John Newman Edwards rubbed shoulders with generals during the Civil War and then with Emperor Maximilian and Empress Charlotte in Mexico following Confederate defeat. After Maximilian's execution, Edwards returned to the newly re-United States and waged a one-man war against Radical Reconstruction. A hard-driving (and hard drinking) newspaper editor, author, and duelist, Edwards created the myth and legend of the James-Younger Gang, established the historical foundations of the Civil War in the Missouri-Kansas borderlands, and became the architect of Missouri's own "irregular Lost Cause." In spite of this seemingly made-for-Hollywood story, John Newman Edwards isn't a household name in 2024. This talk will explain why -- as well as how his saga is a grand tapestry of nineteenth-century politics and culture that forces us to reconsider much of what we think we know about the American Civil War.