Sword and Drum — Karl Lassiter

From Memphis to the Staked Plains, a man found his calling in war. Now, a company of soldiers has found their leader...
By 1879, the U.S. Tenth Calvary--a company of Buffalo soldiers--has marched 34,420 miles across the frontier, built 300 miles of road, driven out the most warlike Indians in Texas, and become legendary to their enemies. But one renegade, an Apache named Victorio, is still sowing blood and panic among the Texas settlers. Now, soldiers who are outcasts from the military establishment are being sent into a final battle with a large Apache force, led by Benjamin Grierson, a former shopkeeper-turned-soldier who has proven his courage in twenty years of warfare. For a proud band of African American soldiers, for a commander stymied by opponents within his own army, this is the final battle in a saga that began amidst the fires of the Civil War. The fate of these men, and of America itself, is about to be changed forever--in a story of courage, honor and blood.