Ah, the loss of innocence.

For many years my knowledge of the history was conditioned by John Wayne type movies with the US calvary trooping out of their forts, Custer's magnificent Last Stand etc.

Alas, lately I have reading that
most forts were not wooden, (there was a shortage of wood),
unlike the movies, many calvary troopers were black.
Custer's last stand was really a rout with the calvary running away.
As usual the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

Comments?

I've one. It's spelled, "cavalry." Calvary was that hill Jesus got staked up on.

My Dad told me years ago when he was alive,about an old man who lived near him when he was a kid,who fought in the 'Indian Wars'.

Thanks, I really should know the difference. Maybe senility is catching up with me. or am I catching up with it?

Alas, lately I have reading that
most forts were not wooden, (there was a shortage of wood),

There was indeed a shortage of wood - on the plains, anyway - but nearly every fort was constructed primarily of that material. Concrete wasn’t commonly in use by the US Army; adobe, sod, and clay were occasionally used but were not preferred; and composite materials hadn’t yet been invented. Often, lumber/timber was shipped in from eastern or Rockies states.

unlike the movies, many calvary troopers were black.

Only about 20%, actually, and they were always kept segregated from white military units.

At the end of the Civil War, 186,000 black soldiers had participated in the war, with 38,000 killed in action.

When Congress reorganized the regular army following the Civil War, it authorized two segregated regiments of black cavalry (the Ninth United States Cavalry and the Tenth United States Cavalry and the 24th, 25th , 38th , 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry Regiments). Orders were given to transfer the troops to the western war arena, where they would join the army's fight with the Indians, whereupon they became commonly known as Buffalo Soldiers - presumably so named by Native Americans because their nappy hair resembled the coarse fur of the buffalo.

In 1869, the black infantry regiments were consolidated into two units, the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry and the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry. All of the black regiments were commanded by white officers at that time. Buffalo Soldiers had the lowest desertion rate in the army, though their army posts were often the worst in the west. Official reports show these soldiers were frequently subjected to the harshest of discipline, racist officers, poor food, inferiour equipment and sub-par shelter.

Until the early 1890s, African-American troops constituted about 20 percent of all cavalry forces on the American frontier.

Custer's last stand was really a rout with the calvary running away.

Not exactly. Custer split his troops into three groups prior to the Battle of the Little Big Horn: one led by Benteen was sent to scout nearby areas; one led by Reno was left at the eastern end of the ridge beneath which the great Indian camp sat. Custer himself took a few hundred men and traveled west along the ridge to the far end of the Indian encampment.

Reno’s men skirmished with the Indians first, advancing down the ravine and then being pushed back by Sitting Bull’s men at the eastern end of the camp. Shortly thereafter, Benteen’s men returned from their forays and joined Reno’s men in the fight. At about that same time, Custer’s group reached the western end of ridge above the camp and engaged the Indians in a furious battle. Custer had only enough time to send a messenger to call for Reno and Benteen to join him before he and his men were overtaken. Knowing what they already knew (that the encampment was FAR larger than they originally imagined) Reno and Benteen did not advance to assist Custer..... but they did not “run away.” In fact, almost immediately after the Battle, the Indians packed up and disappeared, knowing that many more white men would soon be looking for them seeking revenge.

Too bad they never had:

http://www.tye.ca/upload/pictures/1140.jpg

Them Injuns wouldn't have had a chance.

Bear cavalry, ppsh's, and ak-47's really werent needed. The plains indian never stood a chance regardless.

They could win small battles, but their fate was sealed the moment people got the idea of "free" land in their minds.

People seem to have the idea that whites invaded the territory of the peaceful indians and took their land. While it is true the whites defeated the indians it is not true that they did anything different than what had been going on among the various tribes for centuries and probably since then first crossed the land bridge and came to North America.

Indian tribes were constantly fighting with each other and taking each other's territory, either displacing or annihilating the enemy. It happened in the East where the Tuscarora were driven from their territory to join the Iriquois Confederation and Powhatten defeated tribe after tribe. It happened when Samoset used the English settlers to help him defeat and remove enemy tribes. It happened to the tribes the Iriquois defeated and forced to move to the mid-West. It happened with the Anasazi and with the Plains tribes.

The only difference was that the whites were better armed and so were able to defeat tribe after tribe.

I never said the indians were all peaceful. However, I did say that once "free" land became available they never stood a chance.

The whites didnt merely "defeat" them. They massacred them for this land, plain and simple.

As far as not doing anything different. I dont believe that indians used biological warfare against each other.

For the record, there were peaceful indians who were massacred for their land as well. Not all the tribes were warriors.

People seem to have the idea that whites invaded the territory of the peaceful indians and took their land. While it is true the whites defeated the indians it is not true that they did anything different than what had been going on among the various tribes for centuries and probably since then first crossed the land bridge and came to North America.

Indian tribes were constantly fighting with each other and taking each other's territory, either displacing or annihilating the enemy.e.
That's true, and that's one of the main reasons the whites were able to defeat the Indians - the Indians saw them as just another tribe and didn't think to unite together against Europeans until it was too late. Also, when the English arrived in North America, the Native populations had been decimated by disease, brought to the Caribbean by the Spanish and spread from tribe to tribe for a century. Most historians now estimate that the Indian population of North America in 1600 was only 10% of the pre-Colombian population.

Thanks for the details.

Specifically in Arizona, I visited a couple of forts and commented about the lack of perimeter defences. I was told that most forts never had any such walls. The limited wood supplies were used to build officers' housing, ORs lived in tents.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Reno and Benteen (or their troops), rather that the group with Custer seemed to have panicked and lost their discipline.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Reno and Benteen (or their troops), rather that the group with Custer seemed to have panicked and lost their discipline.

I think it's safe to say that Custer never really did have much discipline. :) He was known (both during the Civil War and the Indian Wars) as a brash fighter with little regard for rules and regulations. Although these sometimes reckless and foolhardy traits served him fairly well in the Civil War, they were his ultimate downfall.