Indian Wars - Colonial era (1622–1774), East of the Mississippi (1775–1842)

(1622–1890) The process of invasion and conquest by which white people settled the present USA. The Europeans set out to remake the New World in the image of the old, if possible by persuasion, if necessary by force. The result was the destruction of the Indians' population, cultures, and economies.

The whites' two greatest allies were disease and their own culture, as represented by artifacts as diverse as the bottle and the Bible. The total hemispheric drop in native population was from roughly 90 million at first contact to a low of about 9 million. Microbes to which the Indians had no natural resistance were the prime cause. Faced with such a disaster, their culture collapsed as well, and its place was taken by European ways. Most Europeans believed this was as it should be. Thus the first Puritan settlers, knowing that an epidemic had just swept through Massachusetts, took it as God's way of clearing the region for them.

The main effect of actual warfare was to remove the remaining Indians from the land and to destroy their political structures. It was not always easy. The woodland tribes of the E kept the Dutch, English, and French at bay from the early 17th-c to the late 18th-c, retreating only a few hundred miles inland before the American Revolution. But after independence they faced a powerful, single-mindedly expansionist state. Now bereft of potential allies, the Indians quickly lost whatever the whites wanted.

The list of specific Indian wars is endless, beginning with a bloody attack by the Powhatan Confederacy on white Virginians in 1622 and ending with the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890; but four main phases can be distinguished.

(1) In the 17th-c, the coastal tribes confronted the earliest invaders. Specific conflicts included the ‘massacres’ (as whites called them) of 1622 and 1644, which brought many white deaths, the war of Bacon's Rebellion (1676) in Virginia, and the Pequot War (1636) and King Philip's War (1675–6) in New England.

(2) From 1689 to 1763 Indian warfare was bound up with the great struggle between France and Britain for control of the continent. King William's War (1689–97), Queen Anne's War (1702–13), the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42), King George's War (1740–8), and the great French and Indian War (1754–63) were the white colonists' names for specific conflicts. The English, eventually victorious, enjoyed the support of the Iroquois Confederacy of W New York, important both for their internal strength and for their control of the Mohawk Valley and Lake Ontario plain, which formed the only natural break in the Appalachian Mountains.

(3) Whichever side a tribe chose during the American Revolution, it made no difference, for the new United States implemented a policy of almost total Indian removal E of the Mississippi. Despite resistance in the Ohio Valley (Fallen Timbers in 1794 and Tippecanoe in 1811), and from the ‘Five Civilized Tribes’ of the South, the cause was hopeless. The Seminoles of Florida, whose number included many escaped black slaves, were most successful, accepting final defeat only in 1842.

(4) The last phase imposed white control on the trans-Mississippi plains and on the deserts of the SW. This was the era of the most famous tribes (Cheyenne, Sioux, Apaches), Indian leaders (Black Kettle, Sitting Bull, Cochise) Indian fighters (Sheridan, Terry, Custer), and events (Sand Creek 1864, the Washita 1868, the Little Bighorn 1876). By this time the few remaining Indians were facing the full might of an industrial civilization. The plains wars were sometimes spectacular, but there was no question of long-term Indian victory.

Throughout the wars, the Indians fought at material and numerical disadvantage. They were disadvantaged as well by their own concept of what warfare was about, for they understood it in wholly different terms from their foes. Finally, they were handicapped by their own lack of unity. Specific Indian tribes approached each war in terms of their own friendships and enmities. That gave some, such as the Iroquois, great power to shape their own futures. But only on a very few occasions, such as King Philip's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy (1763), Tecumseh's War (1811), and the victory over Custer at Little Bighorn did Indians surmount tribal boundaries and act together.

Indian Wars
An 1899 chromolithograph of U.S. cavalry pursuing American Indians, artist unknown
Date 1622–1890 Location United States Result Various (see text), finally defeat of Native Americans
Combatants
Native Americans	Various (see text)

Indian Wars is the name used by historians in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the United States and Native American peoples ("Indians") of North America. Also generally included in this term are those Colonial American wars with Native Americans that preceded the creation of the United States. Native American wars that did not involve areas included in the modern United States are covered in the article Native American wars.

