Among the gentle lawn-covered hillsides and patches of thick woods of Jefferson Barracks Park, a scattering of ancient-feeling, sturdy stone buildings recall the history of this acreage. As a US Army post for 120 years, Jefferson Barracks grew armies and trained them here. Generals who changed American history were connected to this place. In its last incarnation, tens of thousands of members of the Greatest Generation entered the battle to defeat the Axis armies by walking through the gates of Jefferson Barracks. This book offers glimpses into life at this Barracks from its beginnings as a frontier outpost in 1826 to the 1940s, when it trained crews for the Army Air Corps. It recalls when the US Cavalry was born here and tells the stories of young officers from across the nation and across the political spectrum who served together at the Barracks during the 1840s and 1850s. As generals during the American Civil War, they fought against one another, leading armies of thousands in fierce battles. When the fate of the nation, sometimes of the world, was in the balance, the Americans who trained at Jefferson Barracks tipped the scale.
