Customer Reviews

With Porter in North Missouri: A Chapter in the History of the War Between the States

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This book is biased in favor of the rebel cause, but does quote some Yankee sources. The author joined the rebels at Millwood in Lincoln County, Missouri, in 1862, and served with them for a few months.

The first chapter gives an inside view of a rebel camp near Olney, Missouri. They scouted that area, then moved to a camp east of Middletown. There were occasional clashes with federal troops. The rebels had secret passwords and trusted guides who led them through the various districts.

He argues that rebels were better fighters than Yankees because they had "the moral high ground." He complains that Porter's men had been much maligned in the Yankee press. He tells of a Yankee taken prisoner by Porter's men who was treated so well that he was reluctant to be paroled!

He implies that slavery was not such a bad thing. Writing in the twentieth century, he says on page 11: "The majority of the slaveholders of Missouri were opposed to slavery, but they contended that it was a matter for their own settlement and they deeply resented outside interference. They would settle it in their own way and at their own time." Yeah, sure they would!

He describes Porter's moves around Northern Missouri and the strategies behind them--to divert Union troops from the Missouri River and from where the heavy fighting was going on, and to recruit Confederate sympathizers and get them safely across the Missouri River to the South.

An apology for the Confederate cause. Of interest to a small niche audience. Some limited historical value.