"Little Pills, an Army Story" is a war memoir about the experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier in the period just after the American Civil War. R. H. McKay served as an Assistant Surgeon in the Unites States Army. His tour of duty took him across different States such as Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, The Indian Territory, and Arkansas. He served at a time when the Army was downscaling its spending, bringing various challenges to the work of medical officers.