One of Morgan's Men: Memoirs of Lieutenant John M. Porter of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry ed. by Kent Masterson Brown (review)

Fasten your seatbelts and prepare to follow this amazing young American through four years of bloody conflict during the War for Southern Independence. John M. Porter, just twenty-two years of age when the American Civil War began in 1861, wastes no time describing the monotony of camp life, long marches, or poor food; rather, he brings his reader quickly along with him through some of his most daring exploits during the war. Residing with his family in southeastern Butler County, Kentucky, Porter, like many others in that region, decided to place his allegiance with the Confederate States of America. By fall 1861, he was acting as a scout and guide for Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, whose command was operating in the area. Upon concluding Buckner's assignments, the young Confederate knew the next unit he wanted to join, the highly regarded command of Col. John Hunt Morgan. Catching up to Colonel Morgan's command in the summer of 1862, Porter joined the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry and participated in numerous skirmishes, raids, scouts, and battles. Only a year later, however, Porter and several others were captured during a mission into Indiana and Ohio. By the end of July 1863, Colonel Morgan and many of his command were captured as far north as East Liverpool, Ohio. Porter, and other Confederate officers captured in recent battles, like Gettysburg, spent the rest of the war in the prisoner-of-war camp on Johnson's Island, on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.

Kent Masterson Brown, author of the definitive work Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign, masterfully brings to light the story of John M. Porter and his experiences with Morgan's Raiders during the war. The author's editorial notes at the beginning of each chapter do not stand in the way of Porter's narrative coming to life; they bring the reader further into his world by identifying people, places, and other events taking place between the belligerent armies in the western theater. Additionally, the endnotes for each chapter demonstrate the depth of material and resources Brown used to research and verify the events in which John Porter participated. The editor also successfully organizes and presents additional material outside of the original manuscript. In the end, he is able to supply the reader with information that was lost generations ago and with which Porter assumed the reader would have been familiar.

A shortcoming to the volume, however, is the maps present therein. Most of these are sweeping in nature, covering large spans of time and are consequently small to fit the subsequent information. More maps, with shorter spans of time and more details as the area of operation, would only heighten the already incredible experience that this work relates.

Nevertheless, Porter's words, with the help of Brown's annotations, editing, and maps, succeed in filling a large void of written material about those who rode with Colonel Morgan during the war. Previously, those looking to explore the lives of these men had only the memoirs of Brig. Gen. Basil Duke through which to experience the exploits of Colonel Morgan and his daring and famous raids. Kent Masterson Brown has helped fill the gap by bringing this unique memoir to the forefront of Civil War literature. Prepare with "Boots and Saddles," and ride into history with One of Morgan's Men: Memoirs of Lieutenant John M. Porter of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry.