Desert Army; Fort Bliss on the Texas Border

Frederick Carter (book jacket painting), Placido C El Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, 1989. Revised Edition [stated]. Presumed first printing thus. Hardcover. 205, [3] pages. Contains over sixty photographs, maps, and illustrations. Includes Appendix, Acknowledgments, Bibliography, and Index. Signed by the author on the half title page. Presentation inscription, not from author, on fep. Much of the material in this book first appeared in a large-format pictorial volume (now out of print) titled Fort Bliss: An Illustrated History. This new work is an updated version which contains a new introduction. DJ has some line/impressions on the back. This is the most authoritative work to date on Fort Bliss, which has grown from a frontier Army post to a huge reservation presently counted in numbers of square miles rather than acres. Leon Claire Metz (born November 6, 1930) is an American cultural historian, author, television documentary personality, and lecturer on the American Old West period. Metz has presented hundreds of his programs to groups all over the U.S. and has also made numerous TV appearances and television documentaries most notably, A&E's The Real West series, which is also shown on The History Channel. From frontier outpost to international military complex, here is the romance and history of the United States military at the Pass of the North. The lively narrative and over sixty photographs, maps and illustrations takes the reader through the exciting years of Fort Bliss on the western frontier, through the Civil War, Pershing's expedition into Mexico, World War I, the horse cavalry years, World War II, up to the present day missile firings. This is the most authoritative work on Fort Bliss to date. In 1846, Colonel Alexander Doniphan led 1st Regiment of Missouri mounted volunteers through El Paso del Norte, with victories at the Battle of El Brazito and the Battle of the Sacramento. Then on 7 November 1848, War Department General Order no. 58 ordered the establishment of a post across from El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juárez). On 8 September 1849, the garrison party of several companies of the 3rd U.S. Infantry ('The Old Guard', currently the oldest active duty regiment in the US Army), commanded by Major Jefferson Van Horne, found only four small and scattered settlements on the north side of the Rio Grande. The Post Opposite El Paso del Norte was first established at the site of Coon's Ranch (often erroneously referred to as Smith's Ranch, now downtown El Paso) and, along with Fort Selden and other Southwestern outposts, protected recently won territory from harassing Apaches and Comanches, provided law and order, and escorted the forty-niners. Van Horne also had nominal command of the Post at San Elizario, the former Presidio of San Elizario, seventeen miles downstream from El Paso del Norte. With constant Indian raids, garrisons had to be moved frequently to meet the shifting threats. In September 1851, the Post Opposite El Paso and the Post at San Elizario were closed, the soldiers moved 40 miles (64 km) north to Fort Fillmore. On 11 January 1854, Companies B, E, I and K of the 8th Infantry, under the command of Lt. Col. Edmund B. Alexander, established Post of El Paso at Magoffinsville under orders from Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The post was named 'Fort Bliss' on 8 March 1854 in honor of Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss, a veteran of the Mexican War (1846-1848) who was cited for gallantry in action. In January 1914, John J. Pershing arrived in El Paso to take command of the Army 8th Brigade that was stationed at Fort Bliss. At the time, the Mexican Revolution was underway in Mexico, and the 8th Brigade had been assigned the task of securing the Mexico–United States border. In March 1915, under the command of General Frederick Funston, Pershing led the 8th Brigade on the failed 1916–1917 Punitive Expedition into Mexico in search of outlaw Pancho Villa. The military airfield in El Paso would become one of the homes to the United States Army Border Air Patrol and the 1st Aero Squadron, the U.S. Army's first tactical unit equipped with airplanes. As American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander (1917–1918), John J. Pershing transferred to Fort Bliss and was responsible for the organization, training, and supply of a force that eventually grew from 27,000 men to over 2,000,000—the National Army of World War I. By February 1946, over 100 Operation Paperclip German scientists had arrived to develop rockets and were attached to the Office of the Chief of Ordnance Corps, Research and Development Service, Suboffice (Rocket), headed by Major James P. Hamill. Although the scientists were initially "pretty much kept on ice" (resulting in the nickname "Operation Icebox"), they were subsequently divided into a research group and a group who assisted with V-2 test launches at White Sands Proving Grounds. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Fort Bliss provided ADA Battalions for US and NATO use in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has served as one of the major deployment centers for troops bound for Iraq and Afghanistan. Condition: Very good / Very good.

Keywords: Fort Bliss, El Paso, Camp Concordia, Perishing, Punitive Expedition, William Beaumont, White Sands, Hart's Mill, Border Air Patrol, Horse Cavalry, Pancho Villa

ISBN: 0930208250

[Book #79100]

Price: $175.00

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