Myth of Gentlemen Heroes in the Nineteenth Century: The Duke of Wellington and General Robert E. Lee

“…an invigorating example of a new style of interdisciplinary, transnational historiography at the same time that it demonstrates the continuing relevance, not so much of these particular historical figures, as of our continuing fascination with and need for heroes.”-Carl Smeller, Texas Wesleyan University

Foreword by Carl Smeller
1 Introduction
Prologue
Focus
Book Organization
Review of the Literature
Author’s Bias
2 Historic Context
Introduction
The Nineteenth Century and the “Modern” World
Symbols and Values
Use of Symbols
Myths and Heroes
Heroes, Cults of Personality and Culture
The Victorian Hero
Conclusion
3 The Lives of Great Men
Introduction .
Duke of Wellington
Wellington in India and the Peninsula
Wellington at Waterloo
Post-Waterloo Years .
Wellington’s Death
Wellington Statue Moved
Robert E. Lee
Early Career and the Mexican War
Command at the United States Military Academy
Texas Interlude
Lee and the American Civil War
Post-war Years: Death and Reaction
< Wellington and Lee Compared
4 Calamitous 19th Century 107 Battle of New Orleans
Search for Order
Longing for the Past
Impact of Battle of New Orleans
Waterloo Remembered
Waterloo and the English
Moments Frozen in Time
Napoleon as Antichrist
Southern Images of Blacks and The United States Army
Popular Theatrical Images of Northerners
Gettysburg as a Symbol of the Old Order
English Aristocracy Under Siege
Cities, Society, the Foreign, and the Mob
The Individual and The Lost Cause
Southern Myth of the Lost Cause
Race, Reconstruction, and Justification
Southern Reaction to the New Order
Nineteenth Century Considered
5 Victorian Cult of the Gentleman
The Birkenhead
Wellington and Lee: Gentlemen
Nineteenth-Century Gentleman
Gentleman and the Status Quo
Gentlemen and Honor
Wellington-Winchilsea Duel
Lee and the Duel between the North and South
Gentlemen, Courage, and Duty:
Lee, Duty, Appomattox, and Secession
Lee’s Burial
Victorian Morality and Vice
The Fall and Rise of the Blood Requirement
Victorian Gentlemen, Atrocity, and Control
Soldiers and Society
Lee and Justification
Education, Good Looks, and Gentlemen .
English View of Lee the Gentleman
The Titanic
Conclusion .
6 Heroes, Religion, and Sacrifice
Introduction
Religion, Duty, and the Western Tradition
Duty and Death
Wellington the Savior
Wellington as Forgiver
Wellington as a Figure of Moral Reflection
Lee as the Christ
Lee, Moral Guidance, and Santa Claus
Wellington, Lee, and Giving Comfort
Hero as a Christian Knight
Wellington, Lee, and Nature
Conclusion
7 The Legacy of Glory
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, 1863
Wellington and Lee: Failure and Success
Heroes and Centennials
America and Empire
Wellington, Lee, and the Cinema
A Remnant Survives: Wellington and the Army
An Imperial Postscript
The Falklands War
The Usefulness of Lee
Postscript: Denton, Texas, 2001
The Hero: Final Thoughts
Selected Bibliography
Archival Sources
Interviews
Internet Resources
Newspapers
Periodicals, Untitled References
Periodicals, Titled Articles
Published Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Index

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