Edmund Ruffin A Biography

"Ruffin was the moody Virginia agricultural reformer and fire-eater who crashed John Brown's hanging, fired the first shot at Sumter, got into the action at First Bull Run, and then in a sense issued the last blast of the Civil War when in June 1865 he shot himself in the face rather than accept the verdict of Appomattox. The late Avery Craven examined this bizarre character in a creditable biography published in 1932; and if the time has come for another look, we now have it. Apparently addressed to a wide audience ('Bull Run did not end the Civil War. Contrary to Ruffin's bright expectations, this bloody battle marked only the beginning of a long, drawn-out conflict that would last almost four more years.'), Ms. Mitchell's book draws out the sad Ruffin story long enough and so indulgently details his every brief euphoria and trough of depression that even he grows tiresome." Reviewed by Robert Jackson, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)