John P. Slough

The Forgotten Civil War General

By: Richard L. Miller

Narrated by: David Stifel

John Potts Slough, the Union commander at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, lived a life of relentless pursuit for success that entangled him in the turbulent events of mid-nineteenth-century America. As a politician, Slough fought abolitionists in the Ohio legislature and during Kansas Territory's fourth and final constitutional convention. He organized the 1st Colorado Volunteer Infantry after the Civil War broke out, eventually leading his men against Confederate forces at the pivotal engagement at Glorieta Pass. After the war, as chief justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court, he struggled to reform corrupt courts amid the territory's corrosive Reconstruction politics.

Slough was known to possess a volcanic temper and an easily wounded pride. These traits not only undermined a promising career but ultimately led to his death at the hands of an aggrieved political enemy who gunned him down in a Santa Fe saloon. Recounting Slough's timeless story of rise and fall during America's most tumultuous decades, historian Richard L. Miller brings to life this extraordinary figure.

©2021 Richard L. Miller (P)2023 Tantor

Difficult to listen to in Audible.

Narration speed is inconsistent and annoying to listen to. Book content seems to be good. I purchased because I have a personal connection to the Battle of Glorieta.

A Captivating Lens On The Early Life Of America & A Colorful Character Pivotal To How a Time

Richard L. Miller's portrayal of life during the years leading up to, during and immediately after the Civil War through the telling of John P. Slough's story is an enthralling edge of your seat tale. Richard L. Miller does an outstanding job enticing the reader in and explaining in simple yet riveting words to explain the complex issues that John P. Slough and America faced in those years in and around the Civil War. I am no history buff or great mind when it comes to politics but through Richard L. Miller's words I found a great appreciation for what John P. Slough and many other man worked so hard to accomplish for our country in those trying years. Slough is certainly an underdog, mostly because of his own actions, yet Miller has you fighting right along side and for Slough through the whole book. This was my first time reading a nonfiction history and Richard L. Miller's fantastic writing has left a sizeable impression on me for the genre. I 110% recommend this book to everyone! It was an beautiful eye-opening read that both educated and spellbound my mind!