Customer Reviews

US Infantry in the Indian Wars 1865-91 (Men-at-Arms)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

New to the 'Men-at-Arms' series is Ron Field's US INFANTRY IN THE INDIAN WARS 1865-91, a survey of the US infantry on the frontier, differing from the usual focus on the US Cavalry. From their daily lives and challenges to key battles, US INFANTRY IN THE INDIAN WARS follows not just strategy or biographies, but the uniforms, equipment and organization of the Infantry forces as a whole.

This slim book has some very good illustrations of the P.B.I. (Poor Bloody Infantry) of the American Indian Wars. While they are not as good as the Late Angus McBrides work, they are however well worth the coin. The Text is also pretty good about the mostly ignored foot soldier of the Old Regular Army for the granted limited space of these series.

U.S. INFANTRY IN THE INDIAN WARS, 1865-91
RON FIELD
OSPREY PUBLISHING, 2007
QUALITY SOFTCOVER, $15.95, 48 PAGES, PHOTOGRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS


Contrary to the image portrayed by Hollywood, the infantry played as great a part in the Indian Wars of the 1860s-1880s, and were more consistently successful than their more famous counterparts in the cavalry. The great Paiute War of 1866, where the infantry of the most renowned Indian-fighting general, George Cook, excelled in battle, together with the role of other infantry units in the final subjugation of Geronimo's Apaches in 1886, are bit two instances of their achievements. Indian Wars is the name generally used in U.S. history to describe the series of conflicts between the Federal government and Native Americans. Also, generally concluded in this term are those Colonial American wars with Native Americans that proceded the creation of the United States. The wars, which ranged from the early 1600s to the Wounded Knee massacre and "closing" of the American frontier in 1890, generally resulted in the conquest of American Indians and their assimilation or forced relocation to Indian reservations. Various statistics have been developed concerning the devastations of these wars on both the American and Indian nations. The most reliable figures are derived from collated records of strictly military engagements such as by Gregory Michno which reveal 21,586 dead, wounded, and captured civilians and soldiers for the period of 1850-1890 alone due to massacres! Other figures are derived from extrapolations of rather cursory and unrelated government accounts such as that by Russell Thornton who calculated that some 45,000 Native Americans and 19,000 Whites were killed. This later rough estimate includes women and children on both sides, since non-combatants were often killed in frontier massacres. Various other authors have claimed as low as 5,000 killed to as high as 500,000 killed. What isn't disputed is that the savagery from both sides of the war-the Native Americans own methods of brutal warfare and the Americans destructive campaigns-was such as to be noted in every year in newspapers, historical archives, and diplomatic reports. The Indian Wars comprised a series of smaller wars. Native Americans were (and remain) diverse peoples with their own histories and cultures; throughout the wars, they weren't a single people any more than the Europeans were. Living in societies organized in a variety of ways; Native Americans usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level, though they sometimes fought as part of formal alliances, such as the Iroquois Confederation, or in temporary confederacies inspired by leaders such as Tecumseh. Featuring their involvement in the legendary Battles of Wounded Knee and Wolf Mountains, this well researched account presents an illustrated history of these critical but overlooked soldiers of the Indian Wars, culminating in the eventual "closing" of the American Frontier in 1890 and the final conquest of the indigenous inhabitants of North America. This text is illustrated with fascinating early photographs and with meticulous color plates reconstructing their appearance-on parade, in garrison, and on campaign.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida