US Army: Indian Wars, 1867-91, Orbat
v.1.1 August 14, 2002
Ravi Rikhye
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Thanks to Hollywood, the Indian Wars are, at least for
non-Americans, the most intensely romanticized conflicts of the US Army. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s Hollywood
brought the cavalry and Indians to every part of the world. No matter what
their political affiliation, the audiences cheered the cavalry. Americans and
non-Americans alike now have an altered perspective on the relationship between
the settlers and the Indians. None of this however, diminishes the military
achievements of that era. The sanctioned strength of the US Army in this period
was about 26,000, but sickness and desertions rendered the effective total
less. This tiny force was responsible for an area of perhaps 1.5 million square
miles or more. The regiments listed
below had strengths of about 400-500 each; of course, the number of fighting
soldiers was akin to the number of soldiers in the rifle companies of today’s
western infantry battalions.
Named Campaigns, Indian Wars 1867-1891
- Comanches,
1867-75
- Modocs,
1871-73
- Apaches,
1873, 1885-86
- Little
Big Horn, 1876-77
- Nez
Perces, 1877
- Bannocks,
1878
- Cheyennes,
1878-79
- Utes,
1879-80
- Pine
Ridge, 1889-91
Regiments
[Complete list, circa 1880s.]
Cavalry
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Infantry
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Artillery
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1st Cavalry
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1st Infantry
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1st Artillery
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2nd Cavalry
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2nd Infantry
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2nd Artillery
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3rd Cavalry
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3rd Infantry
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3rd Artillery
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4th Cavalry
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4th Infantry
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4th Artillery
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5th Cavalry
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5th Infantry
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5th Artillery
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6th Cavalry
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6th Infantry
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7th Cavalry
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7th Infantry
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8th Cavalry
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8th Infantry
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9th Cavalry
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9th Infantry
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10th Cavalry
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12th Infantry
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14th Infantry
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16th Infantry
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17th Infantry
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20th Infantry
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21st Infantry
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22nd Infantry
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23rd Infantry
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24th Infantry
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25th Infantry
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Notes
- The
famous Buffalo Soldiers, American blacks in the US Army, served in the 9th
and 10th Cavalry, and the 24th and 25th
Infantry Regiments. Thanks to historical
revisionism, we now know that not only did black soldiers make a big
contribution to the winning of the West, blacks and Mexicans made up a
substantial percentage of that other romantic feature of the Wild West,
the cowboys.
- Just in case any of the younger
generation need reminding: it was the US 7th Cavalry that
Custer commanded at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The regiment had 600 men in 12
companies when it attacked on June 25th, 1876 (the term “troop”
came into use later). Two hundred and ten men in the five companies Custer
personally led were killed, as were 53 killed (and 60 wounded) from the
other seven companies. The Indians numbered several thousand Cheyenne and
Lakota, perhaps less than 100 were killed. Custer is often mentioned as General Custer: he had earned
the rank of a brevet brigadier-general in the Civil War, but was in fact a
Lt.-Colonel at this time. A good summary of the battle: http://www.ibiscom.com/custer.htm
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Copyright Ravi Rikhye 2001-2013
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