Description
Greatly loved by those who served under him, Lieutenant Colonel William Gaston Delony possessed three admirable attributes: “commanding presence, bull dog courage, and superb generalship.”
THE LEGION’S FIGHTING BULLDOG relays the story of a young man, at the cusp of a promising law career in the 1850s who comes to the conclusion that his way of living, and that of his neighbors, is about to change ceaselessly. Interwoven with those of his wife, Rosa Eugenia Huguenin, the Delony correspondence furnishes us a window into the lives of independent individuals all the way through the Civil War who also happened to be well-placed in society as a result of birth.
These writings give the reader insights into what soldiers thought and felt, and of what their families went through, both at the battlefield and at home. Delony doesn’t just write about his movements or the battles he has participated in, despite the fact that he does an excellent job of relaying information on that front, he also writes about the military and domestic activities taking place, in addition to some of his innermost feelings. Delony expresses concern for his wife’s struggles with her pregnancy in addition to his own woundings, despite the fact that he attempts to play down the latter. Rosa’s letters in response express her concerns for her husband and the wellbeing of their children.
A graduate of the University of Georgia, Delony used to be well educated for the period. A lawyer prior to the war, his tremendous inherent tenacity and fighting ability made him the first Georgia Bulldog.