Custer's Other Brother-in-Law, the Orders Book of Lieutenant Frederic Calhoun - Softcover

Thomas R. Buecker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1893186318 ISBN 13: 9781893186316

Publisher: Norseman Ventures, 2015

Synopsis

Book is in very good condition- clean/crisp pages/covers with tight binding. Honest and exceptional service from a nonsmoking home.

About this title

Review

Frederic Calhoun joined the Army in 1875 to be close to his brother Lt.James Calhoun, but a twist of luck and Army bureaucracy spared him thefate of his brother, and his brother-in-law General George ArmstrongCuster, who died the very next year at the Little Big Horn.

Custer's Other Brother-in-Law, The Orders Book of Lieutenant Frederic S. Calhoun tells the story of that tragic event and of the fifteen year militarycareer of Frederic Calhoun with the 14th Infantry Regiment in theAmerican west.  In three parts, this book gives us a biography ofCalhoun, the history of the 14th Infantry Regiment during this historicperiod of westward expansion across the continent, and the personaljournal kept by Calhoun of the official orders he received during hisyears of service.  Unlike the drama we see in "Cowboy" movies, thesedocuments give us a glimpse of the real day-to-day life of a frontierofficer.  Of course there was drama - Calhoun survived Crook's HungerMarch across Wyoming and the Dakotas as they tracked the Sioux Indianswho defeated Custer, and participated in campaigns to fight the Bannockand Nez Perce. But there was also the mundane - courts martial of theoccasional miscreant or deserter, investigations into the theft ofsupplies, and travel between distant outposts to deliver new recruits.

The book provides valuable insights into the thirty-year period between the end of the Civil War and the start of the Spanish-American War, whenAmericans were lured by cheap land and the cries of "Gold", to ventureinto the vast Western territories. Men such as Calhoun became theirprotectors.  This book is a valuable addition to the library of anyoneinterested in the "real" West.

"Kirk Ramsey"
"14th Infantry Regiment Association"

From: Spring 2016 Nebraska History
 
Custer's OtherBrother-in-Law, The Orders Book of Lieutenant Frederic S. Calhoun
Thomas R. Bueckerand Meagan Huff, ed. Jefferson Davis
Vancouver, WA, NorsemanVentures LLC, 2015.
Acknowledgments,foreword, editor's foreword, introduction, map, photographs, timeline, appendixes,bibliography, index,. vi, 254 pp., $19.95 paper.
 
Herein is reproduced, the personal orders book of Lt. Frederic S.Calhoun, Fourteenth U.S. Infantry, from 1875 until his retirement from the armyfor disability in May 1890. Frederic Calhoun was destined not to become nearly aswell-known as his brother, James Calhoun, who married George A. Custer's sister andwho died with Custer at the Little Bighorn. Moreover, Frederic Calhoun servedin the infantry, rather than in the more glamorous cavalry. Yet his military career was not without excitement.  He participatedinGeorge Crook's Bighorn and Yellowstone Expedition of 1876 and was post adjutantat Camp Robinson, Nebraska, when Crazy Horse was killed there on Sept. 5, 1877.

Calhoun's orders book reveals theoften mundane details of the frontier army's culture and practice: service on courts martial and boards of survey, escorting recruits and military prisoners, and frequent changes of station.Context for the primary documents is provided by Thomas R. Buecker's biographyof Calhoun reprinted with permission from Greasy Grass 10 (May 1994). 
James E. Potter
NSHS Publications Division

Edition details

• Publisher: Norseman Ventures
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1893186318
• ISBN 13: 9781893186316
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1