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

Infantry

Artillery

1st Cavalry

1st Infantry

1st Artillery

2nd Cavalry

2nd Infantry

2nd Artillery

3rd Cavalry

3rd Infantry

3rd Artillery

4th Cavalry

4th Infantry

4th Artillery

5th Cavalry

5th Infantry

5th Artillery

6th Cavalry

6th Infantry

 

7th Cavalry

7th Infantry

 

8th Cavalry

8th Infantry

 

9th Cavalry

9th Infantry

 

10th Cavalry

12th Infantry

 

 

14th Infantry

 

 

16th Infantry

 

 

17th Infantry

 

 

20th Infantry

 

 

21st Infantry

 

 

22nd Infantry

 

 

23rd Infantry

 

 

24th Infantry

 

 

25th Infantry

 

 

Notes
  1. 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.
  2.  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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