Memoirs of Lieutenant John M. Porter of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry
March 1, 2011
Kentuckian Porter penned these memoirs in the 1870s, recalling his time riding with the cavalry in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio during the war and regarding the Confederate cause as just. Viewing his company of men as noble warriors, he describes reconnoitering and raids behind enemy lines, the camaraderie of the mounted troops, his capture and time as a prisoner of war in Ohio, his return home via North Carolina in the war's waning days, and his immediate assessment of the heroic struggle. His account reflects the Lost Cause glow of many other ex-Confederate memoirs, but it shines little new light on the cavalry, prison life, or other subjects. Readable but unremarkable in its content; recommended only for comprehensive and regional local history collections.
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