Chatham Roberdeau Wheat wrote at twenty: "O how I long to put my armor on and try my lance." Within weeks he was a lieutenant in the Mexican War; boasting he "had the best saber; the finest belt; and fine uniform; cavalry gloves; spurs and the finest horse in the regiment and the way he rides through the streets of Matamoros is death to the Signorittas [sic]."This handsome giant of a man went on to do all the things other men of his era only dreamed about; in a career as intensely spectacular as it was brief. A gentleman by birth and a lawyer by profession; Rob Wheat was before all else a soldier. In rapid succession he fought with Lopez in Cuba; with Carvajal and Alvarez in two Mexican revolutions; with Walker in Nicaragua and Garibaldi in Italy. Between campaigns he fell in and out of love; dabbled in politics; and displayed his amazing talents as an orator and bon vivant.With the outbreak of the Civil War; Wheat found the great cause worthy of his steel. He hurried home from the camp of Garibaldi in Italy to become leader of the famed "Louisiana Tigers" and with them fought in some of the War's bloodiest battles - at Bull Run; in the Valley with Stonewall Jackson; in the Seven Days. Idolized by his men for his courage and camaraderie; he was loved by women for his dash and gallantry and gentleness.
#1783317 in Books 1967Format: ImportPDF # 1 #File Name: B0000CNP11390 pages
Review
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful. Towering Individual of the 19th CenturyBy C. MiddletonCaptain Sir Richard Francis Burton would be a worthy study for anyone interested in the potentials of the human being. A man of multiple talents and achievements; to count and adequately summarize them all would be an improbable task. This man accomplished more in a lifetime than most of us mere mortals could in several. As a 19th century British explorer; he stands with the legendary - Livingston; Stanley; Baker and Speke. What set him apart from these luminaries; towers above in fact; was is scholarship. His writing talents; publishing countless volumes; his uncanny lingual gift; (twenty-five languages; including several dialects that amount to over forty) and his inroads into anthropology; ethnology; religion and archaeology; make him one of the truly great individuals of the Victorian age. Brodie's treatment of Burton is a worthy tribute to the man; and after reading over four other life histories of Sir Richard; I can say with all honesty; that it is one of the best.I have to admit that I have a severe aversion to that sixties literary trend of applying Freudian psychoanalysis in a biographical study. It is difficult enough analysing the living; let alone the dead and gone. Brodie is guilty of this method in this biography; however; she does it without taking anything away from the subject. Most all the typical psychoanalytical symptoms are present: the Oedipus complex; latent homosexuality; and preoccupations with sex in general. Brodie's analyses; though; is not a closed shop - she remains open to her subject. In other words; her psychoanalytic musings do not cloud the uniqueness and larger than life qualities of this man. It's a side issue; and therefore can be ignored.What is so startling about Burton was his enormous passion to know; his tireless travels and recordings of the unknown and exotic. He not only was everything mentioned above; but a poet of talent; geologist; amateur physician; expert swordsman and skilful spy. A precursor to Freud; he studied the sexual customs of many cultures and was a fierce critic of Victorian values on the subject. This man's curiosity knew no bounds and he ensured he did not waste a minute of his sixty-nine years - a relatively short life considering what the man accomplished.There are many biographies about Burton; but this one seems to encapsulate the man's spirit and zest for life. Brodie writes an enthralling biography and anyone interested in this towering figure of the 19th century; this text is highly recommended.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Perfect match of writer and subjectBy Absentminded ProfessorFawn Brodie is well known to students of American history as the biographer of Joseph Smith; and more broadly of Mormonism. Her other books are less well remembered; but in my experience so far; each is worth the detour. Herself a member of a prominent Mormon family; she was attracted to biographical subjects whose lives were touched by manias of one sort or another (her last work was a study of Nixon). While she sometimes sees their cultural deviance in a Freudian light; this isn't an insistent theme. Rather; she seems to find the greatest satisfaction in cataloguing the brazen details. She has a feast with Burton; who seems to have chosen to subvert nearly every Victorian piety and nostrum.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Three StarsBy silverspurscumbersome and not the adventure I'd hoped for; but educational
