Thany YOU, Mr. Dorty, for such an eloquent response and well- reasoned argument in this debate. This is not my area of expertise, but I always read through the various forums to keep up with the latest areas of research and current lines of thought. Your post adds much to my understanding of the subject.

I had read the earlier posts, knew of these letters, and thought an excerpt might help to illuminate how at least one of these soldiers viewed his adversaries, and vice versa. I have no idea how typical Henry Carpenter is, compared to the average African American cavalryman in this part of the country, in this time period. I do know that he is very politically active and savvy, has written frequently to the Christian Recorder from Civil War battlefields, and now from the west, and that he considered himself unpopular among many of his fellow troopers because of some of his attitudes and/or beliefs.

I am skeptical of the argument that African American troopers were more sympathetic to the beliefs of their Native American counterparts. Perhaps some were, but in general I have seen more evidence that they had the same views regarding Native Americans as the white troopers. Carpenter's statements, and others that he made in additional letters, support this, but again, I don't know if his views are typical.