An Officer of the Old Guard : Lewis Stevenson Craig 1807-1852 / Willilam Harris Bragg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bragg, William Harris, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 3rd--Biography.

United States.

Craig, Lewis Stevenson, 1807-1852.

Craig, Lewis Stevenson.

Craig, Lewis Stevenson, 1807-1852--Diaries.

United States. Army--Officers--Biography.

United States. Army.

United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 3rd.

History, Military.

United States--History, Military--19th century.

Armed Forces--Officers.

Genre:

Biographies.

Diaries.

Military history.

Physical Description:

xiii, 295 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Lewis Stevenson Craig 1807-1852

Place of Publication:

Macon, Georgia : Mercer University Press, 2020.

Summary:

"From battling Seminole in Florida's swamps to storming through Old Mexico's deserts and mountains, Lewis Stevenson Craig served as an exemplar of the U.S. Army's burgeoning professional officer corps. An early officer to make the army a career, Craig was to die with his boots on, commanding the military escort of John Russell Bartlett's U.S.-Mexican Boundary Commission. Ironically, Craig was meant for a Virginia planter's life supported by a generous legacy from his father, but Craig's older brothers and a faithless guardian robbed him of his inheritance and plunged him into years-long court battles. For Craig, family love and concern had died with his short-lived older sister, Jane Craig Stanard, now famous as Edgar Allan Poe's "Helen." Early in the Florida War, as a Dragoons lieutenant by appointment, Craig soon distinguished himself. At war's end, now an officer of the Third Infantry Regiment, he met the love of his life, Elizabeth Church. Soon she became Craig's wife and bore their only child at Fort Jesup on the western frontier. By the end of the Mexican War, where his regiment became known as "The Old Guard," Craig's fearlessness and valor had brought him promotion to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. Soon, with the help of his military patron, General Winfield Scott, Craig embarked into the land of the Apaches on his last adventure. As presented in this book, Craig's story is told, unspoiled by present-mindedness, through deep research into the original sources: Virginia family papers and court files, U.S. military records, and Craig's own letters and journals, most from a heretofore untouched family archive"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: ch. 1 From the Old Dominion

ch. 2 To the Floridas

ch. 3 To the Sierra Madre Mountains

ch. 4 To the Valley of Mexico

ch. 5 To the Pacific.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780881467642

0881467642

OCLC:

1157434358