Soldiers at Fort Randall

Soldiers at Fort Randall. . The first soldiers to garrison Fort Randall were 365 men and 22 officers from the 2nd Infantry. Commissioned officers were usually career soldiers who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Enlisted men were volunteers who usually signed up for one enlistment period of five years., Captions: , Typical infantrymen in full field equipment (knapsacks, blankets, bedrolls, and 1873 Springfield rifles), about 1890., Lieutenant Colonel Pinkney Lugenbeel was in command of Fort Randall from 1874 to 1879. Born in Maryland in 1819, Lugenbeel graduated from West Point in 1840. He served throughout the frontier and was a veteran of both the Mexican and Civil Wars., Book pages: , I met with one great disappointment on joining Company D. I had hoped to have as a companion a drummer-boy of about my own age, with whom I could chum. A company of soldiers, after they have served together for some months, become like a large family. My own company was a fair sample. We soon knew each other's good points, failings, and weaknesses., The soldiers in my company enlisted for various reasons. Some had the "Wanderlust." Others had a taste for adventure and hoped to satisfy it in a soldier's life. Some had joined from sheer necessity, or an inability to find any other occupation to support themselves. This last was a very common reason, including my own., Continue straight to the next panel to learn more about Augustus's experiences at Fort Randall and other frontier posts.