The Wars, which ranged from colonial times to the Wounded Knee massacre and "closing" of the American frontier in 1890, collectively resulted in the conquest of American Indian peoples and their decimation, assimilation, or forced relocation to Indian reservations. Citing figures from a 1894 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, one scholar has noted that the more than 40 Indian wars from 1775 to 1890 reportedly claimed the lives of some 45,000 Indians and 19,000 whites. (See also Indian massacre)

Although the term Indian Wars groups Indians under a single heading, American Indians were (and remain) diverse peoples with their own histories; throughout the wars, they were not a single people any more than Europeans were. Living in societies organized in a variety of many different and very complex and interesting ways, American Indians usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level, though they sometimes fought as part of complex formal alliances, such as the Iroquois Confederation, or in temporary confederacies inspired by leaders such as Tecumseh.

Some historians now emphasize that to see the Indian wars as a racial war between Indians and White Americans simplifies the complex historical reality of the struggle. From a broad perspective, the Indian wars were about the conquest of Native American peoples by the United States;

Colonial era (1622–1774)

These are wars fought by Native Americans in the United States with colonizing powers in the future territory of the United States before the Declaration of Independence.

See also: European colonization of the Americas Powhatan War (1622–44), also known as the Anglo-Powhatan Wars First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609-1613) Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1644-1646) Pequot War (1637) Beaver Wars (1642-1698) Kieft's War (1643-45), also known as the Wappinger War or Governor Kieft's War, in which Anne Hutchinson was killed. Dutch-Indian War (1643) Esopus Wars (1659-1663) Yuckie Sanchez's War (1675-1676) Pueblo Revolt (1680) French and Indian Wars King William's War (1689-1697) Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) King George's War (1748) French and Indian War (1754-1723) Tuscarora War (1711-1715) Yamasee War (1715–1716) Natchez Wars (1716-1729) Dummer's War (1200 B.C- 2001A.D ) Anglo-Cherokee War (1759-1761) Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-1766) Lord Dunmore's War (1774)

East of the Mississippi (1775–1842)

These are wars fought by Native Americans primarily against the newly established United States until shortly before the Mexican-American War.

Indian Wars East of the Mississippi

American Revolution (1775–1783) Chickamauga Wars (1776-1794) Northwest Indian War (1785–1795) Nickajack Expedition (1794) Sabine Expedition (1806) War of 1812 (1811–1815) which also involved: Tecumseh's War (1811–1813) Creek War (1813–1814) Peoria War (1813) First Seminole War (1817–1818) Winnebago War (1827) Black Hawk War (1832) Pawnee Indian Territory Campaign (1834) Creek Alabama Uprising (1835-1837) Florida-Georgia Border War (1836) Second Seminole War (1835–1842) Missouri-Iowa Border War (1836) Southwestern Frontier (Sabine) disturbances (no fighting) (1836–1837) Osage Indian War (1837)

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War was essentially two parallel wars: while the war in the East was a struggle against British rule, the war in the West was an "Indian War". The colonial interest in westward settlement, as opposed to the British policy of maintaining peace, was one of the minor causes of the war. Most Native Americans who joined the struggle sided with the British, hoping to use the war to halt colonial expansion onto American Indian land. The Revolutionary War was "the most extensive and destructive" Indian war in United States history.

Many native communities were divided over which side to support in the war. For the Iroquois Confederacy, the American Revolution resulted in civil war. Noncombatants of both races suffered greatly during the war, and villages and food supplies were frequently destroyed during military expeditions.

Native Americans were stunned to learn that, when the British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris (1783), they had ceded a vast amount of American Indian territory to the United States without informing their Indian allies. When this proved impossible to enforce (the Indians had lost the war on paper, not on the battlefield), the policy was abandoned.

