The View from Officers Row: Army Perceptions of Western Indians

Capturing military men in contemplation rather than combat, Sherry Smith reveals American army officers' views about the Indians against whom they fought in the last half of the nineteenth century. She demonstrates that these officers--and their wives--did not share a monolithic, negative view of their enemies, but instead often developed a great respect for Indians and their cultures. Some officers even came to question Indian policy, expressed misgivings about their personal involvement in the Indian Wars, and openly sympathized with their foe. The book reviews the period 1848-1890--from the acquisition of the Mexican Cession to the Battle of Wounded Knee--and encompasses the entire trans-Mississippi West. Resting primarily on personal documents drawn from a representative sample of the officer corps at all levels, the study seeks to juxtapose the opinions of high-ranking officers with those of officers of lesser prominence, who were perhaps less inclined to express personal o

Using the diaries and letters of officers of all ranks stationed on the frontier, Smith shows that, like other segments of society, army officers and their wives had varying perceptions of the Indians and their culture depending upon the nature of their contacts with the native tribes. By examining the attitudes of a group that has been largely ignored by other scholars, Smith broadens the discussion of white attitudes towards the Indians and places the frontier army in its social and intellectual context. Thus this well-written revision of the author's doctoral dissertation will be appreciated by specialists and lay readers alike. Essential for collections on the West; strongly recommended for most other public and academic libraries.
- Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
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