Diary of a Confederate soldier by John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade: An Account of the Western theatre of the American Civil War

This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.

John Jackman was only one of thousands of Kentucky men who found themselves lured to the cause of the South in 1861. Indeed, many had 'gone South' before him, as the Kentucky regiments actually began formation across the line at Camp Boone, Tennessee, in J uly. The Second Kentucky Infantry organized on July 13, followed by the Third a few days later. On August 30 the Fourth Kentucky was mustered in, and about the same time a battery of artillery from the Bluegrass State joined the regiments. In September Kentucky abandoned its stance of neutrality between Union and Confederacy, and forces from both sides moved into the state in the hope of taking it for their own. The Confederates, including the Kentucky regiments, moved to Bowling Green, and here young Jackman's regiment, the Fifth Kentucky, was formed in October. Unbeknownst at the time to its colonel, Thomas Hunt, another Kentucky regiment was forming in the eastern part of the state. The eastern regiment completed its organization first and was officially designated the Fifth Kentucky by the Richmond war department. More than a year later, Hunt's regiment would finally be redesignated the Ninth Infantry. Finally, on November 19, 1861, the Sixth Kentucky organized. Together with the cavalry company of Captain John Hunt Morgan and the First Kentucky Cavalry of Colonel Ben Hardin Helm, the infantry regiments made up the First Kentucky Brigade.