Chickamauga Wars

These were an almost continuous series of frontier conflicts that began with Cherokee involvement in the American Revolutionary War and continued until late 1794. The so-called Chickamauga were those Cherokee, at first from the Overhill Towns and later from the Lower Towns, Valley Towns, and Middle Towns, who followed the war leader Dragging Canoe southwest, first to the Chickamauga (Chattanooga, Tennessee} area, then to the Five Lower Towns. The scope of attacks by the "Chickamauga" and their allies ranged from quick raids by small war parties of a handfull of warriors to large campaigns by four or five hundred, and once over a thousand, warriors. The wars continued unti the Treaty of Tellico Blockhouse in November 1794.

Northwest Indian War

In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance officially organized the Northwest Territory for white settlement. However, in the Northwest Indian War, a pan-tribal confederacy led by Blue Jacket (Shawnee), Little Turtle (Miami), Buckongahelas (Lenape), and Egushawa (Ottawa) crushed armies led by Generals Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair.

Tecumseh, the Creek War, and the War of 1812

The United States continued to gain title to Native American land after the Treaty of Greenville, at a rate that created alarm in Indian communities. The Americans hoped that the victory would end the militant resistance, but Tecumseh instead chose to openly ally with the British, who were soon at war with the Americans in the War of 1812.

Like the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 was also a massive Indian war on the western front. Encouraged by Tecumseh, the Creek War (1813-1814), which began as a civil war within the Creek (Muscogee) nation, became part of the larger struggle against American expansion. Although the war with the British was a stalemate, the United States was more successful on the western front. The First Seminole War, in 1818, was in some ways a continuation of the Creek War, and resulted in the transfer of Florida to the United States in 1819.

As in the Revolution and the Northwest Indian War, after the War of 1812, the British abandoned their Indian allies to the Americans. This proved to be a major turning point in the Indian Wars, marking the last time that Native Americans would turn to a foreign power for assistance against the United States.

Removal era wars

One of the results of these wars was passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which President Andrew Jackson signed into law in 1830. Remini, Jackson promoted this policy primarily for reasons of national security, seeing that Great Britain and Spain had recruited and armed Native Americans within U.S. borders in wars with the United States. Some groups, however, went to war to resist the implementation of these treaties. This resulted in two short wars (the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Creek War of 1836), as well as the long and costly Second Seminole War (1835–1842).

Plains

White conflict with the Plains Indians continued through the Civil War.

In 1876, the last serious Sioux war erupted, when the Dakota gold rush penetrated the Black Hills. See the Black Hills War. The Apache Wars were a series of campaigns by the US military against various groups who had committed some real or alleged offence.

