From the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 to the beginning of the War of 1812, the nascent United States Army encountered significant challenges, both within its own ranks and in the field. The Army faced hostile American Indians in the west, domestic insurrections over taxation, threats of war from European powers, organizational changes, and budgetary constraints. It was also a time of growth and exploration, during which Army officers led expeditions to America's west coast and founded a military academy. "Defending a New Nation, 1783 1811," the first volume of the "U.S. Army Campaigns of the War of 1812" series, tells the story of several military campaigns against Indians in the Northwest Territory, the Army's role in suppressing the Whiskey Rebellion (1794), the Quasi-War with France and confrontations with Spain, the influence of Jeffersonian politics on the Army's structure, and the Lewis and Clark expedition."

Dr. John R. Maass is a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History. He received a bachelor s degree in history from Washington and Lee University and a Ph.D. in early U.S. history from the Ohio State University. He is currently working on a publication covering the history of the U.S. Army from 1783 to 1811, to be published this year."