'Following the Trail of Trooper Alfred Pride, A Patriot and A Pawn' is written from one of a personal account of my great grandfather's over 26 years of service. It describes some of the atrocities he and his fellow troopers encountered in advancing the westward movement in America under the promise of full citizenship.

The first part focuses on their patriotism and heroics while serving under false promises of the United States government. The second part focuses on how they and the Native Americans were used as pawns in the name of the 'Discovery Doctrine,' and the 'Manifest Destiny.' The game is still being played as the U.S. government is still taking another approach to its belief that it is operating under God's destiny. Native Americans and African Americans still fight to control land and other things promised by treaties and policies. For many Black Americans, echoing past wrongs, the thousands of acres of land given to, and the thousands of land taken back from the descendants of enslaved African Americans is an enduring legacy. African Americans realized that the sacrifices made by the troopers have not yet made them equal citizens. Instead. soldiers were manipulated by the U.S. government who used them as pawns to settle the American west with their labor. There was no intention to grant these soldiers the full freedom enjoyed by the white man.

By Alfred O. Taylor, Jr., Retired Professor and former acting Dean of a college at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC).

Book design and production by the author, Alfred O. Taylor.