Altsheler was born in Three Springs, Hart County, Kentucky to Joseph and Louise (Snoddy) Altsheler. In 1885, he took a job at the Louisville Courier-Journal as a reporter and later, an editor. He started working for the New York World in 1892, first as the paper's Hawaiian correspondent and then as the editor of the World's tri-weekly magazine. Due to a lack of suitable stories, he began writing children's stories for the magazine.
Altsheler married Sarah Boles on May 30, 1888, and had one son. He and his family were in Germany when World War I began. The difficult journey home took a huge toll on Altsheler's health and he was never the same. He died in New York City in 1919.
The Young Trailers, a story of early Kentucky (1907)
The Forest Runners, a story of the great war trail in early Kentucky (1908)
The Keepers of the Trail, a story of the great woods (1916)
The Eyes of the Woods, a story of the ancient wilderness (1917)
The Free Rangers, a story of the early days along the Mississippi (1909)
The Riflemen of the Ohio, a story of early days along "the beautiful river" (1910)
The Scouts of the Valley, a story of Wyoming and the Chemung (1911)
The Border Watch, a story of the great chief’s last stand (1912)
The French and Indian War Series
The Lords of the Wild, a story of the old New York border (1919)
The Hunters of the Hills, a story of the French and Indian War (1916)
The Shadow of the North, a story of old New York and a lost campaign (1917)
The Sun of Quebec, a story of a great crisis (1919)
The Rulers of the Lakes, a story of George and Champlain (1917)
The Masters of the Peaks, a story of the great north woods (1918)
The Texan Series
The Texan Star, the story of a great fight for liberty (1912)
The Texan Scouts, the story of the Alamo and Goliad (1913)
The Texan Triumph, a romance of the San Jacinto campaign (1913)
The Civil War Series
The Guns of Bull Run, a story of the Civil War’s eve (1914)
The Guns of Shiloh, a story of the great western campaign (1914)
The Scouts of Stonewall, the story of the great valley campaign (1914)
The Sword of Antietam, a story of the nation’s crisis (1914)
The Star of Gettysburg, a story of southern high tide (1915)
The Rock of Chickamauga, a story of the western crisis (1915)
The Shades of the Wilderness, a story of Lee’s great stand (1916)
The Tree of Appomattox, a story of the Civil War's close (1916)
The Great West Series
The Great Sioux Trail, a story of mountain and plain (1918)
The Lost Hunters, a story of wild man and great beasts (1918)
The World War I Series
The Guns of Europe (1915)
The Hosts of the Air, the story of a quest in the Great War (1915)
The Forest of Swords, a story of Paris and the Marne (1915)
Other books
The Hidden Mine (1896)
A Knight of Philadelphia (1897)
A Soldier of Manhattan, and his adventures at Ticonderoga]and Quebec (1897)
The Sun of Saratoga, a romance of Burgoyne's surrender (1897)
A Herald of the West, an American story of 1811-1815 (1898)
Kentucky Frontiersman, the adventures of Henry Ware, hunter and border fighter (1898)
The Rainbow of Gold (1898)
In Circling Camps, a romance of the Civil War (1900)
In Hostile Red, a romance of the Monmouth campaign (1900)
The Last Rebel (1900)
The Wilderness Road; a romance of St. Clair’s defeat and Wayne’s victory (1901)
My Captive, a novel (1902)
Before the Dawn, a story of the fall of Richmond (1903)
Guthrie of the Times, a story of success (1904)
The Candidate, a political romance (1905)
The Recovery, a story of Kentucky (1908)
The Last of the Chiefs, a story of the great Sioux war (1909)
The Horsemen of the Plains, a story of the great Cheyenne war (1910)
The Quest of the Four, story of the Comanches and Buena Vista (1911)
Apache Gold, a story of the strange Southwest (1913)
At the Twelfth Hour: Selected Short Stories of Josef A. Altsheler, includes an Introduction by Robert M. McIlvaine, 9 short stories (5 civil war stories and 4 adventure stories), and an autobiographical essay entitled "What the Home-comers Saw" (1895-1919)
