One of Morgan's Men: Memoirs of Lieutenant John M. Porter of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry

John Marion Porter (1839–1898) grew up on his family's farm and in their dry goods store in Butler County, Kentucky. The oldest of Reverend Nathaniel Porter's nine children, he was studying law when the Civil War began. As the son of slave owners, Porter supported the Southern cause and enlisted in the Confederate army. He and his lifelong friend Thomas Henry Hines served in the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry under John Hunt Morgan. After the war ended, Porter and Hines opened a law practice together. Concerned that his wartime service and family history would be forgotten with the Confederacy's collapse, Porter began writing detailed memoirs in 1872. His accounts cover scouting behind enemy lines, sabotaging a Union train, capture and imprisonment, and searching for a unit to rejoin after his release. Editor Kent Masterson Brown spent several years preparing Porter's memoir for publication, clarifying details and adding historical annotations. This volume presents Porter's firsthand account of his experiences as a Confederate soldier and his observations of Morgan and the Confederacy.