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FIVE YEARS A CAVALRYMAN: OR, SKETCHES OF REGULAR ARMY LIFE ON THE TEXAS FRONTIER.
(Jacksboro, Texas: J. N. Rogers & Co., 1889). 195 x 127 mm. (7 3/4 x 5"). 319, [1] pp. FIRST EDITION.
Publisher's eggplant-colored cloth, covers with blind-stamped title (front cover gilt), smooth spine lettered in gilt. Printed on pink paper. Howes B-59; Six-Guns and Saddle Leather 1393. William H. Leckie, foreword to "Five Years a Cavalryman," (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996). Backstrip a little sunned and wrinkled, spine ends slightly bumped, cloth with a few minor spots, but a solid copy with the contents very clean and fresh.
This is pleasing contemporary copy of a rollicking and historically valuable memoir of military life on the Texas frontier immediately following the Civil War. Our author, H. H. McConnell, served in the Sixth U.S. Cavalry at Fort Belknap and Fort Richardson, in West Texas, from 1866-71, and the present work is a detailed account of that time. It is full of the expected characters--Texas Rangers, cattle thieves, and Buffalo Soldiers--and written in a readable, entertaining style. McConnell writes honestly about the faults of his fellow soldiers, and provides a sympathetic report of the trial of Satanta and the other Kiowa leaders at Fort Sill. Historian William H. Leckie writes that due to McConnell's candor, "no better account exists of conditions in the military service on the western frontier than 'Five Years a Cavalryman.'" The pink paper used for the text here seems not to be particularly appropriate for the book's content, but rather is simply a way to stimulate commercial attention; it is curious and worth having as a collectible feature, without being a distraction. (ST20863)
Price: $450.00