Examines the U.S. Army during the period following the end of the Civil War to the Spanish-American War in 1898; and describes the soldiers, Indian Wars, Reconstruction in the South, African-American soldiers, and military law and discipline.

Overview : reshaping the U.S. Army after the Civil War -- From glory to ambiguity : recruitment of a peacetime army -- New duties : from Reconstruction South to Old West -- Armed laborers : building and maintaining a network of posts -- The regimental family : patronage, power, and social dynamics -- Off duty, on post : the search for recreation and entertainment -- Many missions : a multipurpose army on the frontier -- "Tigers of the human species" : military views of the American Indian -- Black regulars : racial realities in a white man's army -- Twilight of the old army.