This is the greatest book I've ever read! Not many quality books have been written on life in the army during this time period it is usually the Civil War or way before that. It is easy to understand and tons of details are at your fingertips. It is a researchers dream come true! Packed with 320 pages of solid information that would take a long time to find some place else. The lengthy bibliography alone …showed first 75 words of 431 total…

…showed last 75 words of 431 total…histories, this book argues that the politics of slavery profoundly influenced the western mission of the regular army--affecting the hearts and minds of officers and enlisted men both as the nation plunged toward civil war. I had one disappointment in reading this book it said that it went to 1861 so I was expecting to read of what happened to the regulars with the coming of the Civil War but not much of this was explained.