From Bull Run to Appomattox: A Boy's View: A First Hand Account from One of Robert E. Lee's Body Guards, complete with Interesting Footnotes, Photos and Maps

Luther Hopkins was a seventeen year old boy in Middleburg, Virginia when the Civil War broke out. He and his three brothers, along with twenty other classmates, enlisted to fight in the war. Many of this group died at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pickett's Charge. Luther stayed in the same company throughout his four years in the war - that being the 6th Virginia Cavalry. He shares his first hand experiences where he faced close saber and pistol combat, was captured twice and imprisoned, became seriously ill and watched his brothers and friends die. Luther was once assigned as part of Robert E. Lee's bodyguards and rode on a raid with the legendary John Mosby. Luther was on his way back to rejoin his company in April of 1865 when General Lee surrendered. Most of the men in Luther's squad also surrendered, but Luther, now twenty one years old, refused to give up and made his way home without surrendering. Forty years later, devoid of any bitterness and reconciled to the Union, the old Confederate recalled his personal experiences within the larger historical context. Hopkins writes from the cultural context of the late nineteenth-century South with its prejudices and wistfulness for the old days. Also, Luther was a lover of horses all his life and wrote a tribute chapter to the thousands of cavalry mounts which suffered greatly in the conflict. This is a real life story of sacrifice and heroism as seen through the eyes of a young Christian soldier caught up in one of America's most dramatic events. You will enjoy spending some time with this late high private of the 6th Virginia Cavalry - Luther W. Hopkins. (Timeless Classic Books)