Summary

In the summer of 1941, Major Hank Reed leads a segregated African-American cavalry regiment at Fort Riley in Kansas. However, after the introduction of mechanized warfare in World War I, the cavalry has been immersed in an argument throughout the 1920s and 1930s over "what to do with the horses" (109).

One side of the argument believes that, by definition, cavalry mean soldiers mounted on horseback. The other group argues that the cavalry's roles of surveillance, reconnaissance, and mobility are what defines the regiment. This group believes that horses are merely a means to fulfill those roles, and that cavalry horses can be replaced and/or augmented with tanks and armoured cars.

In September 1941, the United States stages a series of war games called the Great Louisiana Maneuvers. Here, horse cavalry competes with armoured cars, tanks, and airplanes. At first...