Research Catalog

Daughter of the regiment : memoirs of a childhood in the Frontier Army, 1878-1898

Title
  1. Daughter of the regiment : memoirs of a childhood in the Frontier Army, 1878-1898 / Mary Leefe Laurence ; edited by Thomas T. Smith.
Published by
  1. Lincoln, Neb. : University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
Author
  1. Laurence, Mary Leefe, 1872-1945.

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Details

Additional authors
  1. Smith, Thomas T., 1950-
Description
  1. xxx, 206 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 23 cm
Summary
  1. The young daughter of an English-born U.S. infantry officer on the post Civil War frontier, Mary Leefe had the childhood of an army nomad, accompanying the regiment from south Texas to the boundary with Canada. In faithfully recording her varied experiences as a camp follower, she offers extensive and unique memoirs on life as a child and adolescent in the twilight of the Indian-fighting army.
  2. She considered herself a part of her father's unit, ever-mindful "of the heritage of noblesse oblige. . . the honor of the army and esprit de corps of the regiment. . . . We were part and parcel of this and must never disgrace it."
  3. . Leefe's formative memories were of the death of the regimental colonel in battle with the Cheyennes and of the dangerous thrill of watching an Ute war dance. When her father's company was assigned to guard Apache prisoners of war in Alabama, she came to know and fear Geronimo, whose "terrible eyes haunted my dreams," but she developed a lasting respect and admiration for such leaders as Chihuahua, Nana, and Naiche.
  4. Leefe offers the reader much more than frontier anecdotes of a youth who comes of age in the fading West. A largely uncritical observer, Leefe was indeed a product of her place and time and so can report on the military community with affection, humor, and sympathetic understanding.
Subject
  1. Army spouses > West (U.S.) > Biography
  2. Laurence, Mary Leefe, 1872-1945
  3. West (U.S.) > History > 1890-1945
  4. West (U.S.) > History > 1860-1890
  5. United States > Army > Military life
Contents
  1. 1. Fort Dodge, Kansas, 1878-1880 -- 2. Diversions at Fort Dodge -- 3. Forth Leavenworth, Kansas, 1880-1881 -- 4. Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, 1881 -- 5. David's Island, New York, 1881-1882 -- 6. Fort Ringgold, Texas, 1883-1886 -- 7. Fort Duncan, Texas, 1886 -- 8. Fort Clark, Texas, 1886-1889 -- 9. Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama, 1889-1890 -- 10. Fort Brady, Michigan, 1890-1896 -- 11. Fort Wayne, Michigan, 1896-1898.
Bibliography (note)
  1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-194) and index.