John Marion Porter grew up working at his family’s farm and dry goods store in Butler County, Kentucky. He was studying to become a lawyer when the Civil War began. As the son of a family of slave owners, Porter identified with the Southern cause and quickly enlisted in the Confederate army. He and his lifelong friend Thomas Henry Hines served in the Ninth Kentucky Calvary under John Hunt Morgan, the “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy.”
When the war ended, Porter began writing detailed memoirs of his experiences during the war years, including tales of scouting behind enemy lines, sabotaging a Union train, being captured and held as a prisoner of war, and searching for an army to join after his release.
Editor Kent Masterson Brown spent several years preparing Porter’s memoir for publication, clarifying details and adding annotations to provide historical context.
One of Morgan’s Men is a fascinating firsthand account of the life of a Confederate soldier.
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