Study Notes: Becoming a Modern Military

Chronology of the Modern Military Transition

• 1864: Battle of Sand Creek.
• 1866: Fetterman Massacre.
• 1868: Battle of the Washita.
• 1872–1873: Modoc War.
• 1876: Battle of Rosebud Creek; Battle of the Little Bighorn.
• 1877: Battle of Wolf Mountain; Nez Perce War; Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African-American West Point graduate.
• 1885: Naval War College established.
• 1890: Ghost Dance movement; Battle of Wounded Knee; Publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History.
• 1894: Pullman Strike.
• 1898: Spanish-American War.
• 1899–1902: Philippine Insurrection.
• 1900: Boxer Rebellion.
• 1903: Militia Act; General Service Act; Army War College established.
• 1907–1909: Great White Fleet world tour.

Introduction to the Post-Civil War Military (1877–1914)

• Henry O. Flipper: In $1877$, Flipper, a native of Thomasville, Georgia, became the first African-American to receive a commission from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was assigned to the $10^{th}$ Cavalry, one of the all-black cavalry regiments authorized since $1869$.
• Definition of the Era: The period between the Civil War and the Great War ($1914\text{–}1918$) was a transition where the military moved from frontier constabulary duties to a professional standing army and a global naval power.
• Internal Focus: The Army promoted education and professionalism to establish itself as a centralized organization.
• External Focus: The military adjusted to increased responsibilities, new technologies, and growing involvement in world affairs, particularly regarding frontier conflicts and overseas possessions.

Indian Wars on the Frontier

• Manpower Reductions: After Reconstruction ended in $1877$, Congress reduced the Army's authorized strength from over $57,000$ to only $27,000$ men. This force was responsible for frontier posts and coastal fortifications.
• Demographics: West of the Mississippi, millions of migrants (farmers, miners, speculators) moved into lands occupied by approximately $\frac{1}{4}$ million Indians.
• The Conflict of Choices: Tribes faced an untenable choice: assimilate into white society (destroying their culture) or resist white encroachment (risking physical extinction).
• The Indian Bureau (Department of the Interior): Attempted forced assimilation by encouraging the destruction of buffalo herds (central to the Plains tribes' economy) and trying to turn hunters into farmers.
• Military Role: The War Department used force to keep tribes on reservations and track down fugitive bands.
• Administrative Structure: The West was reorganized into two divisions:
  • Division of the Missouri: Subdepartments of Missouri, Arkansas, the Platte, and Dakota.
  • Division of the Pacific: Subdepartments of California and the Columbia.
  • Department of the Gulf: Administered Texas.
• Logistics and Topography: Challenges included vast distances, a lack of rail networks in the West, extreme seasonal climates, and varied topography. Logistics and communication were considered as significant an obstacle as the Indians themselves.
• Frontier Posts: Most were not stockades but "glorified tent cities" with few permanent structures, manned only for a few years before units moved closer to the next conflict.
• Tactics: The Army found winter campaigns most effective by destroying encampments and supply stores. Friendly Indians were used primarily as scouts rather than fighters. The strategy involved converging multiple units to trap Indians for a decisive action.

Major Regional Conflicts

• The Powder River Region: White settlers in Wyoming and Montana (Oregon and Bozeman trails) clashed with Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho.
• The Fetterman Massacre (1866): Chief Red Cloud and Crazy Horse harassed construction of a road to Fort Smith. Crazy Horse used decoys to lure Captain William J. Fetterman and $80$ men into an ambush beyond a ridge. The entire column was wiped out in minutes.
• The Washita (1868): Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman complained he needed an army of $100,000$ to cover the frontier. Major General Philip H. Sheridan ordered a three-column winter attack. George Armstrong Custer's $7^{th}$ Cavalry attacked Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne camp. Custer killed over $50$ Indians but nearly faced defeat when he realized multiple tribal camps were nearby.
• Red River War (1874): Sherman (General of the Army) and Sheridan ordered a five-column attack. Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie's $4^{th}$ Cavalry trapped Indians in Palo Duro Canyon, destroyed their horses and possessions, and forced them back to reservations.
• The Modoc War (1872–1873): Native groups left reservations to return to California. Negotiations failed when Modoc leaders murdered General Edward Canby and Reverend Eleaser Thomas. Four Modoc leaders were later executed.
• Apache Wars: General George Crook used mule pack trains and small rapid reaction forces in Arizona and New Mexico against Cochise and later Geronimo. The struggle lasted over $20$ years. Corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs often sabotaged peace measures.
• Geronimo's Surrender: Captain Henry W. Lawton chased Geronimo's band for $2,000$ miles into Mexico in $1886$. Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles and died in $1909$ at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

