Overview

In Jackson’s Sword, Samuel Watson showed how the U.S. Army officer corps played a crucial role in stabilising the frontiers of a rapidly expanding nation. In this sequel volume, he chronicles how the corps’ responsibilities and leadership along the young nation’s borders continued to grow. In the process, he shows, officers reflected an increasing commitment to professionalism, insulation from partisanship, and deference to civilian authority—all tempered in the forge of frustrating, politically complex operations and diplomacy along the nation’s frontiers. Watson now focuses on the quarter-century between the Army’s reduction in force in 1821 and the Mexican War. He examines a broad swath of military activity beginning with campaigns against southeastern Indians, notably the dispossession of the Creeks remaining in Georgia and Alabama from 1825 to 1834; the expropriation of the Cherokee between 1836 and 1838; and the Second Seminole War. He also explores peacekeeping on the Canadian border, which exploded in rebellion against British rule at the end of 1837, prompting British officials to applaud the U.S. Army for calming tensions and demonstrating its government’s support for the international state system. He then follows the gradual extension of U.S. sovereignty in the Southwest through military operations west of the Missouri River and along the Louisiana-Texas border from 1821 to 1838 and through dragoon expeditions onto the central and southern Plains between 1834 and 1845. Throughout his account, Watson shows how military professionalism did not develop independent of civilian society, nor was it simply a matter of growing expertise in the art of conventional warfare. Indeed, the government trusted career army officers to serve as federal, international, and interethnic mediators, national law enforcers, and de facto intercultural and international peacekeepers. He also explores officers’ attitudes toward Britain, Oregon, Texas, and Mexico to assess their values and priorities on the eve of the first conventional war the United States had fought in more than three decades. Watson’s detailed study delves deeply into sources that reveal what officers actually thought, wrote, and did in the frontier and border regions. By examining the range of operations over the course of this quarter-century, he shows that the processes of peacekeeping, coercive diplomacy, and conquest were intricately and inextricably woven together.

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Reviews

Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the army's place in the early American republic leap off every page. <i><b>Journal of Southern History</i></b>

Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission. --William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861 This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it. --Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations. --James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War. --Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the army's place in the early American republic leap off every page. --Journal of Southern History A magnificent achievement. --Journal of Military History

"""Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission.""--William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861""This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it.""--Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory ""Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations.""--James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History ""Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War.""--Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s ""Samuel J. Watson follows up his acclaimed book Jackson's Sword with another superb volume. The author has constructed a well-researched, detailed, and well-written story of the army and its officer corps from 1821 to 1846. As a military history, it reveals the unique relationship between American society and its armed forces. It deserves to be read by all American history scholars and the current Army Officer Corps at West Point.""--H-Net Reviews""A magnificent achievement.""--Journal of Military History ""Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the arm's place in the early American republic leap off every page.""--Journal of Southern History ""Impressive in scope and mastery of primary and secondary sources, Peacekeepers and Conquerors is an essential read for scholars of American expansion, Native American relations, military history, and the Jacksonian era.""--Journal of American History ""Watson has done an excellent job in throwing light on this period, giving us a look at many notable officers now largely forgotten, and of the shaping of the army in which many men who later would win fame in Mexico and the civil War first saw military service.""--: New York Military Affairs Symposium Review"

Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the army's place in the early American republic leap off every page. --<i><b>Journal of Southern History</i></b>

A magnificent achievement. -- Journal of Military History

A magnificent achievement. -- Journal of Military History A magnificent achievement. Journal of Military History �Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission.�--William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861 �This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it.�--Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory �Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations.�--James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History �Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War.�--Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission. --William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861 This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it. --Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations. --James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War. --Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the army's place in the early American republic leap off every page. --Journal of Southern History A magnificent achievement. --Journal of Military History Impressive in scope and mastery of primary and secondary sources, Peacekeepers and Conquerors is an essential read for scholars of American expansion, Native American relations, military history, and the Jacksonian era. --Journal of American History A magnificent achievement. Journal of Military History

A magnificent achievement. -- Journal of Military History A magnificent achievement. Journal of Military History �Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission.�--William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861 �This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it.�--Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory �Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations.�--James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History �Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War.�--Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s -Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the army's place in the early American republic leap off every page.---Journal of Southern History -A magnificent achievement.---Journal of Military History -Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission.---William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861 -This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it.---Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory -Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations.---James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History -Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War.---Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s Brilliant and path-breaking. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the military profession in the United States, civil-military relations, the general role of the federal government on the frontiers, and the army's long-neglected but vitally important constabulary and nation-building mission. --William B. Skelton, author of An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861 This study places Watson at the forefront of military historians of this time period. I highly recommend it. --Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory Destined to become a classic study of civil-military relations. --James C. Bradford, editor of A Companion to American Military History Watson's outstanding volume definitely and comprehensively captures the development of the American military profession during the critical period before the Civil War. --Gene Allen Smith, author of Nexus of Empire: Negotiating Loyalty and Identity in the Revolutionary Borderlands, 1760s-1820s Watson, the author of several highly regarded articles and chapters on the antebellum army, clearly knows his subject. Indeed, his learnedness, his deep knowledge of the antebellum army's operations and characters, and his years of serious thought about the army's place in the early American republic leap off every page. --Journal of Southern History A magnificent achievement. --Journal of Military History Impressive in scope and mastery of primary and secondary sources, Peacekeepers and Conquerors is an essential read for scholars of American expansion, Native American relations, military history, and the Jacksonian era. --Journal of American History A magnificent achievement. Journal of Military History

Author Information

Samuel J. Watson is an associate professor of history at the U.S. Military Academy, author of Jackson’s Sword: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1810–1821, and editor of The International Library of Essays in Military History: Warfare in the USA, 1783–1861.

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