Ten years in the ranks, U.S. Army

A soldier's memoir recounts a decade of service in the United States Army, beginning with enlistment as a young musician and tracing life in garrison, on the frontier, and through Civil War campaigns. It moves from harbor duty and Carlisle Barracks to frontier posts in Nebraska and encounters with Sioux and Ponca, descriptions of establishing and manning forts, and campaigning in Kansas. The narrative follows later wartime duty in Washington and major Virginia campaigns—Peninsula, Seven Days, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Grant's operations—closing with departure from service and reflective addenda on soldiering, discipline, daily routines, and encounters with civilians and recruits.