Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890 [Hardcover]

Gregory F. Michno (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing Company; 2nd printing edition (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878424687
• ISBN-13: 978-0878424689
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Military
  • #25 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Maps Are Worth The Book Alone, October 30, 2003

By 

Bob Reece (Frederick, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890 (Hardcover)

One can quickly understand the exerted effort that went into the research of this book. Encyclopedia of Indian Wars is a must have book for anyone interested in the battles fought between 1850-1890.

The book is organized in an easy but efficient way for the reader. The battles are first listed by year followed in order by date. Page 362 has a great graph that shows the years followed by how many battles occurred in each year.

Then, the reader comes to Appendix: Data and Commentary where the author provides tables of statistics that focus on everything from which tribes had the most battles to states ranked by number of battles with total white and Indian casualties.

But, forget all that - this book is worth it alone just for the maps with a legend key to every battle, location and date.

This is a book every Indian war enthusiast will want.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique reference work, November 26, 2003

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890 (Hardcover)

For anyone interested in any but the biggest, most famous of battles during the Indian Wars of the last half of the Nineteenth Century, there has been no reference work available to which the interested reader could turn to get the basic facts. Now, in the "Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890", Greg Michno presents concise descriptions of over 600 fights, addressing the who-what-when-where of each incident. They are chronologically arranged, but keyed to excellent maps that allow the reader to quickly located battles that occurred in any particular region. Not all the fights involved the US Army; some were waged by volunteer troops or, occasionally, only civilians. In an appendix, summary statistics are given regarding the the frequency and time distribution of the battles, what Army units were involved, and what level of casualties were inflicted on both sides.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read that's also a reference worth keeping, November 29, 2006

By 

C. Ryan (Winthrop, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890 (Hardcover)

Many books call themselves an encyclopedia of this or that but turn out to be simply random collections of information on their topic. However, Gregory Michno's Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890 really is a miniature encyclopedia of the Indian Wars fought between the U.S. Army and various Native American tribes or groups during the period when Euro-Americans came to dominate the western United States.

The bulk of the book (345 out of 438 numbered 5x9" pages) consists of brief descriptions of 840 major and minor battles and "firefights" that occurred in twenty Midwestern and Western states/territories and adjoining parts of Mexico. The descriptions are arranged chronologically within each year, 1850-1890. Drawing largely on Army after-action reports, Mr. Michno's narratives are heavy on facts for each event: when, where, who, casualty counts and immediate results. By providing the names of many Army officers and NCOs as well as significant members of their Native American opposition it is possible to get a feel for some of the participants' careers over a number of years.

One of the most useful features is a 32-page introductory section of state/territory maps showing the locations, tied to accompanying lists and page references, for every action described in the book. This allows readers to locate all the events in a particular locale regardless of when they took place.

A conclusion and appendix section has several interesting statistical tables summarizing the intensity of the actions in terms of numbers of actions each year, the number of combatants involved and casualties incurred. Twenty-two pages of reference notes, a 16-page bibliography and a 27-page index increase this book's value as a reference for further research or reading. In my opinion the most interesting of the scattered black and white photos of those showing the battle sites in recent years, but the photos are not a strong part of the book. There are no maps showing more detail than the simple state reference maps.

Some reviewers lament the author's supposed apologetic view of the Army's involvement, but I didn't read the book that way. The dominant perspective is that of the U.S. Army and other non-Indians because it is mostly from their records, the only ones available in many instances, that the descriptions are taken. The bulk of the narratives are summaries of facts included in the reports (the weakest link, as in any such war, being the casualty count inflicted on the adversary). If anything, the facts often portray the Army poorly in that its often impossible to glean from the description any rationale for the Army initiating a particular action - and sometimes getting beaten - and there are numerous occasions mentioning non-combatants (primarily women and children) being injured, killed or taken prisoner (i.e., hostage).

I don't think the author's perspective on the infamous Wounded Knee Creek action on December 29, 1890 is apologetic of the Army, just politically incorrect. That's because Michno points out not only that the Lakota suffered 128 killed and 33 wounded (a lerge number of whom were non-combatants), but that the Lakota, in turn, were not passively massacred but inflicted 60 casualties (25 KIA, 35 WIA) on their 7th Cavalry adversaries. That was the largest number of casualties suffered by the 7th Cavalry apart from the Little Bighorn battle. Who knew?

My main complaint is that the day-by-day format sometimes makes it hard (despite references to prior or subsequent related events) to trace a particular multi-day or even multi-week or month campaign. For instance, the 1877 Nez Perce War is hard to follow because unrelated events elsewhere are intertwined in the same months. If the author revises this book I'd like to see a reference section with maps and a listing that groups significant campaigns together in some fashion.

Highly recommended as background reading and a reference to keep for anyone interested in the Indian Wars, American history or military history. Makes an excellent companion book when touring historic sites associated with the Indian Wars (I bought my copy on a visit to the Little Bighorn Battlefield last spring).