Publisher's Synopsis
It all started with the Irish potato famine of 1848 and a chance for a new life in America. Aileen and Connor Murphy came to New York City penniless. Connor became a policeman and Aileen became head of the cleaning staff in a big hotel. They were lucky, they made money and they had a son whom they named, Little Jimmy. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Little Jimmy was too little to join up. But by 1864, he was 14 and had grown big enough to become "Big Jimmy". He lied to the recruiting officers that he was 18. The officers didn't care, they were desperate. Big Jim served as a cabin boy on the the naval ship, The Manhattan, which helped in a victory against the Confederates at Mobile Bay. Jimmy received a commendation. When the war ended, Jimmy did not go back home to New York. He had become friends with a young Confederate, Sam Whitfield, whose folks ran a ranch in Laredo. Jimmy wanted to become a cowboy. And so, Big Jim and the Reb teamed up and rode into new adventures together trying to forget the Civil War. They had a run-in with Jesse James, drove cattle along the Chisholm Trail, north to Abilene, and took a riverboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Big Jim Murphy also learned how to use a six gun, and he became fast, real fast. He gained a reputation as, "The Tipperary Kid".