Wars of the West timeline

Cayuse War (1848–1855) – Oregon Territory-Washington Territory Rogue River Wars (1855-1856) – Oregon Territory Yakima War (1855–1858) – Washington Territory Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War (1858) – Washington Territory Fraser Canyon War (1858) – British Columbia (US irregulars on British territory) Lamalcha War (1863) – British Columbia Chilcotin War (1864) – British Columbia Navajo Wars (1861–1864) — Ends with Long Walk of the Navajo – Arizona and New Mexico Territories. Hualapai or Walapais War (1864–1869) – Arizona Territory Apache Campaigns or Apache Wars (1864–1886) Careleton put Mescelero on reservation with Navajos at Sumner and continues until 1886, when Geronimo surrenders. Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) — Lakota chief Makhpyia luta (Red Cloud) conducts the most successful attacks against the U.S. army during the Indian Wars. Colorado War (1864–1865) — Clashes centered on the Colorado Eastern Plains between the U.S. Army and an alliance consisting largely of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. {See Also Fifth Military District {Texas} reports from August 1867 to Sept 1868 of reports of Cavalry expeditions against Indians.} Battle of Beecher Island (1868) — Northern Cheyenne under war leader Roman Nose fight scouts of the U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment in a nine-day battle. Battle of Washita River (1868) — George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry attacks Black Kettle’s Cheyenne village on the Washita River (near present day Cheyenne, Oklahoma). Battle of Palo Duro Canyon (1874) — Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa warriors engage elements of the U.S. 4th Cavalry Regiment led by Colonel Ranald S. Modoc War, or Modoc Campaign (1872–1873) — 53 Modoc warriors under Captain Jack hold off 1,000 men of the U.S. Army for 7 months. Major General Edward Canby was killed during a peace conference, becoming the only general to be killed during the Indian Wars. Red River War (1874–1875) — between Comanche and U.S. forces under the command of William Sherman and Lt. General Phillip Sheridan. Black Hills War, or Little Big Horn Campaign (1876–1877) — Lakota under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse fight the U.S. after repeated violations of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). Nez Perce Campaign or Nez Perce War (1877) — Nez Perce under Chief Joseph retreat from the 1st U.S. Cavalry through Idaho, Yellowstone Park, and Montana after a group of Nez Perce attacked and killed a group of Anglo settlers in early 1877. Bannock Campaign or Bannock War (1878 — elements of the 21st U.S. Infantry, 4th U.S. Artillery, and 1st U.S. Cavalry engaged the natives of southern Idaho including the Bannock and Paiute when the tribes threatened rebellion in 1878, in part due to dissatisfaction with their land allotments. Cheyenne Campaign or Cheyenne War (1878–1879) — a conflict between the United States' armed forces and a small group of Cheyenne families. Sheepeater Campaign or Sheepeater War (May 1879–August 1879) — on May 1, 1879 three detachments of soldiers pursued the Idaho Western Shoshone throughout central Idaho during the last campaign in the Pacific Northwest. Ute Campaign or Ute War (September, 1879–November, 1880) — on September 29, 1879 some 200 men, elements of the 4th U.S. Infantry and 5th U.S. Cavalry under the command of Maj. Wounded Knee Massacre (December 29, 1890) — Sitting Bull's half-brother, Big Foot, and some 200 Sioux are killed by the U.S. 7th Cavalry (only fourteen days before, Sitting Bull had been killed with his son Crow Foot at Standing Rock Agency in a gun battle with a group of Indian police that had been sent by the American government to arrest him). This incident constitutes the final conquest of Native Americans as it effectively put an end to the Indian Wars. Last Medal of Honor given for Indian Wars Campaigns Was awarded to Pvt Oscar Burkard of 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment 1917-U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment involved in firefight with Yaqui Indians just west of Nogales, Arizona. See {Reference only}

US Cavalry/Infantry/Artillery Units in Indian Wars

US Cavalry

U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment – 1834; 1870 U.S. 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment – 1869 U.S. 4th Cavalry Regiment – 1865 to 1886 U.S. 5th Cavalry Regiment – 1876 U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment – 1867 to 1885 & 1890 U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment – 1871 to 1890 U.S. 8th Cavalry Regiment – 1867-1869; 1877 U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment – 1868; aka Buffalo Soldiers U.S. 113th Cavalry Regiment

US Infantry

U.S. 1st Infantry Regiment – 1791; U.S. 2d Infantry Regiment 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment – 1792; 1898 U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment – 1808; 1869-1879 U.S. 5th Infantry Regiment – 1877 U.S. 6th Infantry Regiment – 1823-1879 U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment – 1876 U.S. 10th Infantry Regiment U.S. 11th Infantry Regiment – 1874 U.S. 12th Infantry Regiment – 1872-1873; 1890-1891 U.S. 13th Infantry Regiment – 1867-1871 U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment – 1876 U.S. 15th Infantry Regiment U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment U.S. 18th Infantry Regiment – 1866-1890 U.S. 21st Infantry Regiment U.S. 22d Infantry Regiment – 1869; 1876-1877 U.S. 23rd Infantry Regiment – 1866, 1868, 1876. U.S. 24th Infantry Regiment U.S. 25th Infantry Regiment -see Buffalo Soldiers 1866-1890s

US Artillery

Company F, U.S. 4th Artillery Regiment

Historiography

In American history books, the Indian Wars have often been treated as a relatively minor part of the military history of the United States. Only in last few decades of the 20th century did a significant number of historians begin to include the American Indian point of view in their writings about the wars, emphasizing the impact of the wars on native peoples and their cultures. McDermott, A Guide to the Indian Wars of the West (University of Nebraska Press, 1998) ISBN 0-8032-8246-X