The author joined the Confederate army when he was seventeen years old and served in the 6th Virginia Cavalry until Robert E. Lee surrendered the Southern forces at Appomattox Court House. As a cavalry officer, he served in some of the bloodiest battles of the war and was a POW twice, returning to active combat after release. He often spent 18 hours a day on horseback as Lee's army campaigned to Gettysburg, through the Appalachians, and back to Richmond,...