The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an
enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the armed
services of the United States. While a formal system for recognizing acts
of individual gallantry dates back to the American Revolution, it was not
until the Civil War that a medal for rewarding bravery received wide-scale
recognition. The Congressional Medal of Honor, referred to as such
because the president of the United States presents it in the name of
Congress, was first awarded in 1863.

    In Valor Across the Lone Star, Charles M. Neal, Jr., takes us back to the
Texas frontier during the years of the Civil War and the Indian wars. Most
of these Medal of Honor recipients were not native Texans but a diverse
lot of individuals from across the United States and around the world.

    Union sailor George Bell, although wounded in an assault on the CSS
Royal Yacht in Galveston Bay, forced his fleeing crewmembers to return
their launch to the ship to rescue other sailors, then guided the launch
away from the scene to safety. . . .  Pvt. George W. Smith, who, though
gravely wounded in an Indian battle, fired his pistol until he was no longer
able to, then begged his fellow soldiers to use his body as a shield.

    Neal's colorful narrative brings great detail and understanding to these
stories of conflict and heroism in Texas in the last half of the nineteenth
century. He has, in the words of noted historian Jerry Thompson,
"produced an excellent survey of brave and exemplary men." This reliable
and engaging volume makes an important contribution to our
understanding of the Texas military frontier. It includes several appendices
that list all Texas recipients from the Civil War to the present, their burial
sites around the world, the locations of their deeds, and other statistics.

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An air force veteran and classroom teacher of U.S. and Texas history for
many years, CHARLES M. NEAL, JR., has spent decades researching this
topic in remarkable depth and breadth.