Texas and New Mexico on the Eve of the Civil War

"From 1859 to 1861, senior Army officers Lt. Col. Joseph E. Johnston and Col. Joseph K. F. Mansfield were charged with investigating and evaluating the welfare, efficiency, and combat readiness of troops in the Texas and New Mexico Departments of the Army. Their reports to the U.S. Inspector General's Office are transcribed and presented here for the first time by noted Civil War historian Jerry Thompson.". "Johnston's and Mansfield's field reports provide fascinating profiles of personnel, society, and the material culture of members of the United States' regular army. Careful witnesses and engaging reporters, the two men recorded an impressive range of observations in their inspection tours, ranging from such practical matters as the physical layout of army posts and the number and condition of horses and oxen in each unit to blunt accounts of the failures of commanders and their units. The reports take special note of army relations with local Hispanos, Anglo settlers, and Indians, and the officers' accounts are a vivid record of the region and the soldiers on the frontier as the Union prepared for war." "This unique and important study illuminates a vital intersection of the histories of Texas and New Mexico with a United States on the verge of dissolution."--BOOK JACKET.