Laurence M. Hauptman, professor of history at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author and editor of twelve books and articles in Native American studies. He has worked for the Wisconsin Oneidas, the Mashantucket Pequots, and the Seneca Nation of Indians as a historical consultant. ln 1997 he received an award of commendation from the Seneca Nation for his expert testimony before both houses of Congress that contributed to congressional legislation in the Seneca-Salamanca lease debate.
Only a scholar with Hauptman’s knowledge of Iroquois history, his grasp of widely scattered source materials, and his credibility within Iroquois communities today could have written so authoritatively about this two-front war. Excellent maps, charts, and illustrations help make this book a worthy addition to Hauptman’s other two volumes on Iroquois history. This is a very perceptive study of the effects of the Civil War on the Iroquois Tribes in New York, Wisconsin, and the West. Through the use of personal accounts, Hauptman follows several Iroquois through their military careers to demonstrate how they were integrated into the army as ordinary cavalrymen and common foot soldiers. Hauptman has synthesized a large story into a relatively few pages. He not only documents well the wartime service record of Iroquois soldiers, but also clearly defines the Civil War’s impact on the Native American homefront. Laurence Hauptman’s contribution to the history of the Iroquois in the Civil War is a major step toward ending the lack of substantial scholarship on this topic. . . . [He] overlooked little, if anything, in his search for documentation to support his fascinating narrative. In sum, the book is a superlative and long-overdue treatment of a heretofore neglected topic.
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