Newly-available records from the Civil War in the Southwest, drawn from both Union and Confederate sources, give a much-improved understanding of that period through the words of those who shaped and participated in events at that time.

John P. Wilson earned his doctorate at Harvard University. He worked as an archaeologist at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, and during this time excavated at old Fort Fillmore near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico.Wilson has authored many articles and several books, including Merchants, Guns, and Money: A History of Lincoln, New Mexico.