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The US Army Post Civil War1865-1898

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TLOs and ELOs

• Understand the effect demobilization and reconstruction had on the US Army

• Understand the rise of the National Guard and how it differed from the militia of an earlier era

• Understand the Army’s role in non-military missions of the era

• Understand the relative isolation of the Army during this period as well as it’s increasing professionalism

• Understand the significance of the Army’s role in the Frontier Wars.

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Themes I’d stress:

• Going from a large convention force to a more historically “normal” force.

• New missions and challenges- Reconstruction and Indian Wars• Looking inward- professional development• Technology implemented or ignored

• Reading from two chapters:– Chapter 13: Darkness and Light: The Interwar Years, 1865-1898– Chapter 14: Winning the West: The Army in the Indian Wars, 1865-

1890

4Army Career, 1876?

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Relevance to Today?

The Civil War and large volunteer army

Massing on Mexico border- show of force

Non-standard missions- stability and support

Non-standard missions- fighting an irregular enemy

Professional education improvements

Questioning relevance of traditional branches

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Size of the Army(Post Civil War Army)

• Volunteers – 1.2M in May 1865– 400K by Nov 1865– 11K in 1866– 0 in 1867

• Regular Army– Held at 54K in 1866– 37K in 1869– 27.5K in 1876– <25K in 1877 (field strength)– Stays at this level until 1898

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Organization of the Army(Regular Establishment)

• 1861-65 - 19 regiments of infantry, 6 of cavalry, 5 of artillery

• 1866 (Reorganization) - 45 regiments of infantry, 10 of cavalry, 5 of artillery, 6 black regiments (38th, 39th , 40th, & 41st Infantry, 9th & 10th Cavalry), 4 Veteran Reserve Corps

• 1869 (Consolidation) - 25 regiments of infantry, 10 of cavalry, 5 of Artillery, 4 black regiments (24th & 25th Infantry, 9th & 10th Cavalry), up to 1000 Indian scouts

• No brigades, divisions, or corps

• Smallest Army ever in proportion to U. S. population (63 million in 1890)

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Employment

• Reconstruction• Civil Disturbances• Indian Pacification

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Reconstruction

• Army was the primary instrument of Congressional Reconstruction

• Reconstruction Act of 1867, divided the eleven ex-Confederate States, excluding Tennessee, into five military districts.

• After about 1867, only 8,100 troops were stationed in the South.

• Never large enough to guarantee rights of freedmen or overawe Southern population

• Last Federal troops finally removed from South in 1877

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US Army role- Johnson’s Reconstruction

Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned LandBureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Land

(1865-69)(1865-69)

• Relief of blacks and whites in war torn south

• Admin justice in relationship to freed slaves

• Management abandoned and confiscated land

• regulation black labor under new conditions

• education of blacks

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Top: Primary school for Freedmen, Vicksburg, MS

Bottom: Primary School for Freedmen in charge of Mrs. Green, at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

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Scalawags

Carpetbaggers

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Grant, CG

Stanton, Sec of War

1866: Johnson declares rebellion at an end, and civil government restored

Elections of 1866: violence, CSA officials elected

Grant issues circular

Take orders from Congress if removed

Also increases Army’s role in maintaining order

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US Army role- Radical Reconstruction

Maintain orderMaintain order

Military districtsMilitary districts

Enforce laws:Enforce laws:VotingFight white supremacists groupsPlace in the middle between local officials, citizens, and

freed blacks- everyone against them.

Sherman (Commanding General after Grant): Sherman (Commanding General after Grant):

“No matter what change we may desire in the feelings and thoughts of the people. . .we cannot accomplish it by force. Nor can we afford to maintain . . . an army large enough to hold them in subjugation.”

Neither Republicans or Democrats “seems to care a damn of the service of the country.”

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•States rejoin Union

•Democratic rule continues

•No (violent) vengeance on the losers

•African-Americans make some gains:

Slavery ends

Freedman schools, public education

Income grew

Legalized families

•Southern economy remains backwards

•Corruption taints rebuilding effort

•For African-Americans:

Never met promises of 14th (male suffrage), 15th Amendments (no right or vote denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude)

Allows Jim Crow laws to “legally” circumvent amendments

Blacks still subject to a century of racism and discrimination

Results of ReconstructionPositive Negative

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Civil Disturbances

• Generally labor disputes and strikes

• Over 300 - Most notable cases:

– Railroad strikes of 1877 - preserve order

– Pullman Strike of 1894 - strike-breakers

– Militia (National Guard) called upon even more than Regular Army

• Major success during this period came in 1887 when Congress raised annual appropriation to militia from $200,000 (since 1808) to $400,000

