U. S. Dragoon: Experiences in the Mexican War 1846-48 and on the South Western Frontier

by Samuel E. Chamberlain

Book Overview

From soldier to wagon master to scalp hunter

Chamberlain left Boston as a mere youth and joined the United States Army. He became a soldier in the 1st US Dragoons and determined to become the very ideal of the daring cavalryman both on and off the battlefields of the American-Mexican War. His is a tale-not a little tall-that includes accounts of passionate love affairs, duels to the death, pitched battles and exploits of daring in which Chamberlain...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1846774292
• ISBN13: 9781846774294
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Leonaur Ltd
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

My Confessions: Recollections of a Rogue

A great gift for McCarthy fans. It is almost a coffee table book. I was amazed at the quality and content of this book. Quick delivery. I gave this to my no.1 son for Christmas. He loved it. Great companion book for Blood Meridian.

Tall Tales

For those interested the Mexican War, this is a "must read" book and has been used by historians as a primary source for years, but his crude paintings are also a treat for the scholar, because Camberlain captures many scenes which have escaped photographers and those who made lithographs, including the massacre of Mexican civilians by Arkansas troops in a cave in Northern Mexico.Sam Camberlain was a 16 year old private from Boston who served in the elite 1st US Dragoons in Mexico and gives vivid descriptions with crude but animated paintings of Saltillo, Monterrey, and Northern Mexico. Although he was not at the savage fighting during the capture of Monterrey, he claims to have been there so the reader is left to wonder about his other claims and the accuracy of his paintings of the combat in which he lied about being involved. Perhaps he had contact with those who were actually there?Sam Chamberlain was in the Mexican War and painted some interesting small glimpses of life & death. Reading his book is almost like listening to a veteran who seems to have been everywhere and done everything (especially with women). Sam Chamberlain relates deaths of soldiers to Mexican guerrillas and duty in the occupation but more often than not, Sam Chamberlain proclaims preposterous pick-ups with a host of women. The reader almost senses the author is bragging to fellow high schoolers in a locker room or to anyone who will listen in a bar, hence the title of the book is fitting "My Confessions: Recollections of a Rogue". This book would probably be disregarded as pure fantasy if it were not or the fact that sometimes he does detail military and daily life senarios which are proved by others. Truth or Tall Tale? Read this book and you be the judge.

Meet The Judge

Read 'My Confession' for a first hand account of the War with Mexico, as well as an eyewitness report on the notorious Glanton party. This is one of the most controverisal stories in American and Mexican history, and the discovery of these papers in the 1950s brought out an event that was otherwise best 'swept under the rug' of history. Cormac McCarthy pointed a spotlight on this whole affair when he wrote Blood Meridian, and fans of McCarthy may want to read this to confirm that he wasn't making everything up in Blood Meridian:The Evening Redness in the West. The basic storyline of The Kid, Glanton and the Judge's scalp hunt as set forth in 'Blood Meridian' is related here by the man who lived thru it all, General Samuel Chamberlin. I for one was disturbed to find the Judge among the cast of real characters, I couldn't imagine that such a horrible figure actually existed. Read the book to find out what really happened to Glanton, the kid, as well as 'the judge'. And keep your powder very dry.