This scholarly work offers a critical and comprehensive analysis of how the United States military shaped and executed Indian policy in the decades following the Civil War. Rather than simply recount battles or troop movements, Wooster examines the institutional role of the U.S. Army, how military leaders influenced policy decisions, and the complex interaction between civilian government directives and military action on the western frontier.
Wooster argues that the U.S. Army’s approach to Native American relations was driven by a combination of political pressures, strategic assumptions forged in the Civil War, and conflicting objectives — all of which contributed to inconsistent and often brutal policies toward Indigenous peoples. Through clear narrative and analysis, the book places military operations and policy formation in a broader national context, showing how strategic thinking, institutional priorities, and frontier realities shaped the final decades of the Indian wars.