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National Guard movement1880s- 1890s

1879- National Guard Association1881-1892- every state revises their military code

Volunteer Soldier of America1887

The Military Policy of the United States1904

Emory UptonSen John Logan

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• Army was isolated from American societyDuty was:

– Distant from population centers (frontier)– Distasteful (policing strikes)

• Intellectual trends against a army

• “Business Pacifism”

Wars are obsolete

Therefore armies are unnecessary

Army Challenges

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Argument that it created the ethos of the Army still seen today:

• Professional education system• Self policing• Apolitical officer corps• Expected to operate with little guidance of oversight

Isolation of the Army on the Frontier

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Definition of Professionalism – Initial membership and future advancement required mastery of a body of theoretical knowledge unique to its service.

• Expertise• Responsibility• Corporateness

Education – Being created during this period

Professionalism

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Development of Army Professionalism

The Military Policy of the United States

1904

COL Emory UptonGEN William Sherman

RADM Stephen Luce

Creation of School of Application for

Infantry and Cavalry 1881

Creation of Naval War College, 1884

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Professionalism (Doctrine)

• Unofficial– Cavalry Journal– Army-Navy Journal– Journal of the Military Service Institution of the US– Emory Upton (a voice crying in the wilderness, dies young and insane)

• Official– Only bright spot - “CGSC” at Fort Leavenworth– In 1881, not the same school as today, but the mission is very similar

No guiding head, no ‘Official’ Army Doctrine

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Officer development

• Lieutenant to Captain - Seniority in the Regiment

• Major to Colonel – Seniority in the Arm– LT to Major – 24 to 26 Years

– Major to Colonel – 33 to 37 Years

• Aging Officer Corps - No Retirement Pension Until Late 1880s

“There will not be one-fourth part of the present field officers in the Army physically capable of supporting the hardships of an active campaign. They will be worn-out old men.”

Army and Navy Journal

Fredrick BenteenCaptain

(1866 – 1883)

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Training

• Colonel: $3,500

• 2d Lieutenant: $1,400

• Sergeant: $264

• Privates: $156“Small salaries are best for young officers who know little of the real value of money. It teaches them to avoid extravagance and practice economy.”

Congressman Banning

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Training(Personnel)

• Officer Corps– Aging with stagnant, seniority promotion system– Congressional mandate, < 1/2 pre-war regulars– No retirement pension until late 1880s– Temporary wartime ranks abolished – Generals become captains

• Enlisted Soldiers– Many foreigners– Inhospitable duty stations– Few incentives to stay– Many reasons to “leave”– Underpaid ($16 to $13/month), and unpaid (Jul-Nov 1877)

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Soldiers

• Foreign Paupers – 50% of the Ranks– Outstanding Soldiers

and NCO’s

• Turnover– Death– Desertion– Discharge

• Training– 21 Year Old Recruit– 3 to 4 Weeks– Basic Skills– Weak Horsemanship

and Marksmanship

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Other sources of manpower

• “Buffalo Soldiers”– 9th, 10th Cavalry– 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st Infantry

• Combined into 24th and 25th Infantry

4% desertion rate vs 24% Army average

• “Indian Scouts”– Various tribes– Played on natural tribal

hostilities

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Equipment

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Origins of Army

customs?

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Training(Weapons)

• Civil War weapons were obsolete but plentiful

• Army made the decision to maintain a single shot rifle

• Adopted a center-fire cartridge

• Artillery remains muzzle-loading until Spanish-American War

• With no allocated funds, marksmanship training is non-existent until 1890s (after several disasters)

• Enemy is often better armed and supplied

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New weapons technology ignored

Old technology called into question

Impact railroads, telegraph, naval developments

Technology

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Indian Pacification

“It gives me great pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. . .

What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms . . . ?”

President Andrew Jackson message to Congress “On Indian Removal” (1830)

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Indian Pacification

• Best known role of the 19th century US Army

• Fought 943 engagements between 1865 and 1898

• The Army never used more than 4000 troops except in the Sioux War of 1876 and the Nez Perce War of 1877

• Included two disasters– Fetterman (80 men) in December 1866– Custer (250 men) in June 1876

• Nature of the struggle– Indians usually fought using hit-and-run tactics– Army struggled with tactics and strategy

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Army Opponents

MAJ GEN Winfield S. Hancock advised Congress in 1876 that Indian Service of the Army was:

“Entitled to No Weight”

in determining the proper strength, composition, and organization of the Army.

