Confederate Wizards of the Saddle: Being Reminiscences and Observations of One Who Rode With Morgan

Dayton: Morningside Bookshop, 1979. Hardcover. New introduction by E.B. Long. Small 4to. Red paper over boards with white lettering. xxii, 633pp, (5pp ads). Illustrations, maps. Fine. A tight and pristine facsimile reprint (Facsimile 48) of the 1914 first edition, reviewed by James I. Robertson Jr. as "A necessary source for any study of Confederate cavalry operations in Kentucky and Tennessee." This copy bears fine autograph addition: Tipped to inner flyleaf is a Typed Letter Signed from E.B. "Pete" Long (1919-81), 1p, 8½" X 11", Laramie, WY, 1978 January 11. Addressed to noted Lincoln and Civil War scholar Arnold F. Gates (1914-93). Near fine. On "University of Wyoming" letterhead, Long commiserates at length with his friend about the Lincoln book "The Lincoln Conspiracy" whose outrageous untruths and inaccuracies had the serious Lincoln scholarly community up in arms -- so much so that Gates, long-time literary editor of the "Lincoln Herald," resigned his position there in protest since the publisher of the Herald, Lincoln Memorial University, gave the authors of this "expose" honorary degrees! Reads in part: "Just when we thought that The Lincoln Herald was under capable hands, Gerald [McMurtry] is gone and you have been forced to resign. It is a sad day. How the people at LMU could have given honorary degrees to the so-called authors of this trash is more than I can fathom. I saw Ralph Newman in Chicago this November and I can only describe his attitude toward their actions as 'furious.' It is all inexplicable, disheartening and discouraging. To try for historical accuracy, to have principles, to follow good historical methodology is quite beyond these charlatans who turn out such profitable junk...." Signed simply "Pete" in blue ballpoint. NEVINS I, 183.