FIGHTING REBELS AND REDSKINS - Expreiences in Army Life of Colonel George B. Sanford, 1861-1892 by Sanford, Col. George B, ed by E R Hagemann

Norman, 1969, Univ of Oklahoma, US First edition, hard bound in dust jacket, 6x9, FINE / FINE CONDITION, XV, 355 PAGES, ILLUS, MAPS, NOTES, BIBLIOG, INDEX. ---------------------------------------The author of this account, the professional soldier George Bliss Sanford, served for four years as a Union cavalry officer in the Civil War, and then for twenty-five years on the western frontier, where he became one of the famed Indian fighters of his generation. He saw action in the Apache Wars in Arizona, the Nez Perce War, the Bannock War, and the Sioux uprising in 1890-91. Serving with dedication and devotion in a military framework where loyalty and duty were their own-and often the only-rewards, he dealt swiftly and effectively with the enemy in battle. But the man inside the uniform was often sickened by bloodshed and destruction.------------------------------------------Though aware of injustices to the Indian tribes, he faithfully observed military custom and did not criticize the military policies of his country while he wore its uniform. Only after his retirement in 1892 did he say publicly what he really thought. Professor Hagemann's introduction adds an extra dimension to Experiences by presenting Sanford's public statements and rounding out his life with biographical narrative and anecdote.Written, after his retirement, in 1893 and 1894, this "something less than autobiography, something more than memoirs" recounts the day-to-day life of a Civil War officer in Missouri and Virginia. Although Sanford plays down the romantic image of the charging horseman brandishing his saber as he leaps across barricades, it is, nevertheless, a record of heroism, written from the point of view of a vigorous and dedicated young soldier. The Experiences give a fresh view of the Civil War, and Sanford's frontier adventures cast new light on the role of the army in the West.