Soldiers By John Dunbar Chapter Summary

In the middle of a pause in the fighting of a civil war battle, Lieutenant John Dunbar realizes that his leg needs to be amputated to save his life. Dunbar has seen what happens to soldiers that go through amputation and he decides to take his own life in stead by ridiing a horse along the enemies front lines.However he doesnt get shot and unexpectedly rallys his comrades, who find new courage to storm the conferderate positions. After the battle is over, Dunbar’s superiors name him a hero and he is given acsess to the generals sugeon who is able to save his leg. He is given in reward his choice of his next posting, and also the horse named ‘Cisco’, the one that he used in his attempted suicide. Lt.Dunbar wishes for some peace and wants to see the fronteir so he askes for a posting on the South Dakota frontier.

However when he arrives with new supplies at the Fort Sedgewick, it’s deserted except for a lone wolf, who Dunbar will make friends with and call two-socks, because of the white fur on his front paws. Dunbar cleans and makes the outpost useable again while he waits for the reinforcements that will not come. The local Lakota indian tribe has some young men who discover that Dunbar is alone at the outpost and try to steal cisco to make themselves look good for

At first the indians are wary of Dunbar but they begin to trust him after they visit him and form a rudimentary conversation. After some time actual dialogue is had when Kicking Bird, the medicine man, asks Stands with fist, the woman that Dunbar saved, to translate between the two.Communicating more and more with the indians, Dunbar begins to become more fascinated with the culture and customs of the tribe. When Dunbar helps them locate a large herd of buffalo, which is a hugely important commodity to the indians he is accepted as a honorary member. Later Dunbar helps them defend against a Pawnee war party be giving the Lakota guns and ammunition from the