From Fort Snelling on the upper Mississippi and Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri to Fort St. Philip below New Orleans, the string of military bases along the western frontier of the United States played an essential part in the orderly advance of settlement following the War of 1812. Small, isolated , and insignificant in terms of fortification—after all, the authorized strength of the whole army was only 6,000 men—they were nevertheless the stabilizing and moderating force in the dramatic "rise of the new West." For twenty years prior to the Mexican War, Colonel George Croghan, as inspector general of the army, examined these frontier garrisons with a critical eye. His reports give an intimate, firsthand picture of what the western outposts were really like. Moreover, whether lashing out at the unreasonable discipline prescribed for privates or quietly commending an officer's good work, he wrote with a warmth and vitality seldom found in government documents. Arranged topically with brief introductions by the editor, the reports cover all phases of army life: quarters, clothing, the mess, hospitals and medical care, army chaplains, quartermaster supplies, the small arms of the troops, instruction, fatigue duties, military discipline, recruiting, and army sutlers. They also contain much additional information on roads, frontier conditions, Indian affairs, and related matters. George Croghan was a perceptive reporter, and his account of life and conditions at the western forts will prove valuable and interesting to the western Americana enthusiast as well as to the student of western history.
Morris was a British soldier who came to America and was involved, again, with dealings with the Native American tribes in the Great Lakes region. He was, according to the introduction, a more refined character than Weiser, Croghan, or Post, and the nature of his diplomacy were quite different from theirs.
The selection of Mr. Fleming to prepare this history of Pittsburgh, and the region round about, was most fortunate for the city. He was not only a sturdy grubber after facts but had the ability to dress them up in pleasing style and set them in graceful order. This book is valuable not only as a narrative of historic events, but as a compendium of facts relating to men and matters, events and happenings pertaining to the triumphant growth of Pittsburgh, its institutions, and its fame. It is as encyclopedic as entertaining and facilitates the finding of whatsoever data that may be desired. It will be very hard to find another book on the history of Pittsburgh that is as detailed as Mr. Fleming’s. This is volume one out of two.
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