The American Civil War was nearly over when Als Ostrander finally convinced his father to let him join the army at the age of 18. Though he didn't see action in that war, he had plenty of adventure during three years of service. He was selected to serve on the staff of General Philip St. George Cooke, who wrote the manual for the Civil War cavalry. With General Cooke, he went out west to the frontier, where he had occasions to meet General of the Army, Ulysses S. Grant, General William Tecumseh Sherman (with whom he shared a smoke), General George Thomas, and even famed scout, Jim Bridger. Throughout this wonderful memoir, Ostrander heaps unsparing, self-deprecating humor onto his young self as he tells of crossing territory full of hostile bands of Indians, climbing Scott's Bluff, and in general not knowing quite what soldiering was all about.