Jeff Davis's Own: Cavalry, Comanches, and the Battle for the Texas Frontier

by James R. Arnold

The men of the Second Cavalry went to Texas to fight Indians.

Then they returned home to fight each other. The creation of the Second Cavalry in 1855 was a watershed event in the history of the United States Army. Ordered to engage the Native American tribes whose persistent raids were slowing the settlement of the West, the officers of the Second were unwittingly preparing to fight each other. Established by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, the Second and its officers were assigned-disregarding Army tradition-on the basis of merit and not seniority. Davis's innovation proved Half of the full generals in Davis's Confederate army had served with the Second Cavalry prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.Texas's western frontier was their battleground, and the warriors of the Comanche tribe were their foes. Forsaking the infantry's rustic stockades that had merely served as detour signs for fleet raiding parties, the Second Cavalry developed innovative tactics to address a novel situation, thereby showing the army how to complete the conquest of the West. Led by men such as Robert E. Lee (in his first independent combat command), John Bell Hood, and George Thomas, the troopers of the Second Cavalry schooled themselves in the tactics and strategies of mobile desert warfare, tutored by a skilled and tireless adversary.Drawing upon a wealth of military documents, archival materials, period newspapers, and personal journals, Arnold adds a new and insightful chapter to the history of the U.S. Army and the men who shaped it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Civil War, History, American History, Military History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2000

Reviews

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff Davis's Own provides a historry of the Second US Cavalry regiment in pre-Civil War Texas as well as a descripttion of the officers who staffed it. While an illuminating work several pages of the book were printed out of sequence making the middle part difficult to read and understand. This was especially tryue of the portion dealing with the army's experiment with camels. This is an interesting read for history buffs of the pre-Civil war American frontier and of interest to Civil War buffs as it lays out the training and leadership of many future generals. Embe4dded is the faith of William B. Travis's son [Battle of the Alamo] and the recovery of Cynthia Ann Parker from the Comanche.

[William Edmund Wilkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

James R. Arnold has clearly done his research well into the US Second Cavalry and their duty in Texas from 1855-60. Many readers will go to this subject to learn about the pre-war careers of several great Civil War generals. However, there is more than that available here. Mr. Arnold captures the feel of the Texas frontier and the precarious life of the settlers. He is also perceptive in his treatment of the Comanches--their needs, goals, methods. Quanah Parker --a key persona in Ken Burns' latest PBS documentary on the Buffalo--figures with regularity in Arnold's book. Those needing a taste of Texas history will also find this book helpful.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Military history between the Wars

This is a well-researched story of a cavalry unit formed in the period between the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. It features a cast of officers whose names will be familiar to anyone who has studied the Civil War.

The Second Cavalry was formed to fight Indians and to protect the citizens of the new state of Texas. The American South sent its brightest sons to West Point for education and then they languished in dead-end posts because Congress and the American people feared a strong army. This new cavalry unit revived their careers.

Fighting the Comanche was not like the fighting taught at West Point. For each Indian it was a fight to the death - being captured caused too much loss of pride and standing in their culture. For the most part, they also didn't take prisoners, so it became a fight to the death for the soldiers, as well.

Being Southerners by birth, many of the 2nd Cavalry's best officers left to join the Confederate Army. The remaining forces were reorganized as the 5th Cavalry and transferred to Virginia as part of the Union forces. As so often happened during the Civil War, former comrades became enemies.

I'm not a big military buff, but I do love history and the Civil War is one of my favorite eras in American history. I was fascinated to read about my heros' lives before the War Between the States. I found the sections discussing the ways of the Comanche insightful and gave a better understanding of why they behaved as they did. The descriptions of life on the Texas frontier had no Hollywood glamour. The battle descriptions were balanced, with neither too much glory or too much guts.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history, likes military stories or likes biographies.

[SA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really wish I could give this book 3.5 stars instead of 3 or 4. that said...author does a great job with factually covering the formation of the 2nd cavalry and the attempted defense of the Texas frontier during the 1850's. While it wasn't exactly vivid imagery, a pretty clear description is conveyed to the reader of frontier Texas and how folks were living at the time. to his credit, the author does a great job of utilizing some rather lofty and flowery adjectives throughout the book. to me, this helps break the mold of the "typical history read."

While I might've liked to have seen more specific details about indian depredations that occurred, I feel like I finished this book with a pretty good idea of what was going on with the 2nd cavalry in Texas.

The reason I give the book 4 stars instead of 3? the last chapter of the book does a great of chronlcling what happened to the guys that served in Texas...which side they fought on in the civil war, what they did, when they fought each other, etc. There's also a little bit of analysis regarding what service in Texas did for the officers professionally and how that manifested itself in the war.

recommended if you're curious about Comanches in Texas or Texas frontier history.

[R. Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great historical account of the early Texas frontier days. I found it very interesting althought it read a lot like a college history book.

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information about the Second Cavalry, not much on Jeff Davis.

[Elsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully personal, a new glimpse at an old Army.