For A Brevet Or A Coffin: All U.S. Regular Army Officers Killed in The - Paperback

by P. R. Wilson (Editor), Paul G. English (Author)

Between 1866 and 1898, 68 officers and 879 enlisted men of the US Army lost their lives in the Trans-Mississippi Indian Wars, with more than 1,000 wounded. Here is the full story of each one of those Officers, professional soldiers all, killed in action during the last half of the 19th Century as the United States drove inexorably into the vastness of the American West. The Native Americans did not go gently onto reservations and their resistance made the US Army pay a price for opening the continent to White settlement.In an Army barely large enough to be assigned the task, promotion was slow, desertion high, pay low, and the daily hardships now unimaginable. But Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry Officers alike knew there was no better way to prove one's courage, devotion to duty, and ambition than to "earn a brevet" in combat with Hostiles.And on many battlefields, in blazing Summers and frigid Winters, in deserts, mountains, forests, and prairies, one after another, Officers pursued the succubus of glory into the face of violent death.These are their stories, with photos of the men, their military records, images from the popular press, period battle maps, information on weapons, uniform illustrations, and comprehensive lists of all major battles between the many different Native Americans and the US Army, with units engaged, and losses of enlisted men, with extensive notes, sources, and bibliography, all in one pocket volume.

Author Biography

A lifelong student of the Indian Wars of the 19th Century, Paul G. English is a dedicated researcher who has spent some 25 years visiting battle sites, museums, and government libraries in search of information about the Plains Indian Wars. Trained in history, and working with professionals at sites such as the US Army Artillery Museum at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he has amassed the sad litany of death in combat of those US Army Officers who fell in famous battles and forgotten skirmishes. Coming from a background in Security Services, Mr. English's own "Walter Mitty" has always found himself vicariously traversing the American West in the hard, sad times of the Plains Indian Wars and trying to communicate some of the hardships to others. When not steeped in obscure volumes, he enjoys good coffee and the stimulating company of his friends and fellow history "buffs." Mr. English is retired and lives in southwest Oklahoma. This is his first book.