Volume 26, No. 2, Fall 1996

MILITARY HISTORY OF THE WEST-TOC - 1996

Volume 26, No. 2, Fall 1996

Table of Contents

"Army Politics and Indian Wars: Charles B. Gatewood and the Geronimo Campaign of 1886," by Adam Kane, pp. 109-28.

Abstract: Charles B. Gatewood, an important figure during the last of the Apache wars, helped establish peace in the Southwest by persuading Geronimo to surrender in 1886. While those around him received promotions, he remained a first lieutenant, due to the character of the frontier army and his own physical ailments.
Key Words: Charles B. Gatewood; 1886 Geronimo Campaign; frontier military; army politics

"It is beef every day . . .': The Army Ration and the Enlisted Man, 1865-1890," by David L. Wheeler and William H. Landis, pp. 129-57.

Abstract: Analysis of the enlisted man's ration shows it to have been deficient in foods essential to good nutrition. Various means authorized to procure food to supplement the ration proved inadequate or undependable. Improvement came with increased awareness of the importance of variety in diet and with the advent of railroads.
Key Words: U.S. Army; diet; Great Plains; nutrition; ration

"Indians in the Army: Professional Advocacy and the Regularization of Indian Military Service, 1889-1897," by Clifford P. Coppersmith, pp. 159-85.

Abstract: This essay examines the role that a developing officer corps played in the discussion of the military assimilation of Indians into American society. These officers' progressive ideals combined with European concepts of the military use of aboriginal peoples to bring about the experiment with Indian soldiers in the closing decade of the nineteenth century.
Key Words: U.S. Army; military policy; Native Americans; professionalization

"Strategic Dilemma: Civil-Military Friction and the Texas Coastal Campaign of 1863," by Kurt Henry Hackemer, pp. 187-214.

Abstract: Early in the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln and his military advisors agreed on the Union's basic strategy for the Department of the Gulf. After the French invaded Mexico, Lincoln's priorities changed. General Halleck did not agree and stressed military utility over Lincoln's new strategy, raising interesting questions about civilian control of the military.
Key Words: Civil War; Nathaniel Banks; Henry Halleck; civil-military relations; grand strategy