A Fine Body of Men provides service records and additional biographical information for the company's 215 cavalrymen, while inviting readers to experience the major campaigns of the Civil War's Western Theater alongside these brave soldiers. As armies formed across the country in early 1861, the call to the colours sounded and volunteer groups began to assemble. One such unit formed in New Orleans was an independent light cavalry troop whose members chose the name Orleans Light Horse. In this thoroughly researched Civil War regimental history, DonaldP. Moriarty follows the Orleans Light Horse from its organization in February 1861 through its March 1862 muster into active service with the Confederate States Army to the war's end in 1865. As the escort company to Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk and later Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart, the Orleans Light Horse was an integral part of the Army of Mississippi and the Army of Tennessee.
