Throughout his long life, James Elderkin was more than a soldier but for thirty years, he tramped along with the U.S. Army, as did his wife. He was a soldier, a trombone player in regimental bands, a circus man, a cigar seller, and a gold miner. He and his wife lived in Callifornia before the Civil War, a time when he writes that murder was a daily occurrence and offenders frequently went free. He writes with a simple but very engaging style about a life full of adventure and brushes with fame. He first met Ulysses S. Grant during the Mexican-American War and grew very familiar with him, admired him, and saw him later in civilian life. He was stationed with Grant at Fort Vancouver in Washington Territory. He thought his soldiering days were over when the American Civil War broke out. As a member of the Detroit Light Guard, he went to Washington, D.C., played music for Abraham Lincoln, and visited the White House. He saw action during the war and was once saved from a bullet by one of Berdan's Sharpshooters.