Scenes and Adventures in the Army
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Riffs William Gibson, USN Augustus Ely Silliman |
Publication HistoryIn February 1840, the first of four western sketches entitled “Leaves from my Note-Book” appeared in the Army and Navy Chronicle over the signature of “Z.” In June of the same year, these “Leaves” of “Z.” were supplanted by “Notes and Reminiscences of an Officer of the Army,” signed “F. R. D.” The combined “Leaves” and “Notes” were reprinted in the Southern Literary Messenger two years later (while Herman Melville was at sea) under yet another title, “Scenes and Adventures in the Army, Sketches of Indians, and Life beyond the Border.” The 1842-3 Southern Literary Messenger series eventually became Part I of the widely prized military memoir of veteran cavalry officer Philip St. George Cooke, entitled Scenes and Adventures in the Army: Or, Romance of Military Life (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1857). A sequel entitled "Scenes Beyond the Western Border" ran intermittently in the Southern Literary Messenger from June 1851 through August 1853. In thirteen installments, the new series (“Written on the Prairie,” ostensibly, “by a Captain of U. S. Dragoons”) chronicled 1843 and 1845 dragoon expeditions in the far west. In 1855, Philip St. George Cooke unsuccessfully proposed a volume combining the two series to three different New York publishers (the Harpers, Putnam, and Appleton) under the working title, “Fragments of a Military Life” (Letter to John Pendleton Kennedy, 14 March 1855; Microfilm of the John Pendleton Kennedy Papers, ed. John B. Boles, Maryland Historical Society, 1972). Melville buffs will recognize in that title a suggestive echo of Melville’s first known publication, “Fragments from a Writing Desk.” Eventually the two series would be united in Scenes and Adventures in the Army. The difficult business of securing a publisher forced Cooke to delay the pleasure of seeing his name and rank on the title page of a book until 1857. Rank was of vital importance to Cooke, as shown by the reissue of Scenes and Adventures in 1859, apparently for the sole purpose of recognizing Cooke's promotion to Colonel on the title page.
Part I [SA = Scenes and Adventures in the Army: Or, Romance of Military Life] 1―Southern Literary Messenger 8 (June 1842): 405-414. SA chapters I-VI; pp. 13-46. The West Point graduate arrives in 1827 at Jefferson Barracks by way of Kentucky. Recounts travels to Fort Crawford and across Lake Pepin to Fort Snelling and St Anthony Falls, with glimpses of St. Louis and Galena. 2―Southern Literary Messenger 8 (July 1842): 453-468. SA chapters VII-XII; pp. 46-93. Chronicles the 1829 military escort of Santa Fe traders, with interpolated Indian romances of “Sha-wah-now” and “Mah-za-pa-mee.” Account of the 1829 campaign under Bennet Riley includes a dramatic “Battle with Indians,” reprinted under that title from the July 1842 installment in various New York, Albany, and Boston newspapers. 3—Southern Literary Messenger 8 (September 1842): 573-590. SA chapters XIII-XXI, pp. 93-156. Picaresque 1831 tour from Leavenworth to Otto and Omaha villages; tales of Ietan and Blackbird, interpolated story of Hugh Glass, reprinted in the New-York Tribune. Chapter 17 in the 1857 book (pp. 122-130) is transposed from a section in the 1843 Appendix, which in turn derives from an essay called “A Plea for the Indian” by “F. R. D.” first printed in 1840 in the Army and Navy Chronicle. Insertion here of the “Plea” adds an extra chapter in the book version. 4—Southern Literary Messenger 8 (October 1842): 655-664. SA chapters XXII-XXV; pp. 152-187. Black Hawk war of 1832. 5—Southern Literary Messenger 8 (November 1842): 701-704. SA chapters XXVI-XXVII; pp. 187-197. Concludes account of the Black Hawk war. 6—Southern Literary Messenger 9 (February 1843): 109-124. SA chapters XXVIII-XXXI; pp. 197-227. Rowdy times in Tennessee, recruiting in 1833 for the new regiment of dragoons. Followed by two chapters of padding, one consisting mostly of extracts from “ Thoughts on Tactics” by Colonel Mitchell (chapter 28 in the magazine, 29 in the book version) and the next resurrecting an 1834 letter from Cooke on “The Regiment of Dragoons,” originally published in the Military and Naval Magazine of the United States (August 1834): 427-434. A final regular chapter, again glossing 1834 correspondence in the Military and Naval Magazine, summarizes the condition of the dragoons, focusing on the malarial living quarters and bleak prospects of the dragoons at Fort Gibson. The series ends in this installment with a three-part Appendix, not reproduced as such in the 1857 book. Section ‘A’ of the Appendix reprints a War Department memo from the year 1800 on the advantages and proper equipment of horse artillery; section ‘B’ reprises the 1840 “Appeal for the Indian” by “F. R. D.”; and section ‘C’ reproduces another communication from “F. R. D.,” previously published under the title “Thoughts on the Army, and Suggestions for its Improvement” in the Army and Navy Chronicle 10 (9 April 1840): 225-227.
The Southern Literary Messenger series of 1842-3 incorporates texts that were previously published in western newspapers and two military journals, The Military and Naval Magazine of the United States and Army and Navy Chronicle. The saga of Hugh Glass and Indian romances of “Sha-wah-now” and “Mah-za-pa-mee” which appear in the second installment of “Scenes and Adventures in the Army” (July 1842) had been printed long before, in the St. Louis Beacon (1830-1831), over the signature “Borderer.” In 1835, slightly revised versions of "Sha-wa-now" and "Mah-za-pa-mee" appeared in the Military and Naval Magazine over Philip St. George Cooke’s initials, “P. S. G. C.” As noted above, the rest of the 1842-843 series in the Southern Literary Messenger derives from two 1840 serials in the Army and Navy Chronicle, the four-part “Leaves from My Note-Book—Excursion to the Prairies” by “Z” (20 February 1840 - 16 April 1840); and the eleven-part “Notes and Reminiscences of an Officer of the Army” by “F. R. D.” (18 June 1840 - 29 October 1840).
Part II 1―Southern Literary Messenger 17 (June 1851): 372-375.
2―Southern Literary Messenger 17 (September 1851): 565-572.
3―Southern Literary Messenger 17 (December 1851): 726-729.
4―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (January 1852): 47-50.
5―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (April 1852): 231-234.
6―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (May 1852): 313-318.
7―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (June 1852): 376-381.
8―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (July 1852): 411-416.
9―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (August 1852): 505-510.
10―Southern Literary Messenger 18 (September 1852): 550-557.
11―Southern Literary Messenger 19 (March 1853): 157-160.
12―Southern Literary Messenger 19 (May 1853): 307-314.
13―Southern Literary Messenger 19 (August 1853): 456-463.
SA = Scenes and Adventures in the Army: Or, Romance of Military Life (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1857).
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