Utley

Frontier Regulars, 45

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• Indians– Fought as individuals – Tied to forage and families– No hierarchy– Did not believe in decisive combat– Small success was magnified

• Army– Caught in a “no win” situation– Want to fight a conventional fight– Ability to sustain with rail and rivers– Conduct of winter campaigns– Must be everywhere; small forces piecemealed

Army Opponents

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Winning the West

The U.S Army in the Indian Wars

1865-1890

Indian WarsBozman Trail & Hancock’s War

1866-1868

Cheyenne/ArapahoeCheyenne/Arapahoe

Nez PerceNez Perce

KiowaKiowa

ApacheApache

ComancheComanche

SiouxSioux

ModocModoc

Colville

Walla Walla

Steilacoom

Vancouver

Klamath

Churchill

Halleck

Douglas

Bridger

FettermanReno

Laramie

D.A. Russell

McPherson Kearney

Omaha

Randall

Sully

Leavenworth

HarkerLarned

Dodge

RichardsonGriffin

Concho

StocktonDavis

Quitman

Bliss

Stanton

SeldonCummings

Bayard

BowieLowell

McDowell

Verde

Yuma Apache

WingateUnion

Bascom

Sumner

GarlandLyon

Boise

Hall

Ellis

BufordBentonShaw

Clark

Phil Kearny

C.F. Smith

Riley

HayesWallace

Cheyenne/ArapahoeCheyenne/Arapahoe

Nez PerceNez Perce

KiowaKiowa

ApacheApache

SiouxSioux

ModocModoc

ComancheComanche

Indian WarsSouthern Plains War

1868-1869

Cheyenne/Arapaho

Kiowa/Comanche

Sioux

McPherson Kearney

Omaha

Colville

Walla Walla

Steilacoom

Vancouver

Klamath

Churchill

Halleck

Douglas

BridgerLaramie

D.A. Russell

Randall

Sully

LeavenworthRiley

Hayes HarkerLarned

Dodge

Wallace

Supply

Sill

RichardsonGriffin

Concho

StocktonDavis

Quitman

Bliss

Stanton

SeldonCummings

Bayard

BowieLowell

McDowell

Verde

Yuma Apache

WingateUnion

Bascom

Sumner

GarlandLyon

Boise

Hall

Ellis

BufordBentonShaw

Clark

Phil Kearny

C.F. Smith

FettermanReno

Nez PerceNez Perce

ApacheApache

SiouxSioux ModocModoc

Indian WarsApache 1871-75

Red River War 1874-75Sioux War 1876

Cheyenne/Arapaho

Kiowa/Comanche

Colville

Walla Walla

Steilacoom

Vancouver

Klamath

Churchill

Halleck

Douglas

BridgerLaramie

D.A. Russell

Randall

Sully

Leavenworth

HarkerLarned

Dodge

Supply

RichardsonGriffin

Concho

StocktonDavis

Quitman

Bliss

Stanton

SeldonCummings

Bayard

BowieLowell

McDowell

Verde

Yuma Apache

WingateUnion

Bascom

Sumner

GarlandLyon

Boise

Hall

Ellis

BufordBentonShaw

Clark

Phil Kearny

C.F. Smith

Sioux

McPherson Kearney

Omaha

Harker

Riley

HayesWallace

Robinson

Yates

Huachuca

Thomas

Meade

KeoghAbraham Lincoln

Sill

FettermanReno

Nez PerceNez Perce

ModocModoc

Indian Wars(North West)

Modoc War 1872-73Nez Perce War 1877

Cheyenne/Arapaho

Kiowa/Comanche

Sioux

SiouxSiouxSioux

Sioux

Colville

Walla Walla

Steilacoom

Vancouver

Klamath

Churchill

Halleck

Douglas

BridgerLaramie

D.A. Russell

Randall

Sully

Leavenworth

HarkerLarned

Dodge

Supply

RichardsonGriffin

Concho

StocktonDavis

Quitman

Bliss

Stanton

SeldonCummings

Bayard

BowieLowell

McDowell

Verde

Yuma Apache

WingateUnion

Bascom

Sumner

GarlandLyon

Boise

Hall

Ellis

BufordBentonShaw

Clark

Phil Kearny

C.F. Smith

Modoc/Klamath

Nez Perce

McPhersonOmaha

Harker

Riley

HayesWallace

Kearney

Robinson

Yates

Abraham Lincoln

Huachuca

Thomas

Meade

Keogh

Sill

Missoula

Lapwai

FettermanReno

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Questions?