under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet in the Army of Northern Virginia in May 1862.
Law led his brigade through the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. At Gaines' Mill, he and fellow brigade commander Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood achieved fame by breaking the center of the Union line. They attacked in tandem again at the Battle of Malvern Hill four days later, but were defeated decisively. In the Northern Virginia Campaign, at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Law and Hood were used again as the primary assaulting force in Longstreet's surprise attack against the Union left flank, almost destroying Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia.
In the Maryland Campaign, at the Battle of Antietam, Law's Brigade defended against the Union attack through the Cornfield at high cost—454 killed and wounded. Law was promoted to brigadier general on October 3, 1862. At the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, he saw little action.
Read more about this topic: Evander M. Law
Famous quotes related to civil war:
“The principle of majority rule is the mildest form in which the force of numbers can be exercised. It is a pacific substitute for civil war in which the opposing armies are counted and the victory is awarded to the larger before any blood is shed. Except in the sacred tests of democracy and in the incantations of the orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)