First Posting

About the Book

First Posting is the story of a soldier’s wife. The story shares the intimacy and emotions of a woman, Sarah Holloway Johnston, transported from the comforts of suburban Boston and a growing social standing through the emptiness of separations and frequent anxieties to solving the challenges of molding a life in an unknown milieu of customs, culture, expectations, and limited rewards. While Sarah’s story begins in the 1890s, her story continues in the lives of today’s soldiers’ wives. Sarah had no intention of marrying a soldier. She had no intention of living in a house without an indoor toilet. She was accustomed to the helping hands of maids and servants. She was bright, attractive, and one of Wellesley’s first female graduates. She had unlimited opportunities. But a chance encounter at a St. Patrick’s Day Charity Ball in New York City changed her life. The story pulls on the emotions of its readers. Sarah falls in love with West Point cadet, Jonathan Johnston, who is about to become Lieutenant Johnston. They agree to marry, but her father, a successful Boston lawyer, resists and gives a reluctant approval only when he learns that a marriage would be delayed at least a year while Jonathan goes West for “Indian Duty.” Her father believes that she will find a more suitable husband during this time, and his reluctance will be solved. But Sarah prevails. The two eventually marry, and she, leaving family and friends behind, travels West, alone, with all of her possessions packed in two trunks and a suitcase. Sarah is warmly welcomed at Fort Riley and is determined to succeed. But the summer’s blistering heat and the winter’s frigid storms, the modest accommodations, and the structured social settings are challenges. Soon after arrival, opportunity knocks. The local school does not have a qualified teacher. She cannot be paid because there is no money. But with the help of volunteer assistants, the school prospers, and she becomes an informal community leader within the very formal and structured Fort Riley community. While the school and community satisfy emotional and intellectual needs, she remains focused on her growing family, which soon includes two sons as well as a husband. But as she grows comfortable with this balance in her life, events happen. An epidemic of scarlet fever threatens all of the fort’s children including Sarah’s, and the 1893 financial crisis not only destroys much of her father’s net worth, it also impacts on the post and local community. She weathers these storms as a heroine, and normalcy returns for her. But regrettably, as her life settles back into a comfortable cadence with increasing responsibilities—including children, husband, job, and personal growth—Lieutenant Johnston receives orders which will move Sarah and her family far from Fort Riley to a different post and life. She will need to start again. The story of all of the Sarah Holloway Johnstons, past and present, needs to be told. First Posting begins their tale.

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