Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson comprised one of the greatest collaborations in American military history. This, the first biography to examine them both, probes the private lives and public careers of these consummate soldiers to find out just what the secret behind their extraordinary success was.They were men of starkly different personalities, but their contrasting characters superbly complemented one another, so that together they fought the Union machine to a standstill. Robert E. Lee, the son of an aristocratic southern family, attended West Point and married a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. By the Civil War he was already one of the country's greatest generals, a hero of the Mexican War who, ironically, had been offered field command of the Union Army. "Stonewall" Jackson, a devout Calvinist, was a rigid man whose troops more often felt admiration than affection toward him. He met Lee at West Point when he was a cadet and Lee an engineering officer; Jackson was also a veteran of the Mexican War and was to become Lee's strong right arm. They joined forces in the spring of 1862 in the Seven Days battles at Richmond and went on to dazzling victories at Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Their combined military genius almost won the war, but Jackson's tragic death - mortally wounded by the fire of his own men - spelled the beginning of the end of the Confederacy.Paul Casdorph's extensively researched and sweeping biography brings the legend of these two Southern heroes to life. With sparkling accounts of the Civil War campaigns and an insightful look at the role the Mexican War had in shaping the military thinking of these two men, Lee and Jackson sheds new light and understanding on these remarkable generals and the reasons for their unparalleled success on the battlefield. Read Less