Morgan's Raiders
by Dee Alexander Brown
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A thrilling Civil War history of Morgan's Raiders, the Confederate cavalrymen who spread terror through the NorthIn this vibrant and thoroughly researched Civil War study, Dee Brown tells the story of Morgan's Raiders, the Kentucky cavalrymen famed and feared for their attacks on the North. In 1861, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and his brother-in-law Basil Duke put together a group of formidable horsemen, and set to violent work. They began in their home state, staging raids, show more recruiting new soldiers, and intercepting Union telegraphs. Most were imprisoned after unsuccessful incursions into Ohio and Indiana years later, but some Raiders would escape, regroup, and fight again in different conflicts, participating in the so-called Great Conspiracy in Canada. The Bold Cavaliers is as engrossing in its historical detail as in its rich adventure.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author's personal collection. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I picked up Dee Brown’s book Morgan’s Raiders for several reasons. We are observing the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, I have lived all my life in and around Cincinnati and have grown up among the numerous historical markers that record Morgan’s most famous raid, and I read Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee many years ago and have great respect for Brown’s writing. Brown did not disappoint but Morgan did.
Brown writes history like a novelist, he carries the story ahead at its own pace and paints vivid scenes that come alive with detail. This is the Raider’s story. It does not simply focus on General Morgan. Brown starts the story in the first days of the war. Morgan and his first recruits are escaping show more Lexington with weapons they stole from the Kentucky militia after being ordered to transfer the weapons to the Federal Armory in Frankfort. These men become to core of the 2nd Kentucky Calvary and Brown follows that unit past Morgan’s death, past the end of the war, on to when the last men are freed from prison and return home to Kentucky.
Not being a student of the American Civil War I learned quite a bit from the book. Morgan and his cavalry road was for me the most amazing revelation of the book. I have driven to most of the locations mentioned and spent time riding as a young man and I developed a great respect for the men and animals that accomplished those rides. Morgan’s men come across as an elite unit thanks in part to training provide by a British soldier of fortune and the escapades of a daring Canadian “telegraph hacker”, a modern term that accurately describes how he gathered intelligence and disseminated false information for the benefit of Morgan’s troops. Morgan himself is revealed as a great leader but a poor soldier. His was as likely to follow his desires before his orders.
The book has a pro-Confederacy slant but I felt that, given its subject, this was understandable and possibly unavoidable. Overall the book is a very satisfying popular history that I would recommend to everyone interested in American history. show less
Brown writes history like a novelist, he carries the story ahead at its own pace and paints vivid scenes that come alive with detail. This is the Raider’s story. It does not simply focus on General Morgan. Brown starts the story in the first days of the war. Morgan and his first recruits are escaping show more Lexington with weapons they stole from the Kentucky militia after being ordered to transfer the weapons to the Federal Armory in Frankfort. These men become to core of the 2nd Kentucky Calvary and Brown follows that unit past Morgan’s death, past the end of the war, on to when the last men are freed from prison and return home to Kentucky.
Not being a student of the American Civil War I learned quite a bit from the book. Morgan and his cavalry road was for me the most amazing revelation of the book. I have driven to most of the locations mentioned and spent time riding as a young man and I developed a great respect for the men and animals that accomplished those rides. Morgan’s men come across as an elite unit thanks in part to training provide by a British soldier of fortune and the escapades of a daring Canadian “telegraph hacker”, a modern term that accurately describes how he gathered intelligence and disseminated false information for the benefit of Morgan’s troops. Morgan himself is revealed as a great leader but a poor soldier. His was as likely to follow his desires before his orders.
The book has a pro-Confederacy slant but I felt that, given its subject, this was understandable and possibly unavoidable. Overall the book is a very satisfying popular history that I would recommend to everyone interested in American history. show less
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Author Information
47+ Works 14,472 Members
Dee Brown wrote more than twenty-five books on American history and the West, including Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Morgan's Raiders
- Original title
- The Bold Cavaliers: Morgan's Second Kentucky Cavalry Raiders
- Original publication date
- 1959
- People/Characters
- John Hunt Morgan
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 973.74769 — History & geography History of North America United States Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 Civil War General military history Northeast Central or Lake States Minnesota
- LCC
- E547 .M8 .B7 — History of the United States United States Civil War period, 1861-1865 The Civil War, 1861-1865 Armies. Troops
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 100
- Popularity
- 321,271
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.63)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 5
