Michael D. Pierce has produced a credible and nicely written interpretation of Ranald Mackenzie\u27s life. By focusing on the frontier years and placing this officer\u27s experiences within the broader context of military events, he provides the reader a good sense of time and place. Pierce also successfully utilizes the standard source materials and moves well beyond Robert G. Carter\u27s somewhat unreliable On the Border with Mackenzie (1935). Unfortunately, the personal dimensions of Mackenzie\u27s thoughts and deeds will never be fully known because he was an intensely private man who left little documentation about himself. Even his official reports tend to be cryptic and matter-of-fact, rather than literary and reflective. Persons interested in frontier military life and the Indian wars will be rewarded by this book, and they should likewise consult a second new work for comparison-Charles M. Robinson\u27s Bad Hand: A Biography of Ranald S. Mackenzie (1993)

Tate, Michael L.

English

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 
1995 
Review of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald 
Slidell Mackenzie By Michael D. Pierce 
Michael L. Tate 
University of Nebraska at Omaha 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Tate, Michael L., "Review of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie By 
Michael D. Pierce" (1995). Great Plains Quarterly. 1071. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1071 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of 
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie. By Michael D. Pierce. 
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. 
Preface, introduction, maps, black and white 
illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. xiii + 
288 pp. $24.95. 
As the top graduate of his 1862 West Point 
class, cadet Ranald Slidell Mackenzie evi-
denced the virtues of self-discipline and hard 
BOOK REVIEWS 75 
work that gained the attention of his superiors. 
Then it was during the Civil War that the 
young officer demonstrated his personal 
courage and innovation on the battlefield, 
especially distinguishing himself at the battles 
of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and 
Gettysburg. Twice wounded and four times 
breveted for gallantry, this twenty-four-year-
old Major General of Volunteers emerged as 
one of the "boy generals," and he received 
General Ulysses S. Grant's ultimate praise as 
"the most promising young officer in the 
army." 
Mackenzie's greater reputation rested upon 
his subsequent military service on the Great 
Plains, where as commander of the 4th Caval-
ry he conducted numerous campaigns during 
the next fifteen years. Extraordinarily solici-
tous of his soldiers' good will, he took the field 
with them and endured the privation of count-
less long marches. In 1873 he crossed deep 
into Mexico to destroy the camps of Kick-
apoos and Lipan Apaches at El Remolino. 
Three years later he participated in the mas-
sive operations on the Northern Plains to 
round up the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne 
who had defeated George Custer at Little Big 
Horn. Brief service against Apaches in New 
Mexico and Utes in Colorado rounded out 
that career. 
But it was while stationed at Ft. Concho, 
Texas, that Mackenzie attained his greatest 
fame fighting in the Red River War of 1874-75. 
He inflicted a series of decisive defeats against 
Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyennes 
in the area of Palo Duro Canyon and oversaw 
their gradual surrender at Fort Sill. In 1883 he 
received command of the Department ofTex-
as, but his health was rapidly deteriorating 
due to the rigors of frontier campaigning, 
wounds, and a growing mental instability. 
Death came six years later, just as some of his 
fellow senior officers were reaching the peaks 
of their careers. 
Michael D. Pierce has produced a credible 
and nicely written interpretation of Ranald 
Mackenzie's life. By focusing on the frontier 
years and placing this officer's experiences 
76 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1995 
within the broader context of military events, 
he provides the reader a good sense of time 
and place. Pierce also successfully utilizes the 
standard source materials and moves well be-
yond Robert G. Carter's somewhat unreliable 
On the Border with Mackenzie (1935). Unfor-
tunately, the personal dimensions of Mac-
kenzie's thoughts and deeds will never be fully 
known because he was an intensely private 
man who left little documentation about him-
self. Even his official reports tend to be cryptic 
and matter-of-fact, rather than literary and 
reflective. Persons interested in frontier mili-
tary life and the Indian wars will be rewarded 
by this book, and they should likewise consult 
a second new work for comparison-Charles 
M. Robinson's Bad Hand: A Biography of Ranald 
S. Mackenzie (1993). 
MICHAEL L. TATE 
Department of History 
University of Nebraska at Omaha 


Review of \u3ci\u3eThe Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie\u3c/i\u3e By Michael D. Pierce

