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OK, not relevant to cavalry tactics, but Co. K of the 1st MSS taught the rest of the regiment camouflage techniques.
That's interesting. More, please.
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Most Michigan regiments generally did not want Indians serving in their ranks as they were seen as barbaric. The early enlistments of men into other units made it difficult for First Michigan Sharp Shooters to raise enough men so Colonel De Land consented to accepting a company of Indians. These men were mustered into Company K, the Indian company.
Now, the Indians were no fools and knew that their dark blue uniforms did not blend well with the surrounding terrain. Their sergeant dabbed mud on his uniform until it blended in with the dirt. Other men threw themselves in the dirt and rolled around to achieve the same effect. The white companies observed their Indian comrades and soon adopted their practice.
Another interesting thing about the 1st MSS is that most men didn't meet the War Department's qualification for sharpshooters. They had to be taught marksmanship and so they were given formal instructions and plenty of opportunity to practice. They qualified (though I doubt if the Indians had to practice).
Best book is Raymond Herek's, These Men Have Seen Hard Service.
BTW, go to TheHighRoad.org and find the blackpowder thread called Bedtime Stories. There's several stories of Indians and sharpshooting in it.
Is that the report that starts with, "There are a lot more india.......and stops ruther suddenly?.
Yep, that's the one. If no other message, Crazy Horse left plently of evidence that he was in fact capable of leading a cavalry. I expect Sheridan and some of the others could have learned from him. Custer was too late.
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Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
On reading up on the biograph of General George S. Patton (WWII), I was interested in the fact that Mosby would often be at Patton's home and would entertain 'young George' with stories as well as how he did things tactically, as a leader of the Mosby Rangers.
I am sure this helped General Patton, Sr. in World War II, in addition to all the great generals of the past, to include from both sides of the Civil War.
General George S. Patton, Jr. -- World War II's General Patton's son --headed the same Division as his father and wasn't a shabby leader either. He died 6-30-2004 I believe.
Thanks, Freddy, but I was referring to Little Big Horn.
I do not know how Custer could have written any report on June 25, 1876 as he had his hands full with 2,000 Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Of course, he was killed in that battle. The link below has Custer's report of the Battle of W-a-s-h-i-t-a on November 28, 1868. See pages 27-28. http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Exdo...18/album1.html
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"Those who forget to remember the past are condemned to repeat it", George Santayana.
Yep, that's the one. If no other message, Crazy Horse left plently of evidence that he was in fact capable of leading a cavalry. I expect Sheridan and some of the others could have learned from him. Custer was too late.
The Sioux and Cheyenne adopted new direct tactics in the year leading up LBH and the Rosebud, the typical asymetrical attacks of the past were replaced with how whites fought, not for coup, but to kill. the tactics used to win by Redcloud were swept away by a new generation of Indian leaders, which blunted crook on the Rosebud and turned him back after expending 25,000 rounds of munitions, and haveing his centre pierced by direct indian attacks, instead of the swirling flank and decoy attacks that he was used to and expecting. S Abrose in his parrallel lives of two warriors gives a good acount of the post battle acounts by US offiocers and men who had never seen this kind of warfare before, by the Indian.
Custer got to see it to, and he was usingnew tactics, due to the new firearms, but his battle plan was the same as in all his other indian campaigns, get to thn encampment since the indians dont close for contact and occupy and destroy the tibes ability to wage war.
Custer et all saw a new form of combat borne out of Indians adopting a new form of combat, custers men payed a high price for not knowing what they were up against.
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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote."
Benjamin Franklin, 1759
The military saw it different than the popular press of the time:
"I regard Custer's Massacre was a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary". U.S. Grant
General Sheridan issued his own report on the Custer action and placed all the errors at Custer's feet stemming from Custer's belief that the largest Indian group ever assembled would run from his attack. He split his group into three groups, he used cavalrymen who had been riding over 70 miles and were exhausted, all because he felt there would be no confrontation.
4000 Indians fought back. Though self serving press accounts of the day placed the number of Indians who died at 200 to 400, the Indian accounts seem to fall into the 35 to 40 dead range. No white man would have any idea, especially a newspaper on the East Coast, because the Indians removed their dead and wounded.
The change in tactics during the post Civil War Indian Wars I think were more of a result of the Civil War. At the start of the war, it wasn't uncommon for townspeople to gather on hills and watch the battles! By the end of the war Sherman would have his men rape, plunder, burn and kill civilian populations and their homes. Many of the same people who think the "South asked for it", think those tactics were "genocidal" when used against the Indians after the war.
Custer had discovered gold in the area of the Black Hills and became a one man advertising machine for stealing the sacred area from the Indians. His press comments brought the people who would make up DEADWOOD, and today the Lakota tribe has broken away from the United States over the territory!
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