On the Trail of Deserters; A Phenomenal Capture — Edition Insights

Mackenzie’s Command and the Desertion Problem

Carter opens by situating the Fourth Cavalry within the broader work of subduing “savage tribes” and advancing settlement on the frontier. He acknowledges that even a regiment of high morale had its share of desertions. The excerpts then pivot to a character sketch of Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, whom Carter defends against the charge of being a “martinet.” He attributes Mackenzie’s irritability and explosiveness to four wounds—three from the Civil War and one from a campaign against Comanche chief Quanah Parker—and to “almost criminal neglect of his own health.” Carter insists that Mackenzie never punished unnecessarily and was quick to apologize when wrong. This section reveals the author’s dual purpose: to recount a specific event and to vindicate his commanding officer’s reputation.

Experience Over Theory in the Field

The longest excerpt argues that the pursuit of deserters fell outside any textbook military problem. Carter writes that “no book has ever been written, or ever will be” that could prescribe rules for such situations. He contrasts the fixed principles of tactics with the ever-changing factors of real operations, asserting that success depends on “resourcefulness and horse sense.” He goes so far as to warn against “over education” and “over training,” which can produce soldiers too rigid to adapt. A striking analogy compares the desertion chase to the then-recent challenge of German trench warfare, suggesting that Carter saw his own experience as a precursor to modern military improvisation. The tone is defensive and didactic, aimed at readers who might undervalue practical judgment.

A Personal and Polemical Voice

Carter’s narrative voice is unapologetically personal. He anticipates charges of “petty conceit, undue egotism nor personal vanity” in stating facts that he claims were never gainsaid by any officer of the Fourth Cavalry. The excerpts include a lengthy digression quoting Theodore Roosevelt’s advice to his son about entering West Point, which Carter uses to criticize officers who sought the army merely as “a living and a career.” He laments that such men had to be “canning” (dismissing) during the World War. This editorializing suggests that On the Trail of Deserters is not a neutral report but a veteran’s argument for a particular kind of military professionalism—one rooted in experience, not ambition or academic study.

Readers should approach this work as a primary source that reveals how a late-19th-century cavalry officer understood his own service. Carter’s digressions and defenses are as informative as the chase itself, offering insight into the culture of the post-Civil War regular army. The catalog subjects—desertion, frontier life, the Fourth Cavalry—are present, but the excerpts show that the book is equally concerned with justifying Mackenzie’s leadership and promoting a philosophy of practical soldiering. Expect a memoir that argues as much as it narrates.

That rainy afternoon, the Fourth Cavalry officer’s quiet frustration with raw recruits stayed with me long after I closed the book. It made me think about how desertion isn’t always about cowardice, but sometimes about loneliness. Later, idly flipping pages, I found myself in Emerson's Wife and Other Western Stories — Story, Setting & Ideas, where the same ache for home whispers through different voices, softer and slower.