"The U.S. Army in the West, 1870-1880, "Douglas C. McChristian describes the development of army uniforms, equipment, and small arms during a pivotal decade of experimentation and against the backdrop of a highly influential military operation-the Indian campaigns in the West.

McChristian discusses the evolution of military clothing, equipment, and arms throughout the decade and fully describes each type of item and its modifications. Drawing much new information from the records of the Ordnance and Quartermaster departments, he also adds the human perspective with excerpts from previously unpublished 1875 field reports.

Lavishly illustrated with more than two hundred photographs gathered from public and private collections across the nation, this book is an invaluable reference for collectors, curators, and students of militaria and of the colorful frontier era.

On a hot summer's day in Montana, a daring frontier cavalry officer, Powhatan Henry Clarke, died at the height of his promising career. A member of the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 1884, Clarke graduated dead last, and while short on academic application, he was long on charm and bravado. Clarke obtained a commission with the black troops of the Tenth Cavalry, earning his spurs with these 'Buffalo Soldiers'.He evolved into a fearless field commander at the troop level, gaining glory and first-hand knowledge of what it took to campaign in the West. During his brief, action-packed career, Clarke saved a black trooper's life while under Apache fire and was awarded the Medal of Honor. A chance meeting brought Clarke together with artist Frederic Remington, who brought national attention to Clarke when he illustrated the exploit for an 1886 Harper's Weekly. The officer and artist became friends, and Clarke served as a model and consultant for future artwork by Remington. Remington's many depictions of Clarke added greatly to the cavalryman's luster. In turn, the artist gained fame and fortune in part from drawing on Clarke as his muse. The story of these two unlikely comrades tells much about the final stages of the Wild West and the United States' emergence on the international scene. Along the way Geronimo, The Apache Kid, 'Texas' John Slaughter, and others played their roles in Clarke's brief, but compelling drama.

From the American Revolution to the present day, African Americans have stepped forward in their nation's defense. This book breathes new vitality into a stirring subject, emphasizing the role men who have come to be known as "buffalo soldiers" played in opening the Trans-Mississippi West. This concise overview reveals a cast of characters as big as the land they served. Over 150 images painstakingly gathered nearly a half century from public and private collections enhance the written word as windows to the past. Now, 150 years after Congress authorized blacks to serve in the Regular Army the reader literally can peer into the eyes of formerly enslaved men who bravely bought their freedom on the bloody battlefields of the Civil War, then trekked westward, carried the "Stars and Stripes" to the Caribbean, and pursued Pancho Villa into Mexico with John "Black Jack" Pershing.

In this new, extensively researched volume, U.S. Army uniforms a including enlisted soldiers, officers, insignia, and headgear a from the years 1848-1873 are examined in exacting detail. For the first time, original accounts from official reports, diaries, and other primary sources will be combined with color photographs of extraordinary surviving specimens, hundreds of important black and white images, as well as artwork from the period to tell the story of what the American soldier wore during these years. Army Blue represents more than twenty years of research in major institutions and private collections throughout the United States, and offers a concise overview of a topic which promises to be must reading for collectors, modelers, and curators alike.

Hats Off offers a concise history of U.S. Army headgear from the immediate post Civil War era to the eve of World War I. In this study historian John P. Langellier shares more than a quarter of a century of research in archives, museums, and private collections throughout the nation. An informative text is supported by nearly 400 illustrations of rare and important military headdress. The volume is destined to become a standard reference for collectors, curators, and those interested in American military uniforms from the Indian Wars through the early 20th century.

In this new book, the development of an altogether new uniform for troops of the United States Army, a few years after the Civil War, has never been told so well or so comprehensively. In this volume, the sequel to the author's highly praised Army Blue: The Uniform of Uncle Sam's Regulars, 1848-1873, John Langellier continues the story of the evolution of American army uniforms during a critical period that saw experimentation and innovation finally surmount conservatism to produce some of the more practically functional and aesthetically appealing martial clothing in American history. The breadth of Langellier's research, coupled with his years of accumulated expertise in the study of historical army uniforms, is evident throughout, and together make this book the most thorough and precise accounting the topic has ever received.

John Langellier and C. Paul Loane have collaborated to produce a resource that not only builds upon the information provided by their predecessors, but also contributes fresh material to the body of existing knowledge. These two highly respected and long-time students of American military history have spent decades locating and analyzing specimens in both public and private collections in the United States and Europe. They have woven their individual research into a concise narrative, accompanied by an extensive selection of illustrations and informative captions. Their overview takes the reader on a journey through more than a half century of change, illustrating the variety of factors that contributed to the evolution of U.S. military headgear during this dynamic period.

