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Dual Book Review: The Dahlgren Affair

 

 

These Ulric Dahlgren biographies present the Union and Confederate views of the Dahlgren Affair.
 
Here is the gist of the “Affair.” In February of 1864, a Union cavalry detachment raided Richmond in the hope of releasing imprisoned soldiers captured by the Confederacy. Colonel Ulric Dahlgren led a major arm of the assault. The raid was unsuccessful, and Dahlgren was killed in an ambush. Papers were found on Dahlgren’s body that ordered the raiding party to murder Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. The Union claimed the papers were forgeries while the Confederacy insisted they were genuine. At the time, the Dahlgren Affair became a cause célèbre. The authenticity of the papers remains unresolved.
 
Ulric’s father, Admiral Dahlgren, called the papers forgeries and maintained that his son would never have taken part in an assassination plot. The memoir, written by the admiral in 1872, makes the case for the papers being forged.
 
Eric J. Wittenberg's 2015 biography, Like A Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, argues for the authenticity of the papers. 
 
Both books detail Ulric’s brief life but focus primarily on the Dahlgren Affair.
 
If you enjoy the Civil War or unsolved mysteries, read both books and decide for yourself.


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