Nathan Augustus Monroe Dudley, 1825 - 1910: Rogue, Hero, or Both? by E. Donald Kaye

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N.A.M. Dudley is unknown except to some military and western history historians, and to all Billy the Kid buffs. They know him, as commander of Fort Stanton, mostly for his misdeeds in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, and especially for his role in the "Big Killing" in 1878 that in effect decided which side was to win the Lincoln County War. There was much more to Dudley than that. He participated in the Civil War, during which he was sometimes known as "Gold Lace Dudley" from the accoutrements he added to his uniform. Before then he had crossed the country as a civilian clerk with the U. S. Mounted Rifles, and served as an auctioneer in the Gold Rush days in California. In time, he returned to his native Massachusetts and rejoined the militia. He managed to secure a commission with the 10th U.S. Infantry and was off to the west. He participated in combat against the Sioux, and was in the so-called Mormon War. After the Civil War he was for years an officer in the frontier Army, commanding black troops as well as white. He campaigned against the Apache, commanded posts in the midwest, and last smelled the smoke of battle against the Crow in Montana. Dudley was physically strong, brave, often at odds with his fellow officers, admired by his troops, and he drank too much. He was convicted of misconduct in two different general courts-martial, but managed to retire as Colonel of the 1st. U. S. Cavalry. To his vast satisfaction, he was promoted to Brigadier General in the regular army on the retired list. His remains lie in Arlington National Cemetery under a tombstone of his own design.

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