Review of Soldiers West: Biographies from the Military Frontier

Authors

Peter Maslowski, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

1988

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in Great Plains Quarterly WINTER 1988. Copyright 1988 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

Abstract

The American West and the Old Army's role in it remain of enduring interest. For example, Edward M. Coffman's The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898 (1986) is a collective study of the officers and enlisted men and their dependents. Now, as an unintentional but superb companion piece, Soldiers West examines individual officers who were influential in exploring, policing, and developing the frontier. Two important themes emerge from these mini-biographies. First, as military historians have long recognized, the army played a vital role in national development. Second, and less well understood but especially fascinating, was the diversity among officers in their personalities, interests, and experiences.