"Douglas C. McChristian has struck the mother lode with the publication of Frontier Cavalry Trooper: The Letters of Private Eddie Matthews, 1869-1874. . . . With editor McChristian's expert help, readers learn much about the tedium of frontier military service, punctuated by brief bursts of excitement in pursuit of deserters, criminals, or hostile Indians. . . . Correspondence from enlisted men serving in the frontier army is rare; letters of this breadth and depth provide unique insight into the everyday life of the common soldier in the post-Civil War Southwest."