Across The Continent with the Fifth Cavalry" by George F. Price, Captain Fifth Cavalry, U. S. A., is the history of the Fifth Cavalry of the United States Army from its organization in 1855 to 1883 when the book was published. The book is divided into two main parts: Part I is a narrative history of the Unit from 1855-83, while Part II gives a short biographical sketch of each of the unit's officers during this time period.The Fifth Cavalry was especially notable in that within its ranks were many of the most distinguished Civil War officers for both North and South as well as major military figures in the Plains Indian Wars of the 1870's. Examples for the South are Robert E. Lee, Sidney Johnston, William Hardee, Earl Van Dorn and Edmund Kirby Smith, while for the North we have George Stoneman, George Thomas, William Emory, George Custer and Wesley Merrit. This unit was a who's who of a training ground for men who put their military stamp on the period 1855 to 1880.A fascinating look at the history of the cavalry in both the Civil War and the Indian Wars on the Great Plains of the 1870's.