Reginald Horsman


Reginald Horsman was an English-born American historian.

Early life and career

Horsman was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of William Alfred Horsman and Elizabeth Thompson. He attended the University of Birmingham, earning his bachelor's degree in 1952 and his master's degree in 1955. He also attended Indiana University Bloomington, earning his PhD degree in American history in 1958.
Horsman served as a professor in the department of history at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1964 to 1999; he was named the university's first distinguished professor in 1973. Horsman received numerous awards during his career, including the Kiekhofer Teaching Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence.
Horsman was the author of numerous books on Native American and nineteenth-century U.S. history:The Causes of the War of 1812 Matthew Elliott, British Indian Agent Expansion and American Indian Policy, 1783-1812 The Frontier in the Formative Years, 1783-1815 Race and Manifest Destiny: The Origins of American Racial Anglo-Saxonism The Diplomacy of the New Republic, 1776-1815 Josiah Nott of Mobile: Southerner, Physician, and Racial Theorist Frontier Doctor: William Beaumont, America's First Great Medical Scientist

Personal life and death

In 1955, Horsman married Lenore McNabb, a pianist. Their marriage lasted until her death in 2023.
Horsman died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 20, 2025, at the age of 93.