1868-75 17th US INFANTRY Ledger DAKOTA TERRITORY Indian Wars FT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

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1868-75 17th US INFANTRY Ledger DAKOTA TERRITORY Indian Wars FT ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
$12995.00

Shipping | POLICIES AND INFORMATION1868-75 17th US INFANTRY Ledger DAKOTA TERRITORY Indian Wars FT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

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Fresh to the market from a local Florida estate.

This is a museum-grade primary source document: the original, hand-written Company Descriptive Book for Company H, 17th Infantry Regiment.

Unlike standard muster rolls, the "Descriptive Book" was the most vital administrative volume held at the company level. It served as the singular, permanent record of every man's physical appearance, civilian trade, service history, and ultimate fate on the American frontier.

This ledger documents the 17th Infantry during its most active and dangerous years. It follows the unit from Reconstruction-era Virginia (Richmond and Petersburg) to its 1870 deployment into the Department of Dakota.

The volume places the reader at the epicenter of Western expansion, specifically at Fort Rice, Fort McKeen, and Fort Abraham Lincoln during the precise years that George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry were staging for the Yellowstone and Black Hills Expeditions.

EXTRAORDINARY NARRATIVE HIGHLIGHTS:

THE FROZEN SOLDIER: A haunting primary-source account of Private Robert Gillespie, who was "Frozen to death on the ice of the Missouri River in front of Fort A. Lincoln" in February 1874.
CLINICAL FATALITIES: A medically precise, anatomical description of a fatal sentinel shooting at Fort Rice (1872), detailing the ball's path through the dorsal vertebra, lung, and aorta.
"BALL AND CHAIN" JUSTICE: A rare recorded sentence from a General Court Martial requiring a soldier to be "confined at hard labor... with a ball weighing 24 pounds, attached to the left leg by a chain 5 1/2 feet long."
CUSTER-ERA CAMPAIGNS: Direct field entries documenting court martials and service at "Camp 67, Yellowstone Crossing, M.T." (Montana Territory) and captures of deserters along the Northern Pacific Railroad (N.P.R.R.).
FRONTIER CRIME: Narrative of a "Breach of Trust" involving a soldier who deserted while acting as a messenger to the fledgling town of Bismarck, stealing money from Captain Bates (20th Infantry) and other officers.

This is not a typical Indian Wars ledger. It is unusually legible, as shown in the photos. I have not transcribed or read the entire volume, and not all pages are shown in the photos.

Ledger contains a total of 90 pages, with the vast majority covered in entries, from top to bottom of page.

The "Descriptive Roll" provides a physical snapshot of the 19th-century Regular Army. Hundreds of entries record the age, height, eye color, hair color, and civilian trade (Blacksmiths, Printers, Sailors, Farmers) for a diverse ranks-and-file composed of American-born citizens and immigrants from Prussia, Ireland, Switzerland, and Germany.

ITEM SPECIFICS:

Unit: Company H, 17th Infantry Regiment, US Regular Army
Dates: 1868-1875 (Final entries into early 1876)
Primary Locations: Fort Abraham Lincoln (D.T.), Fort Rice (D.T.), Fort McKeen, Bismarck, Richmond (VA).
Dimensions: Approximately 10" x 15.5"
Pages: Multi-sectioned (Officers, NCOs, Transfers, Discharges, Deaths, Deserters, and the extensive Descriptive Roll).

CONDITION REPORT:

The ledger is in Original Antique Condition. The leather binding shows heavy weathering, characteristic of a book that traveled from the South to the harsh Dakota frontier.

The spine cover is intact, and the internal paper remains remarkably supple and clean. The ink remains a deep, rich black/brown, and the Victorian-era calligraphy is exceptionally bold and legible. First and last page are present, but detached. All other pages and both covers securely attached at spine.

Guaranteed to be an original circa-1860's Company Descriptive Book, and not a later copy or reproduction.

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