Kentuckian Basil W. Duke entered the War Between the States when Missouri seceded, and continued to have a long and remarkable career in the Confederate military, leading Morgan's Raiders after the death of Gen. John Hunt Morgan. Very much a southern gentleman, articulate and gregarious, Duke here recounts his many experiences and encounters during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and gives his opinions of prominent men of the Confederacy, such as Jefferson Davis, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Albert Sidney Johnston. He describes life in the military camps in intimate detail, even recording the lyrics of favored songs, and reveals in its anecdotes of military life many of the complex realities of the Civil War.