A Notable Bully: Colonel Billy Wilson, Masculinity, and the Pursuit of Violence in the Civil War Era

The definitive biography of a Civil War scoundrel and streetwise politico

Largely forgotten by historians, Billy Wilson (1822–1874) was a giant in his time, a man well known throughout New York City, a man shaped by the city’s immigrant culture, its harsh voting practices, and its efforts to participate in the War for the Union. For decades, Wilson’s name made headlines—for many different reasons—in the city’s major newspapers.

An immigrant who settled in New York in 1842, Wilson found work ...