2nd Alabama Cavalry
Sergeant
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2019
Has anyone compared and contrasted Col. Kit Carson`s "Scorched Earth Policy" with General William T. Sherman`s "Total War Strategy" during the American Civil War? As the ACW was being waged and fought in the east from 1861 - 1865 the United States was still fighting the Plains Indian Wars on the western plains and American frontier against the Comanche, Apache, Navajo, Sioux, Kiowa, Pawnee, Arapaho, Cheyenne and other hostiles on the plains as U.S. cavalry and infantry were manning our frontier forts and outposts while protecting settlers who were heading west along the Oregon, Mormon and Santa-Fe trails, this as the American Civil War was raging on back east.
In 1863 Brig. General James Henry Carleton (California) and Colonel Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson were dealing with the Navaho nation who would not submit, so Carleton and Carson devised their "Scorched Earth Policy" in pacifying them. Basically they went on search and destroy patrols and relentlessly attacked the Navaho where ever they could find them in Arizona and New Mexico and burned their fields, killed their food sources, killed their horses, burned their villages and killed their warriors, being as terrifying to them as they could be.
This delivered them the result for which they were searching and the Navajo soon gave into the demands of Carleton and Carson. The following year in 1864, General William T. Sherman introduced his "Total War Strategy", first during the "Meridian Expedition" in February of 1864 across central Mississippi and then he perfected the strategy during his famous "March from Atlanta to the Sea" a few months later in November and December of 1864. In some of Sherman`s writings he stated that Kit Carson`s "Scorched Earth Policy" against the Navajo Nation influenced his own "Total War Strategy" against the Confederate States Army during the ACW.
Then in 1866 Sherman and Sheridan implemented his then perfected "Total War Strategy" during the Plains Indian Wars which delivered the desired effect and eventually brought the Indian Wars to a conclusion in 1890. In essence the Federal Government was fighting two Wars at the same time, the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) and continuing the Plains Indian Wars (1834 - 1890). How many of you have expanded your research to the Plains Indian Wars during the same time frame of the ACW? Numerous lessons learned from each theatre was shared and implemented with the other.
This is a companion to the thread below:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/je...ter-known-as-the-jeff-davis-regiments.155888/
In 1863 Brig. General James Henry Carleton (California) and Colonel Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson were dealing with the Navaho nation who would not submit, so Carleton and Carson devised their "Scorched Earth Policy" in pacifying them. Basically they went on search and destroy patrols and relentlessly attacked the Navaho where ever they could find them in Arizona and New Mexico and burned their fields, killed their food sources, killed their horses, burned their villages and killed their warriors, being as terrifying to them as they could be.
This delivered them the result for which they were searching and the Navajo soon gave into the demands of Carleton and Carson. The following year in 1864, General William T. Sherman introduced his "Total War Strategy", first during the "Meridian Expedition" in February of 1864 across central Mississippi and then he perfected the strategy during his famous "March from Atlanta to the Sea" a few months later in November and December of 1864. In some of Sherman`s writings he stated that Kit Carson`s "Scorched Earth Policy" against the Navajo Nation influenced his own "Total War Strategy" against the Confederate States Army during the ACW.
Then in 1866 Sherman and Sheridan implemented his then perfected "Total War Strategy" during the Plains Indian Wars which delivered the desired effect and eventually brought the Indian Wars to a conclusion in 1890. In essence the Federal Government was fighting two Wars at the same time, the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) and continuing the Plains Indian Wars (1834 - 1890). How many of you have expanded your research to the Plains Indian Wars during the same time frame of the ACW? Numerous lessons learned from each theatre was shared and implemented with the other.
This is a companion to the thread below:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/je...ter-known-as-the-jeff-davis-regiments.155888/
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