How Jo Shelby's troops grew into the greatest Confederate cavalry brigade west of the Mississippi. Jo Shelby's cavalry unit is considered by contemporary historians to have been one of the toughest cavalry units in the West. A descendant of one of Shelby's Brigade members, Deryl P. Sellmeyer offers an objective and even-handed view of this impressive military leader and his men. The author's decade-long research of Shelby's life and his principal officers is evident as he details the history of Shelby's Brigade from its origin in Missouri through the end of the Civil War and its eventual disbandment in Mexico.