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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eye-opening and sobering, gives one pause, March 17, 2006
I grew up in Montana just thirty miles from the Little Bighorn battlefield, so I thought I had a reasonable sense of what the Indian Wars entailed. After reading Yenne's book I realize how shockingly little I knew -- and how factually and conceptually wrong was so much of what I thought.
By approaching the story of western expansion in the even-handed manner accepted as the standard for the great histories of other large conflicts, Yenne does two remarkable things. First, he paints an epic picture of heroics and tragedies (on both the Native American and the European American sides) that are doubly amazing for having taken place such a short time ago and on the very lands that surround us. (This is not reading about Flander's Fields or the steppes of Kursk; this is right next door.)
Second, by focusing on the facts of what happened and not presenting a particular political agenda, Yenne provides us with the framework for making our own informed decisions about who was "good" and who was "bad". I suspect this was a difficult edge to skate, but he does remarkably well. Given this framework, I don't think I'll ever look at any history of our land the same way.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Order of Indian Wars of the United States Book Review, May 15, 2006
For a one volume primer this book cannot be beat. Yenne does an excellent job explaining what occurred over the time period involved from the perspective of the combatants rather than current political correctness. The Indian Wars remain the most misunderstood campaigns ever waged by the United States Army. There is much misinformation. Likewise we have a tendency to view these wars as separate incidents rather than as part and parcel to a single campaign stretching over decades. Yenne patiently explains that the whites were initially seen as just another tribe by the Indians albeit a potentially powerful tribe. Further, he goes into the motivating factors for the manifest destiny of the American pioneers that occurred; these wars fought over some five decades across a landscape as expansive as Europe were part of a long-term American strategy to control the West as well as extensions of conflicts between the Indian peoples that pre-dated contact with the whites.
The author evaluates with equipoise both the leaders of the various military units and of the tribes. Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Geronimo, George Armstrong Custer, George Crook, and Nelson Appleton Miles all receive apropos attention. Of particular interest to our membership is his meticulous attention to detail in his footnotes to each and every Medal of Honor recipient during these hot and cold conflicts. Yenne has examined the documents supporting these awards and details each. I found at least two of our membership's ancestors mentioned when they received their Medals of Honor explaining why they received this highest and most coveted of American decorations. This in itself is a noteworthy item that values this work.
This book places the people and the battles within the context of the overall history of the nineteenth century and the Indian Wars in the West so that their place in American history will be better understood and their names not forgotten. Of special interest for our readers will be his attention to the myriad small campaigns, wars, and incidents, e.g., the Yakima War, Red River War, Red Cloud's War, Rogue River War, Paiute War, Modoc War, Coeur d'Alene War, etc. Additionally, his detailed maps are of great service to understanding the larger picture of the Indian Wars in the West. This work shows all of the major battles and many of the minor ones with their locations and dates on his maps. Many of the campaigns are shown trailed out. The maps also localize all of the Indian reservations. His appendices show the evolution of the Oklahoma Indian Territory, the Bureau Heads during the Western Indian War period (Heads of the Indian Affairs Office, Commissioners of Indian Affairs), the Commanding Generals of the U.S. Army during this period, and the Post-Civil War [sic] U.S. Army Organizations for 1868, 1875, 1884, and 1891.
In short, I strongly recommend this brief history. It is pithy, detailed, fair-minded, revealing, and places all within the larger picture of American history.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tenacious Warriors, September 1, 2006
Although, glorified by Hollywood and the subject of countless books; the author, Bill Yenne, notes "The Indian Wars in the West were the longest and most misunderstood campaigns ever waged by the U.S. Army." He further states "The time period is generally from the California gold Rush of 1849 through 1890.... " Amazingly, except during the Civil War, the Indian Wars consumed most of the active personnel of the army for most of the nineteenth century.
Many readers erroneously think of Indians as a monolithic culture of savages. The author states that tribes were culturally and politically astute and engaged in warfare with competing tribes. Thus when Europeans first arrived in North America, the Indians treated them as another tribe, often forming alliances with them or attacking them. As the United States began its westward migrations, following the 1812 War, in 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act calling for the relocation of all Indians living east of the Mississippi River thereby setting the stage for future Indian conflicts.
The author does an excellent job of briefly narrating the numerous battles with the U.S. Army of the Cheyenne, Apache, Soux, Navajo and other groups which were parts of an overall campaign. The Indian Wars were fought on a vast landscape the size of continental Europe that was, for much of the nineteenth century, an open trackless wilderness....
Battles were fought on the Plains, the Southwest, with fewer battles in the California Theater and the Pacific Northwest. The text gives a brief/interesting account of Custer's Battle of the Little Bighorn where Custer's failures lead to disaster.
The passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 gave 160 acres of undeveloped land in the West to families who lived on it for five years which further acerbated relations with the Indians. Then in 1868 the federal government adopted the policy of setting aside reservations of land as permanent homelands for members of specific tribes. Much conflict occurred over placing and keeping Indians on reservations. The conflict narratives conclude with brief accounts of Wounded Knee I in December 1890 and Wounded Knee II in February 1973.
The text includes such legendary figures as Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, George Custer, Kit Carson, Nelson Miles and George Crook. Interestingly Geronimo was never captured but surrendered. In 1905 at the age of seventy-five he was invited to ride in President Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade. While Crazy Horse's "....tactical skill and his leadership qualities are even now the subject of discussion for cadets in training at West Point."
The tactics employed by the opposing sides were dramatically different. Initially the U.S. Army tactics were geared to protecting trails and roads then with the advent of Indian Reservations, the Army's strategy changed to large task forces to place Indians on reservations and returning them if they escaped. "The basic Indian tactics centered on small groups of mounted warriors operating as raiding parties....the U.S, Army found them a formidable opponent." The text further notes "The U.S. Army's key advantage in terms of concentrated manpower and firepower began to change the balance when there was a shift from tactical to strategic warfare." The author concludes this excellent work with the statement "In the half century of conflicts, there were numerous turning points in which battles might have turned differently. What would not have changed, however, is the tenacity and bravery exhibited by the warriors on both sides."
For the interested reader of American and/or American Western history, this is a must read.
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