The University of Nebraska, Omaha

University of Nebraska at OmahaDigitalCommons@UNOHistory Faculty Publications Department of History1995Review of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life ofRanald Slidell Mackenzie By Michael D. PierceMichael L. TateUniversity of Nebraska at OmahaFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/histfacpubPart of the Military History Commons, and the United States History CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by theDepartment of History at DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been acceptedfor inclusion in History Faculty Publications by an authorizedadministrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, pleasecontact unodigitalcommons@unomaha.edu.Recommended CitationTate, Michael L., "Review of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie By Michael D. Pierce" (1995). HistoryFaculty Publications. 5.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/histfacpub/5The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie. By Michael D. Pierce. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. Preface, introduction, maps, black and white illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. xiii + 288 pp. $24.95. As the top graduate of his 1862 West Point class, cadet Ranald Slidell Mackenzie evi-denced the virtues of self-discipline and hard BOOK REVIEWS 75 work that gained the attention of his superiors. Then it was during the Civil War that the young officer demonstrated his personal courage and innovation on the battlefield, especially distinguishing himself at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Twice wounded and four times breveted for gallantry, this twenty-four-year-old Major General of Volunteers emerged as one of the "boy generals," and he received General Ulysses S. Grant's ultimate praise as "the most promising young officer in the army." Mackenzie's greater reputation rested upon his subsequent military service on the Great Plains, where as commander of the 4th Caval-ry he conducted numerous campaigns during the next fifteen years. Extraordinarily solici-tous of his soldiers' good will, he took the field with them and endured the privation of count-less long marches. In 1873 he crossed deep into Mexico to destroy the camps of Kick-apoos and Lipan Apaches at El Remolino. Three years later he participated in the mas-sive operations on the Northern Plains to round up the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne who had defeated George Custer at Little Big Horn. Brief service against Apaches in New Mexico and Utes in Colorado rounded out that career. But it was while stationed at Ft. Concho, Texas, that Mackenzie attained his greatest fame fighting in the Red River War of 1874-75. He inflicted a series of decisive defeats against Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyennes in the area of Palo Duro Canyon and oversaw their gradual surrender at Fort Sill. In 1883 he received command of the Department ofTex-as, but his health was rapidly deteriorating due to the rigors of frontier campaigning, wounds, and a growing mental instability. Death came six years later, just as some of his fellow senior officers were reaching the peaks of their careers. Michael D. Pierce has produced a credible and nicely written interpretation of Ranald Mackenzie's life. By focusing on the frontier years and placing this officer's experiences 76 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1995 within the broader context of military events, he provides the reader a good sense of time and place. Pierce also successfully utilizes the standard source materials and moves well be-yond Robert G. Carter's somewhat unreliable On the Border with Mackenzie (1935). Unfor-tunately, the personal dimensions of Mac-kenzie's thoughts and deeds will never be fully known because he was an intensely private man who left little documentation about him-self. Even his official reports tend to be cryptic and matter-of-fact, rather than literary and reflective. Persons interested in frontier mili-tary life and the Indian wars will be rewarded by this book, and they should likewise consult a second new work for comparison-Charles M. Robinson's Bad Hand: A Biography of Ranald S. Mackenzie (1993). MICHAEL L. TATE Department of History University of Nebraska at Omaha 

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 1995 Review of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie By Michael D. Pierce Michael L. Tate University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Tate, Michael L., "Review of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie By Michael D. Pierce" (1995). Great Plains Quarterly. 1071. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1071 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie. By Michael D. Pierce. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. Preface, introduction, maps, black and white illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. xiii + 288 pp. $24.95. As the top graduate of his 1862 West Point class, cadet Ranald Slidell Mackenzie evi-denced the virtues of self-discipline and hard BOOK REVIEWS 75 work that gained the attention of his superiors. Then it was during the Civil War that the young officer demonstrated his personal courage and innovation on the battlefield, especially distinguishing himself at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Twice wounded and four times breveted for gallantry, this twenty-four-year-old Major General of Volunteers emerged as one of the "boy generals," and he received General Ulysses S. Grant's ultimate praise as "the most promising young officer in the army." Mackenzie's greater reputation rested upon his subsequent military service on the Great Plains, where as commander of the 4th Caval-ry he conducted numerous campaigns during the next fifteen years. Extraordinarily solici-tous of his soldiers' good will, he took the field with them and endured the privation of count-less long marches. In 1873 he crossed deep into Mexico to destroy the camps of Kick-apoos and Lipan Apaches at El Remolino. Three years later he participated in the mas-sive operations on the Northern Plains to round up the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne who had defeated George Custer at Little Big Horn. Brief service against Apaches in New Mexico and Utes in Colorado rounded out that career. But it was while stationed at Ft. Concho, Texas, that Mackenzie attained his greatest fame fighting in the Red River War of 1874-75. He inflicted a series of decisive defeats against Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyennes in the area of Palo Duro Canyon and oversaw their gradual surrender at Fort Sill. In 1883 he received command of the Department ofTex-as, but his health was rapidly deteriorating due to the rigors of frontier campaigning, wounds, and a growing mental instability. Death came six years later, just as some of his fellow senior officers were reaching the peaks of their careers. Michael D. Pierce has produced a credible and nicely written interpretation of Ranald Mackenzie's life. By focusing on the frontier years and placing this officer's experiences 76 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1995 within the broader context of military events, he provides the reader a good sense of time and place. Pierce also successfully utilizes the standard source materials and moves well be-yond Robert G. Carter's somewhat unreliable On the Border with Mackenzie (1935). Unfor-tunately, the personal dimensions of Mac-kenzie's thoughts and deeds will never be fully known because he was an intensely private man who left little documentation about him-self. Even his official reports tend to be cryptic and matter-of-fact, rather than literary and reflective. Persons interested in frontier mili-tary life and the Indian wars will be rewarded by this book, and they should likewise consult a second new work for comparison-Charles M. Robinson's Bad Hand: A Biography of Ranald S. Mackenzie (1993). MICHAEL L. TATE Department of History University of Nebraska at Omaha 

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