MILITARY HISTORY OF THE SOUTHWEST 1990

Volume 20 (Spring 1990), No. 1

Table of Contents

"'Dismembering the Confederacy': Jefferson Davis and the Trans-Mississippi West," by Steven E. Woodworth, pp. 1-22

Abstract: The Trans-Mississippi West had already been cut off from the rest of the Confederacy long before Vicksburg fell. Because Jefferson Davis headquartered in Richmond, he paid little attention to the rest of the Confederacy. Internal dissent by Trans- Mississippi generals and Davis's reluctance to act weakened the command structure in the west. General Edmund Kirby Smith was only part of the problem.
Key Words: Civil War, Trans-Mississippi West, Jefferson Davis, Edmund Kirby Smith

"Stage Soldiers of the Southwest: New Mexico's Four Minute Men of World War I," by Richard Melzer, pp. 23-42

Abstract: The Four Minute Men were the most effective form of propaganda in New Mexico during World War I. Local professional men with good public speaking skills addressed movie audiences with four-minute speeches before the main feature. They stirred the audiences' patriotism, encouraged enlistment and the buying of Liberty Bonds, and discouraged pro-German sentiment.
Key Words: World War I, Four Minute Men, New Mexico, propaganda

"Reality Revisited: Will Rogers' Support of Military Aviation," by S. Fred Roach, pp. 43-60

Abstract: Will Rogers actively supported the growth of military aviation in the 1920s and 1930s. He championed flyers who pushed the limits of aviation and who set new records. He, along with General Billy Mitchell, knew that the success of the next war would depend on air power. Billy Mitchell was court-martialed for his controversial crusade to expand the role of the air force in the military.
Key Words: Will Rogers, Billy Mitchell, military aviation, Air Force

"'Bully for Flournoy's Regiment, We Are Some Punkins, You'll Bet': The Civil War Letters of Virgil Sullivan Rabb, Captain, Company 'I,' Sixteenth Texas Infantry, C.S.A," Part Two, edited by Thomas W. Cutrer, pp. 61-96

Abstract: Letters home, mostly to his mother, of a Confederate infantryman. He described conditions of army life and directed family at home to take care of his affairs. Health, diet, clothing and rumors fill the letters, but he also asked family to send him money so he could buy slaves.
Key Words: Civil War, Texas, Trans-Mississippi, letters, army life