Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
4,300 posts, read 4,409,483 times
Reputation: 2394
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit
Do you think the Federal government still would have won the Indian Wars?
They were too busy warring and killing each other to beat the western expanding USA. Even if they didn't war with each other, they still didn't have the proper weapons to put up a resistance for very long.
They were too busy warring and killing each other to beat the western expanding USA. Even if they didn't war with each other, they still didn't have the proper weapons to put up a resistance for very long.
Up until the time the US Cavalry hired Indian scouts they had lost every single engagement they ever had with the Indians...
EVERY SINGLE ONE
As far as "they still didn't have the proper weapons" stop and think for a minute....
You don't think the Indians were confiscating the weapons from the dead soldiers and were smart enough to use them?
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
4,300 posts, read 4,409,483 times
Reputation: 2394
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit
Up until the time the US Cavalry hired Indian scouts they had lost every single engagement they ever had with the Indians...
EVERY SINGLE ONE
As far as "they still didn't have the proper weapons" stop and think for a minute....
You don't think the Indians were confiscating the weapons from the dead soldiers and were smart enough to use them?
They lost because the US was arrogant and went out with horses and older muskets/sidearms. Even if they had confiscated those weapons, they never had been confronted with the full might of the US army. Their manner of warfare - on the open plains - would have been no match for 100,000 soldiers, plus cav (esp with the advent of the gatling gun) and artillery. By the 1880's, their resistance was truly futile and their days numbered.
They lost because the US was arrogant and went out with horses and older muskets/sidearms. Even if they had confiscated those weapons, they never had been confronted with the full might of the US army. Their manner of warfare - on the open plains - would have been no match for 100,000 soldiers, plus cav (esp with the advent of the gatling gun) and artillery. By the 1880's, their resistance was truly futile and their days numbered.
The American Indian, armed with the weapons taken from dead soldiers was unmatched in the methods of warfare as practiced in the west.
Why did the US Cavalry have to resort to hiring Indian scouts and trackers?
Because they could never find the Indians.....
Sheer numbers would have meant nothing in that type of war...
Just how would the US Army have supplied 10,000 troops in desert conditions back in those days?
So as I first posed, how would things have turned out without the Indians selling each other out?
As we saw in the Battle of the Little Big Horn the Indian tribes did combine to fight a common enemy...
And they did decimate the 7th Cavalry didn't they?
LMAO thinking of how Gatling guns or field artillery could be deployed in mountainous terrain....
No. Between that and the smallpox plague that decimated somewhere between 60-90% of the pre-Columbus Indian population, the settlers practically walked into ghost towns that Indians didn't have the manpower to repel.
No. Between that and the smallpox plague that decimated somewhere between 60-90% of the pre-Columbus Indian population, the settlers practically walked into ghost towns that Indians didn't have the manpower to repel.
Get with the program, we are talking waaaay past that point in history.....
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
4,300 posts, read 4,409,483 times
Reputation: 2394
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit
The American Indian, armed with the weapons taken from dead soldiers was unmatched in the methods of warfare as practiced in the west.
Why did the US Cavalry have to resort to hiring Indian scouts and trackers?
Because they could never find the Indians.....
Sheer numbers would have meant nothing in that type of war...
Just how would the US Army have supplied 10,000 troops in desert conditions back in those days?
So as I first posed, how would things have turned out without the Indians selling each other out?
The time bought by uniting would only have postponed the inevitable. Armies much larger than 10,000 were well supplied with the logistical capabilities of their day (even in hot weather environments). They hired scouts because the natives knew the land and their intel/insight was invaluable (that is done even today). Their tactics were good for their numbers, but would not have been effective in larger numbers (assuming they would unite). The armies would not have had to go to those inhospitable areas and they could have just let the natives hide there. But, eventually they must come out and fight. The US Army is slow in how they evolve, but not that slow. They would have matched their tactics eventually as they adapted to the Rebel's tactics (that was very much Native borrowed as well).
The time bought by uniting would only have postponed the inevitable. Armies much larger than 10,000 were well supplied with the logistical capabilities of their day (even in hot weather environments). They hired scouts because the natives knew the land and their intel/insight was invaluable (that is done even today). Their tactics were good for their numbers, but would not have been effective in larger numbers (assuming they would unite). The armies would not have had to go to those inhospitable areas and they could have just let the natives hide there. But, eventually they must come out and fight. The US Army is slow in how they evolve, but not that slow. They would have matched their tactics eventually as they adapted to the Rebel's tactics (that was very much Native borrowed as well).
Pssst, they didn't "hide out there"
They LIVED there........
It could have been that the Indians inflicted such heavy casualties the western United States would be the west border of Oklahoma instead of California....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
