Stanley had a remarkable American military career. He started in 1853 by surveying a railroad route along the 35th parallel, and fighting the Cheyenne on Solomon's Fork and the Comanche near Fort Arbuckle. At the start of the Civil War he turned down a Confederate commission and led Federal troops in dozens of battles, including most of the battles in the Atlanta Campaign and the defense of Nashville. After the war he led the Yellowstone expedition of 1873, then served in Texas and New Mexico, covering almost the entire Indian frontier. A remarkable and truly American life.