Full AspenCat Catalog

Brief text, sidebars, labeled illustrations, and humorous cartoons depict life and events during the four years of the Civil War.

"Books, art, and movies most often portray the frontier army in continuous conflict with Native Americans. In truth, the army spent only a small part of its frontier duty fighting Indians; as the main arm of the federal government in less-settled regions of the nation, the army performed a host of duties." "The Frontier Army in the Settlement of the West examines the army's non-martial contributions to western development. Dispelling timeworn stereotypes,...

"No one interested in the history of the American West or in women's history should miss this well-written, carefully researched, comprehensive treatment of a subject that previous scholars have largely ignored. Based on the writings of more than fifty women who accompanied their husbands to remote duty posts in the far west.

"Uses the testimony of enlisted soldiers--drawn from more than 350 diaries, letters, and memoirs--to create a vivid picture of life in an evolving army on the western frontier."--Provided by publisher.

Explores the lives of General George Custer and his wife, and how she created the "Custer myth" after his death.

Recounts Christmas celebrations during the early Civil War, with an emphasis on how the holiday united opposing soldiers before the Battle of Stones River in 1862. Though Congress didn't decree Christmas a national holiday until 1870, it was spreading nationwide as an American tradition by the time the war broke out. In 1861, the first Civil War Christmas saw festivities in both Union and Confederate camps, but the second, after a bloody year of war,...

Photographs and excerpts from the memoirs, letters, and journals of soldiers who fought in the Civil War provide a look at the lives of ordinary soldiers, from what they wore and ate to their leisure activities.

Describes military life for the average soldier in the Civil War, including camp life, diseases, and conditions for the wounded and prisoners of war. Includes excerpts from first-person accounts, letters, and diaries.