The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 442

An Army Officer in Texas, 1866-1867

EDITED BY BRIT ALLAN STOREY*
ADAM KRAMER, AN IMMIGRANT FROM GERMANY, ENTERED THE SERVICE
of the United States Army as a private in Company F of the
Second Dragoons, in which he served from May 16, 1857, to May 16,
1862. Reenlisting on August 25, 1862, he joined the Fifteenth Penn-
sylvania Volunteer Cavalry, commonly called the Anderson Cavalry.
Kramer advanced from the rank of private to first sergeant, and on
March 1, 1863, he became a first lieutenant of the Fifteenth Penn-
sylvania Volunteer Cavalry. On May 8, 1863, he was promoted to the
rank of captain. Two years later on May 24, 1865, a promotion was
recommended by Brevet Brigadier General William J. Palmer on the
basis of skill and courage as a cavalry officer. The promotion, however,
was not granted, and on June 21, 1865, the Civil War having ended,
Kramer was honorably mustered out of the service of the United States
Army along with the rest of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. It
was from the next period of his army career that the four letters' here
presented came.
He was a second lieutenant in the Second U. S. Colored Cavalry
from December 7, 1865, to February 12, 1866. Then, through the aid
of Brevet Brigadier General William J. Palmer, Kramer was able to
obtain a commission as a second lieutenant in the Sixth U. S. Cavalry,
into which he was mustered on April 27, 1866. He wrote these letters
while stationed in Texas with these two units. He remained with the
Sixth U. S. Cavalry until his retirement in early 1897. During his ac-
tive duty he received the following promotions: to first lieutenant on
December 12, 1866; to captain on August 1, 1874; to brevet major
on February 27, 1890, for gallant service in actions against Indians at
Ash Creek, Arizona, on May 6, 188o, and at Big Dry Wash, Arizona,
on July 17, 1882; and to major on March 8, 1893. Adam Kramer died
on November lo, 190o1.
*Mr. Storey is professor of history at Auburn University.
xThese letters may be found on Reels 2 and 4 of the William Jackson Palmer Papers
(microfilm; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania).
2Francis B. Heitman (comp.), Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States
Army (2 vols.; Washington, 1903), I, 6o8.