William Royston Geise’s journey to becoming the author of a published book was as fitful as it is interesting. The St. Louis native graduated from the Missouri Military Academy in 1936 and was in his second year at the University of Texas at Austin when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Geise joined what would become the Air Force and served during World War II little realizing it would be his career for 22 years before his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 1961. He returned to school and earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Arizona, and circled back to Austin to earn his Masters in English, and his Ph.D. in American History in 1974. Undergrads received the benefit of his experiences when he taught history courses at San Antonio College for 15 years. Geise, an ardent sailor and chess player, published a number of articles in a variety of periodicals, including the Military History of Texas and the Southwest, and The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, before passing away in 1993. The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1861-1865: A Study in Command was originally written and presented as his dissertation.