Memoir of Ulric Dahlgren by Admiral Dahlgren Like A Meteor Blazing Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren by Eric J. Wittenberg 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...