From the category archives:

Officers

A Gold Rush Officer’s Card Game Feud

November 28, 2010

Born and reared in Tennessee, Lt. Cave Couts frequently placed personal integrity above all else and a willingness to chastise those opponents threatening his honor. This became evident after an army officer, Major Justus McKinstry, verbally maligned Couts’ new-found novia, Ysidora Bandini. Incensed, Couts sent Lieutenant George Evans, with a note challenging McKinstry to a [...]

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Gossip from Ft. Leavenworth 1845 & 1846

September 3, 2010

McLean to Love Fort Leavenworth Mo. Nov 26th 1845 Dear John Had you not said in your first letter, that you would write to me on arriving at Dayton, I suppose I would be obliged to commence this with an apology; but as you were so rash as to give one that piece of information [...]

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Lt. Oliver Taylor’s Proposed Transfer to the Infantry

February 1, 2010

The following was an informal note accompanying an official letter sent by Dragoon Lt. Oliver H. Taylor to Dickerson, who was serving as A.A.A.Genl to Bvt. Lt. Col. Washington, Commander of the 9th Military Department in Santa Fe.  Taylor and Dickerson had been one class apart at West Point, and Taylor often included such notes as [...]

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Inspection Report and Muster Roll, Ft. Tejon 28 February 1859

September 24, 2009

Joseph Mansfield’s Inspection Report of Fort Tejon Los Angeles, California 5 March 1859 Bvt. Major Irwin W. McDowell, Asst. Adjt. Genl. – Head Quarters Army Sir: On the 18th February ulto., I left San Francisco, in the Overland mail coach, for Fort Tejon,  and reached there at daybreak of the 21st ulto. , and have [...]

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Disabled Dragoon Officers

September 21, 2008

Capt. James Allen’s Burial Missouri Republican, 31 August 1846 It is with sincere regret that I inform you of the death of Lt. Col ALLEN. He died this morning at 3 o—™clock, of congestive fever, after an illness of ten days, in his 38th year of age. He, you know, was Capt. of 1st Dragoons, [...]

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Resigning Dragoon Officers: William Magruder

September 20, 2008

Obtaining a rebel commission was not an easy thing for officers of the regular army. First, one had to choose between the loyalty owed to his home state and to the oath to defend the Constitution. Many officers of Southern birth remained in the federal army. Of 821 West Point educated officers actively serving in [...]

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Lt. David Bell’s Letter

December 2, 2007

Lt. David Bell, of the 2d Dragoons had engaged in several skirmishes with the Utes and Jicarilla Apaches. When he heard of the attempts to cover up Lt. John Davidson’s defeat at Cieneguilla in 1854, Bell could not contain himself  and wrote the following letter to a West Point classmate condemning Davidson’s action. In 1855, [...]

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Get a Look at the Mighty Pacific: Thomas Swords Dragoon Quartermaster

August 31, 2007

Get a look at the mighty Pacific: Lt. Col. Thomas Swords in Antebellum San Francisco By William Gorenfeld (c) October 9, 2007 In 1825, Thomas Swords, a nineteen-year-old student at Columbia College, New York, gained entry into the United States Military Academy. Upon graduation in 1829, the Army placed him with the 4th Infantry and [...]

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Saltillo, Mexico 20 May 1848: Lt. Couts to Lt. Love

March 7, 2005

Dear Love, I have come this far with the Capts. Whiltsey and Adams–the orphans of Chihuahua. Through they leave for that forsaken community, I do not give them up until sufficient time shall have elapsed for them to pass Parral; for our Genl. is famous for countermanding orders. The old man Grier, however, will give [...]

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Letter from Jefferson Barracks, 1847: “I am disgusted with the duty.”

December 31, 2004

During the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri was a beehive of activity; serving as a major staging area for supplies and troops heading to the war as well as a training facility where the recruits learned basic drill, companies organized and the men equipped. While brother officers were gaining glory and brevets on [...]

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