A Confederate Soldier in Egypt: Table of Contents

WILLIAM LORING is today known but by a scant few, yet in 1886, ten thousand people attended his burial in Florida. Obviously, 118 years can make a big difference in one's fame. Had Loring been a well-known Civil War hero, there would be no need for this Web site.

No one among the 50 or so American soldiers and sailors who ventured to Egypt in the 1870s had achieved immortality. Most were only looking for a second chance, and some even sought redemption for past mistakes. Loring's commanding officer in Egypt, Charles Pomeroy Stone, sometimes called the “American Dreyfus,” was one such individual. Unfairly blamed for the Union disaster at Ball's Bluff, he would later supervise the final construction of the Statue of Liberty, yet even that could not rescue him from obscurity. Captain (and explorer) Charles Chaillé-Long discovered Africa's Lake Kioga, part of the White Nile, but his accomplishments were ignored in favor of those by British explorers. William Loring himself spent much of the Civil War mired in controversy or obscurity.

Make no mistake about it, Loring was no Lee or Jackson. While extremely brave, he sometimes had trouble seeing the “big picture” while in battle. He was obstinate and headstrong, and those qualities sometimes undermined his authority. And yet.

He was an attorney and a member of Florida's first state legislature. He helped open the West for millions of settlers. He was the youngest colonel in the history of the U.S. Army. He commanded the Departments of Oregon, the Rio Grande, and New Mexico. He visited four continents, and was a respected authority on Egypt. He wrote this book.

If not fame, Loring at least deserves recognition.

As you read this work, you'll notice that despite some views peculiar to the times, many opinions expressed by Loring are more evolved than those of his nineteenth-century peers. He seems to have genuinely liked Egypt and its people, and truly worked to help her become an independent nation. Nonetheless, a few of Loring's comments, particularly those regarding the Islamic religion and the people of Ethiopia, may prove offensive to modern readers. Loring's views in no way reflect my own.

I have endeavored to present the book as it was actually published. Irregularities in spelling and punctuation are the product of the nineteenth century and the evolution of the English language. (Some terms may prompt the reader to seek a good dictionary.) The work also includes all of the original illustrations.