Billy Yank or Billy Yankee was the name given to the Union soldiers of the North during the American Civil War: and a famous and enduring symbol of the period. Typically Billy Yank is presented dressed in regulation blue uniform topped with a forage hat, the standard headdress used by the military of the period. This handy guide delves a little deeper and sets out to discover exactly what the typical 'Billy Yank' looked like and how they lived. Compiled by two experts on the subject of military uniforms of the period, and crammed with fascinating facts and images, this is an excellent glimpse into the life and times of the union soldier and a valuable addition to the popular G.I. series.

This volume in the popular G.I. series illustrates a much-neglected aspect of American military history - the U.S. Army artillerymen, named redlegs after the red stripes on their trousers. The photographs, most of them rarely seen in other sources, range from the Civil War and the campaigns against the American Indians through to the Spanish-American War. Artillery was a vital arm and proved its worth in all of these diverse theatres of war; artillerymen served as part of mobile columns, in sieges and blockades, and as garrisons in remote frontier forts. This handy guide includes superb images and descriptive captions detailing the appearance of the men, their uniforms and equipment, and the ordnance used over the years.

The Union Infantrymen were the 1700 regiments of foot soldiers who became the mainstay of 'Mr. Lincoln's Army'. In many respects these long-suffering, hard-fighting Yankees from farmsteads, hamlets, and urban centres saved the Union. Their hopes and fears, joy and sorrows, cowardice and bravery were recorded in diaries, letters, memoirs and legions of histories. John Langellier's expert text strengthens these narratives along with contemporary images and photographs of key artefacts. These pictures help capture the essence of the experience of the Northern doughboy, Vivid, accurate custom artwork also enlivens the saga of those who fought to preserve a nation tom asunder.

"There never was such a campaign, not even by Napoleon" wrote Confederate General Pender of the Second Manassas campaign in which the gray-bearded Virginian, Robert E Lee, came as close as he ever would to exterminating his Northern enemies. In so doing, Lee established himself as the South's pre-eminent military commander and the Army of Northern Virginia as it's most powerful weapon. The fighting in northern Virginia left Union General John Pope's career in tatters and proved the South was a power to be reckoned with. This book's powerful account demonstrates that during that fateful summer of 1862 Lee's soldiers were fighting for anything but a lost cause.

In the 1840s, the powerful pull of Manifest Destiny brought the U.S. Army to today's southern Arizona. The first forces came as a vanguard marching westward to conquer California, but soon their comrades returned. They would establish a string of outposts, a few of which remain more than a century after their founding. These installations greatly contributed to local military, economic, social, and even political history. Their inhabitants included noted 19th-century generals George Crook and Nelson A. Miles, as well as a later officer, Omar Bradley of World War II fame. Some of these men brought their families to share the often lonely, monotonous existence of life at a frontier fort. Occasionally their routine was broken by grueling field service that more than once sent troops southward on to Mexican soil where they suffered and sometimes died. Among these stalwarts were buffalo soldiers, Indian scouts, and new arrivals fresh from Europe.

By the late 1820s, furs, land and minerals made the Indian territories west of the Mississippi River an increasingly inviting realm. The vast expanse of the Great Plains, coupled with the fact that many tribal groups of the region possessed horses, meant a more mobile type of soldier was required. Consequently, on 15 June 1832, Congress authorised the raising of 600 mounted Rangers. They proved such a success that they eventually gave way to a more permanent organisation: the Dragoons. John Langellier details the fascinating campaign history of the US Dragoons 1833-55, complete with numerous illustrations including eight fine full page colour plates by Bill Younghusband.

This fascinating addition to the GI series demonstrates the full range of uniforms, equipment, and armament used by the troops who fought for Abraham Lincoln's Union army during the American Civil War. Far from being uniformly clad in blue, the Union soldier appeared in a great variety of clothing, from simple civilian-style dress to elaborate uniforms inspired by European armies. This volume covers artillery, cavalry and infantry and includes over a dozen color images produced in the 1860s for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department, as well as the complete 1861 U.S. Army uniform regulations.

George Armstrong Custer was one of the most flamboyant and controversial officers ever to have served in the United States Army. This superbly illustrated book provides a unique visual record of this famous commander from his graduation at West Point to the last great battle of the American West: the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Rare photographs from private collections show his stylish uniforms, weapons and artefacts, and reveal the faces of the men who rode into legend with him. Includes images of the units he commanded and of the soldiers who fought - and some of whom died - at the Little Big Horn.

This volume reveals the little-known story of the 90-year presence of American forces in China until the fall of Peking in 1941. Included is coverage of the first operations on the Pearl River in 1856 as well as US involvement in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. As China entered a chaotic period in her history, known as the years of the "Warlords," American marines also participated in numerous small-scale amphibious landings. Finally, during the later Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and early into World War II (1939-1945), US volunteers of the "Flying Tigers" became renowned for their combat missions in support of Chinese Nationalist forces, and their aerial duels are also recounted by the author John P. Langellier, who has spent several years researching the subject in the US and China. Discover the history of these various actions and the different services involved, recreated in color artwork and illustrated with rare, previously unpublished photographs.