Gentle Tiger; The Gallant Life of Roberdeau Wheat

Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1957. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. xv, [1], 232 pages. Frontispiece. Illustrations. Maps. Notes. Notes on Bibliography. Index. DJ has wear, tears, soiling and chips. Pervious owner's (Richard S. Brownlee) ink notation on fep. State Historical Society of Missouri. Charles L. "Pie" Dufour (1903-1996) was an American newspaper journalist, historian, humorist, and book author from New Orleans, Louisiana who served as a columnist for the New Orleans States-Item newspaper. He wrote approximately 9700 installments of his column "Pie Dufour's A La Mode" for the States-Item and for the Sunday edition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune during his newspaper tenure, from 1949 until his retirement in 1978. He authored 20 books and approximately 50 articles for scholarly literature. Dufour lived his entire life in New Orleans, except to serve in the US Army in World War II in a non-journalistic role. He enrolled at Tulane University for college in 1921, although he commenced his career with newspapers before completing his degree. He ultimately completed his college degree in 1953. Dufour was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by Tulane University in 1978, after retiring as a newspaper columnist. A 1967 article in The New York Times characterized Dufour as a columnist and historian "who has devoted most of his professional life to the idea that history is news". Chatham Roberdeau Wheat (April 9, 1826 - June 27, 1862) was a captain in the United States Army Volunteers during the Mexican War, Louisiana State Representative, lawyer, soldier of fortune in Cuba, Mexico, and Italy, adventurer, and major in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Wheat returned to New Orleans. He scoured the wharves of New Orleans to organize what became known as "Wheat's Special Battalion", or the "Louisiana Tigers", a hard fighting, hard living unit that performed well on the battlefield but was renowned for its lack of discipline. The battalion, which numbered 500 men, consisted of immigrants from Ireland and Germany, as well as natives of New Orleans. Most of the men were "street toughs". They were very loyal to Wheat, who was a charismatic and remarkably humble leader of men. Arriving in Virginia just in time to participate in the First Battle of Bull Run, Wheat and his Tigers performed well in combat. Wheat took a Union bullet through both lungs in the battle; informed by a surgeon that there was no instance on record of a man surviving such a wound, Wheat replied, "Well then, I will put my case on record." Wheat and his battalion served in Jackson's Valley Campaign and the Peninsula Campaign. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gaines's Mill in June 1862. He is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. Later in the war, the fabled "Hays' brigade," commanded by Harry Thompson Hays renamed themselves "The Louisiana Tigers" in honor of Wheat. Executive Director Richard S. Brownlee served from 1960-1985. During his tenure, Richard S. Brownlee built The State Historical Society of Missouri into a major specialized research library. SHSMO's holdings of newspapers, reference materials, and manuscripts tripled in size. Brownlee expanded SHSMO's unrivaled collection of Missouri genre paintings, featuring the works of George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton; developed a contemporary art collection; expanded the editorial cartoon collection; and, widely loaned SHSMO's artworks for exhibition. He edited the Missouri Historical Review and numerous historical publications and wrote articles and essays. When Brownlee retired in 1985, Representative Francis "Bud" Barnes III, Society president, called him "the finest public historian the state of Missouri has ever known." SHSMO honored him with the Distinguished Service Award and Sidney Larson painted his portrait.