Overview

Each of the wars fought by Texans spawned the creation of scores of military sites across the state, from the lonely frontier outpost at Adobe Walls to the once-bustling World War II shipyards of Orange. Today, although vestiges of the sites still exist, many are barely discernible, their once-proud martial trappings now faded by time, neglect, the elements and, most of all, public apathy. ?In Faded Glory: A Century of Forgotten Texas Military Sites, Then and Now, Thomas E. Alexander and Dan K. Utley revisit twenty-nine sites—many of them largely forgotten—associated with what was arguably the most tumultuous hundred-year period in a five-century span of Texas history.? Whether in the war with Mexico, the American Civil War, in clashes between Indians and the frontier army, or in two worldwide conflicts fought on foreign shores, Texas and Texans have often answered the call to arms. Beginning in 1845 and continuing through 1945, the Lone Star State and its people were fully involved in seven major conflicts. ?In this thoroughly researched and absorbing guide, Alexander and Utley recount the full story of the sites from their days of fame to the present. Comparing historic sketches, paintings, and period photographs of the original installations with recent photographs, they illustrate how time has dealt with these important places. Providing maps to aid readers in locating each site, the authors close with a resounding call for preservation and interpretation for future generations. ?The descriptions and images restore, at least in the mind’s eye, a touch of vitality and color to these forgotten and disappearing sites. Thanks to Faded Glory: A Century of Forgotten Texas Military Sites, Then and Now, both the traveler and the armchair tourist can recover a sense of these places and events that did so much to shape the military history of Texas.

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9781603446990

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Reviews

Faded Glory takes the general audience on an interesting and informative journey into the nooks and crannies of Texas history. The theme presents a representative sampling of thirty-four Texas military sites...that offer a window into key periods of Texas history from statehood and the Mexican War to the end of World War II. --Thomas T. Smith, retired US Army lieutenant colonal and author of The Old Army in Texas: A Research Guide to the U.S. Army in Nineteenth-Century Texas and The U.S. Army and the Texas Frontier Economy, 1845-1900 <br><br>

This is just the kind of book that I like to add to my personal reading list... The texts read smoothly and are designed for lay readers who come without particular knowledge of military history. I found the stories to be engaging... Alexander and... Utley have done all of us a good turn through their investigations of lesser-known historic places from the Texas military past. Faded Glory. .. is recommended reading for anyone interested in learning more about the locations where events in Texas military history took place. --;i>Tarleton State University --T. Lindsay Baker Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Tom Alexander and Dan Utley, two outstanding historians with a great wealth of information and knowledge on military history between them, have gotten together to make '1+1' into much more than '2.' Make it a full '10' for their thorough review of what remains from our militant history to teach present and future Texans. --Archie P. McDonald, southern historian<br><br>

For those interested in military history and heritage tourism, Faded Glory provides interesting and easily digestible background stories of a diverse set of historic military sites. In addition to locales significant to the Mexican-American War and World War II, the book also covers sites from the Indian Wars, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican Revolution, and World War I.<br> In some cases, the sites provide rich tourism opportunities. For example, the commanding officer's home at Fort Clark--where the Army's last cavalry unit trained before deployment to Europe in the early 1940s--looks much as it did when it was built in 1857. In other cases, the remnants of the sites are long gone, and therefore the authors' historical synopses help bring their relevance to life. For example, the site where General Zachary Taylor camped in 1845 on Corpus Christi beach with about 4,000 American troops is completely covered by a seawall and modern development. Then-and-now images help illustrate the effects of time./div>--Matt Joyce Postcards (06/05/2013)

Author Information

THOMAS E. ALEXANDER, who served as an officer in the Strategic Air Command, is the author of four books on Texas military history. His work on Peyote Army Airfield was given the Rupert Richardson Award as the best book on West Texas History in 2006. A retired executive vice president with Neiman Marcus, he is currently serving his second six-year term on the Texas Historical Commission. Alexander lives in Kerrville, Texas. DAN K. UTLEY, chief historian of the Center for Public History at Texas State University and a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association, is a retired chief historian for the Texas Historical Commission, a past chairman of the National Register State Board of Review for Texas, and the past president of the Texas Oral History Association and the East Texas Historical Association.

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