Dr. Arlen Fowler has done an excellent job in writing about the little known and researched "Buffalo Soldier" who was vital in establishing and maintaining law and order in the west during the 1860s-1890s. Drawing on resources, Dr. Fowler has writtemng in an excelelnt and easy to read prose.

Dr Fowler researched extensively for this book from little known and altogether scares resources of material. However, all the resources that were available about the Buffalo Soldiers were used and cited accurately in this book. But, the MOST important plus about this book is the interesting stories about the Buffalo Soldiers daily life is told. From the dreary and wretched living conditions the soldier had to endure on a daily basis, to the evident discrimination that the African-American Buffalo Soldier had to endure, to the loyalty and bravery that the Buffalo soldier displayed from guarding a stagecoach run, laying miles of telegraph line, fighting fierce Indians, all these accounts and more are in this book.

I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy a great story and documentation about the little known Buffalo Soldier, the American West and fighting the Native Americans. A Great Read!

If you enjoy reading about the Kiowa tribe you'll love this book. It provides an interesting insight into the life of Chief Satanta (White Bear), his family and all those involved trying to bring peace between the Kiowas and the white man. It is also very informative about the Native Indian culture. My fastest read yet!

Benjamin Grierson, a former musician with no prior military experience, is perhaps most famous for "Grierson's Raid", which served as a diversion during General Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign in the Spring of 1863. As the result of the famous raid and other service during the war, Grierson rose in rank from major to major general of volunteers. Unlike many other citizen-soldiers of the Civil War, however, he did not return to civilian life after the war. Instead, Grierson accepted a commission as a Regular Army colonel and was given command of the newly-formed 10th Cavalry Regiment. The 10th Cavalry was one of the four, along with the 9th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments newly formed "Colored" regiments of the U.S. Army, which had white officers and black soldiers. Grierson welcomed the opportunity to command a regiment which many other white officers would have regarded as potentially damaging to their careers. Not only did he command the regiment for a quarter of a century, but he continually defended his soldiers against the prejudice that was prevalent throughout American society at the time. Grierson's rather progressive thinking also extended to his dealing with American Indians. Though he and his men participated in many of the Indian wars of the Southwest, Grierson continually sought a more intelligent and humane solution to the Indian "problem". Much of what we now see as Grierson's virtues, however, came with a price to his career and to his family. For instance, Grierson's continual defense of his men certainly played a role in his not being promoted to brigadier general until three months before his retirement in 1890. Likewise, his family would suffer greatly during the frequent moves from one gruelingly inhospitable frontier Army post to another. At least partly as a result of his career choices, Grierson's relationship with his wife was frequently stormy and the military dynasty which he had predicted ultimately failed to appear. Though his wife bore him seven children, only four sons survived into adulthood. Of these surviving sons, three remained life-long bachelors, while only one married and produced any offspring. All of Grierson's children appear to have suffered, in varying degrees, from the manic-depression that was prevalent among his wife's family, and two of his sons would have to be institutionalized.

Benjamin Grierson, himself, emerges from this work as a tragic figure. He was a man who was ahead of his time on issues of racial tolerance and was punished, directly or indirectly, for his beliefs. Likewise, he witnessed financial catastrophe, disease, and mental illness destroy his family. In the end, the reader is left wondering if the old adage is really true, that "no good deed goes unpunished."

I FELT THAT THE BOOK WAS VERY SPECIFIC. IT DEALT WITH MANY DETAILS OF THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS AND THE INDIANS AND THE GENERALS. IT ALSO WENT AS FAR AS TO SHOW SOME OF THE PICTURES THAT WERE INVOLVED. I READ THE BOOK FOR A BOOK REVIEW FOR CLASS. BUT I WILL READ IT AGAIN FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING. MY 12 YEAR OLD NEPHEW READ THE BOOK AND INJOYED IT.

H.H.McConnell's Five Years A Cavalryman is a rem iniscence of the author's military service in the U.S. 6th Cavalry in northwest Texas from 1866 to 1871.If you are interested in a straightforward firsthand account of life on a frontier post along with some interesting anecdotes you will like this book. However...if you are an old horse cavalry aficianado and reenactor like myself and are looking for the "nuts and bolts" of cavalry life in the field, forget it.The author spent his hitch on post doing mostly bureaucratic work. It seems the only time he got on a horse was to relocate to a new fort or to attend to some official business here or there.On the rare occassions when he does discuss troops in the field, either on scout or on campaign, he wasn't there. The only discription he gives of these events are only in very general and uninformative terms. You will not learn anything about the cav out in the field, anything about their equipment, their tactics, or procedures. The best book I have found so far on the old horse cavalry is Forty Miles A Day On Beans And Hay by Don Jr. Ricky which you can purchase on Amazon.com. If you only read one book on the subject read this one!Happy Trails......Trooper7E