In 1861 Captain James J. Morrison resigned his commission in the United States Cavalry, returned to his home in Cedartown, Georgia, and was soon authorized by the Confederate War Department to raise a regiment cavalry. Enlistees-mainly from northwest Georgia-were offered a $50 bounty, $12 a month and government compensation in the event their horses were killed in combat.

Morrison's troopers served under General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Murfreesboro, where they secured victory and Forrest's reputation. They fired the opening shots at Chickmauga, where they fought so well dismounted they were mistaken for infantry by Confederate General D. H, Hill. The regiment was led on numerous raids under General Joseph Wheeler through the Atlanta Campaign, defeated a Medal of Honor recipient at Decatur and surrendered at Greensboro to end the war. This book is the first complete history of the First Georgia Cavalry, who saw action in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and North Carolina.