The Great Sioux War of 1876

• Cause: Discovery of gold in the Black Hills ($1874$) and Northern Pacific Railroad expansion. The government issued an ultimatum for tribes to return to reservations by January $1$, $1876$.
• Battle of the Little Bighorn:
  • Scoping: At least $7,000\text{–}12,000$ Sioux and Cheyenne (including $3,000$ warriors) were camped on the Little Bighorn River (Greasy Grass).
  • Custer's Failure: Custer divided his force of $600$ troopers into three detachments under himself, Captain Frederick W. Benteen, and Major Marcus A. Reno. He ignored intelligence regarding the village size.
  • Outcome: Reno's charge was halted; Custer and his $230$ troopers were surrounded by forces led by Chief Gall and Crazy Horse, perishing in less than an hour.
  • Impact: The defeat shocked the nation during its centennial celebration and led to a massive military response subduing the Northern Plains by $1881$.
• The Nez Perce War (1877): Chief Joseph led the Army on a $1,700$-mile chase from Oregon toward Canada. Modern technology (Gatling guns and artillery) tipped the balance. Joseph surrendered just $40$ miles from the border, famously vowing to "fight no more, forever."
• Wounded Knee (1890): The Ghost Dance movement, led by the shaman Wovoka, predicted the return of the buffalo and destruction of the white man. During an attempt to disarm Chief Big Foot's band, a shot rang out. Hotchkiss cannons killed over $150$ Indian men, women, and children. Over $50$ troops died, many from friendly fire.

Domestic Strike Duty and the National Guard

• Labor Unrest: Industrialization led to violent strikes (e.g., the Pullman Strike of $1894$). President Cleveland used troops under Nelson Miles in Chicago.
• National Guard Movement: Founded in $1879$, the National Guard Association lobbied for federal funding. The Guard presented itself as a ready militia for domestic crises the regular Army could not legally address.
• Militia Act of 1903: Established the National Guard system under the War Department. It created guidelines for training and mobilization, aligning state units with regular Army standards.

Professionalization and Reforms

• General Service Act of 1903: Under Secretary of War Elihu Root, the General of the Army position was replaced by a Chief of Staff. This created a general staff model based on the German system, emphasizing merit over seniority.
• The Army War College (1903): Established to educate senior officers on staff structure.
• Emory Upton: An $1856$ West Point graduate who advocated for a professional, "expansible" army. He argued against the militia tradition, favoring federal control and independence from political meddling.
• Technology Lags: The Army was slow to modernize.
  • Rifles: The Krag-Jörgensen ($1892$) was replaced by the Springfield ($1903$).
  • Sidearms: Colt $.45$ caliber pistol ($1911$).
  • Aviation: The Army bought a few Wright Flyers in $1909$ but lagged in artillery and motorized vehicles.

Naval Modernization and Sea Power

• Stephen B. Luce: Established the U.S. Naval Institute ($1873$) and the Naval War College ($1885$).
• Alfred Thayer Mahan: Published The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1782 in $1890$.
  • Core Thesis: Great maritime empires are built on supreme naval power and the marriage of trade with a modern battleship fleet.
  • Recommendations: Annex Hawaii, build a Central American canal, and focus on "decisive battles" between capital ships rather than commerce raiding.
• Naval Growth: Congress authorized the "ABCD" steel ships (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dolphin) in $1883$. By the early $1900s$, the fleet included the Maine, Texas, Oregon, and Indiana.

The Spanish-American War (1898)

• Causes: Rebellion in Cuba ($1895$); Spanish Captain-General Valeriano Weyler's concentration camps; "Yellow Journalism."
• Sinking of the Maine: February $15$, $1898$, the cruiser Maine exploded in Havana harbor, killing over $250$ sailors. Although likely an internal explosion, it triggered war.
• Mobilization: The Army expanded from $27,000$ to $59,000$ regulars plus over $200,000$ volunteers. Logistical chaos ensued in Tampa, Florida.
• Battle of Manila Bay: Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in hours on May $1$, $1898$, losing only one man (to heat exhaustion).
• Santiago Campaign: Major General William R. Shafter led V Corps ($17,000$ men). Battles at El Caney and San Juan Heights showcased the Rough Riders (Theodore Roosevelt) and all-black regiments (Buffalo Soldiers). Spanish Admiral Cevera's fleet was destroyed attempting to escape Santiago Bay.
• Treaty of Paris (Dec 1898): Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (for $20\text{ million dollars}$). Cuba gained independence (subject to the Teller Amendment).

Insurrections and Global Role

• Philippine Insurrection (1899–1902): Emilio Aguinaldo led a guerrilla war after the U.S. denied Filipino independence. Over $125,000$ American troops were involved; $4,500$ died. Filipino deaths ranged from $200,000$ to $600,000$.
• Boxer Rebellion (1900): An international expedition of $19,000$ (including U.S. troops) relieved the besieged Diplomatic Quarter in Peking. This marked the first time since the Revolution the U.S. militarily allied with foreign forces.
• The Great White Fleet: In $1907$, Roosevelt sent a modern battleship fleet on a world tour to symbolize American industrial and military power.