Description
Book SynopsisHaving banished eastern Native peoples to lands west of the Mississippi, President Andrew Jackson's government by 1833 needed a new type of soldier to keep displaced Indians from returning home. And so the 1st Dragoons came into being. Will and John Gorenfeld tell their story in this book-length treatment of the force that became the US Cavalry.
Trade ReviewThis is a wonderful account of the early, golden years of the 1st Dragoons, the regular army's first mounted regiment, which spent its formative years as restrained diplomats, peacekeepers, intermediaries, and even protectors of the Southern Plains tribes. It is also the honest account of the unit's surprising decline after its conquest of New Mexico and the departure of such superior officers as Stephen Watts Kearny. Grounded in a wealth of primary sources and extraordinary research, it is a gracefully written story."" - William P. MacKinnon, author of
At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War, Parts 1 and 2
""
Kearny's Dragoons Out West is the culmination of decades of research. The Gorenfelds have woven the definitive narrative on what has far too long been an overlooked aspect of frontier military history."" - John P. Langellier, author of
US Dragoons, 1833 - 55""Finally, the storied 1st U.S. Dragoons have received historical treatment worthy of the regiment's distinguished service from its inception through the U.S.-Mexican War. The Gorenfelds have done an outstanding service to the field of U.S. military history."" - Durwood Ball, coeditor of
Soldiers West: Biographies from the Military Frontier, Second Edition
