Lancaster's Mutiny and Custer's Reprieve. Manuscript. A Soldier's Souvenir: or The Terrible Experiences of Lieut. L. L. Lancaster, of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, A Martyr To the Cause of Truth and Justice; comprising: Short Biographical Sketches, with the Story of His Death Sentence, Reprieve, Banishment, Hardships and Final Release. By Antoinette Barnum Ferris. Pauly Brothers, Printers Eau Claire, Wis. 1896 by John M. Carroll. (Edited by)

First Edition. Not Relevant. Very Good Condition. Manuscripts & Paper Collectibles This is a brilliant collection, based upon the extremely rare pamphlet 'A Soldier's Souvenir: or The Terrible Experiences of Lieut. L. L. Lancaster, of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, A Martyr To the Cause of Truth and Justice; comprising: Short Biographical Sketches, with the Story of His Death Sentence, Reprieve, Banishment, Hardships and Final Release. By Antoinette Barnum Ferris. Pauly Brothers, Printers Eau Claire, Wis. 1896', with edited notes and explanatory text by Carroll. It is NOT the original manuscript by Ferris but the J.M. Carroll typed version. Not only do we have the finished typed manuscript from Carroll but we also have the first draft that was done together with photocopies of sources Carroll used, with notes and annotations made. Carroll starts with an Introduction to the piece in which he writes in quite a personal way. Explaining how he finds military mysteries fascinating, his struggle to find out what did actually happen to Major Wickcliffe Cooper which was hindered by Custer. It's nice to see Carroll showing us a bit about himself. He spent a lot of his life writing about someone else it's quite nice to see what Carroll was like, his interests and the challenges that he attempted. He then goes on to address the purpose of this paper and that is the case of Leonard Lee Lancaster of Company L of the 2nd Regiment of Wisconsin Cavalry Volunteers. He was supposed to be executed for mutiny but Custer gave him a reprieve at the last moment. Carroll (in this piece) wonders why that was and thinks he can solve it. Carroll's question is Lancaster's rank and 'whether Custer was responsible for the planned and ordered execution or not'. Carroll goes on to further his questions on this mystery of a man and then proceeds to give a biography of Lancaster's life. After this comes the entire text in 37 pages of 'A Soldier's Souvenir or The Terrible Experiences of Lieut. L. L. Lancaster. By Antoinette Barnum Ferris.' It's in this piece that there are a lot of annotations by Carroll to correct spelling, grammar and general layout mistakes. The piece is written by Ms. Ferris, a neighbour of the Lancaster family all her life and could see the distress that his situation was causing the family. As well as this, being so close to them gave her a bird's eye view of what was happening to him. This article starts with an introduction of background information on Lancaster's early life and goes on to explain his career in the army, where it went wrong for him and what happened because of this. At one point Ferris explains when Lancaster first went to jail. The cell is described in great detail, as are the people who were there at the same time as him. It comes to the point where Lancaster is given his discharge papers and can return home. It's at this point that Ferris really comes alive and describes in great detail what it was like when he entered his family home. For example 'Instead of the robust, light-hearted young soldier that went away to the wars in '61, there returned a shadow, - so worn and wasted by the hardships he had undergone that no one, not even his wife, knew him.' The book finishes off explaining how Lancaster then went on to apply for an honourable discharge. As well as the above, this collection includes the final typed draft done by Carroll. This piece has no annotations and is correct and as it should be. This is a one of a kind piece with the first draft, together with research notes and the final draft. It will make a great addition to any Custer collection. The format is Imperial 8.5 x 11 and in each section there are 51 pages plus 17 pages of photocopies with one of them. The pages are loose and are all stored in a brown envelope with a spilt pin fastening at the back and hand written on the front of it is: 'M.S.S. for Lancaster's Mutiny and Custer's Reprieve. John M. Carroll Editor.' John M. Carroll died in the summer of 1990 and left behind a vast body of work that added greatly to the scholarly study of Custer, and his writings should be considered the equal of Graham, Kuhlman, Brininstool, et al. Carroll devoted much of his life to the study of George Armstrong Custer, and wrote or edited many books on the subject. On his death his collection passed to his long time friend and associate Robert Aldrich, and it was finally sold at auction around 1996 by PBA. Material from his collection is now scarce on the open market, and in particular his own manuscripts, notes, and typescripts. Item Type: Manuscripts & Paper Collectibles. Quantity Available: 1. Category: History; American West; General Custer. Inventory No: 188475..