Research Catalog

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

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

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
Request for On-site UseRequest Scan
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?
TextRequest in advance F594 .L38 1996Off-site

Details

Additional Authors
Smith, Thomas T., 1950-
Description
xxx, 206 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 23 cm
Summary
  • 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.
  • 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."
  • . 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.
  • 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.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-194) and index.
Contents
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.
LCCN
95024896
OCLC
  • 32970842
  • ocm32970842
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries