indian wars

1610 - 29 DECEMBER 1890

9,939 ENGAGED

247 DEATH IN SERVICE

The term "Indian Wars" is the name given to a whole series of armed conflicts between Indigenous Indians and European settlers during the period of exploration and colonization, and the 65 armed conflicts between these Indian peoples. North America to Americans, 1778 to 1890. However, this phrase is misleading in the sense that it may suggest that Native Americans formed a united fighting bloc against the United States. In reality they constituted a diverse group of tribes and clans, often with different interests. It was partly this lack of unity that led to their final defeat.

The expansionist will of the settlers attracted by virgin lands reinforced the animosity between the two peoples, thus multiplying the number of overflows. These wars were episodic and localized. Although the United States Congress never officially declared any war, from 1778, the army was constantly in conflict with these Amerindians. A summary of the battles could give us a list like the one presented below.

Indian warriors began wearing military uniforms early in American colonization when European powers regularly fought for control of the continent. Native friendship and military strength were very important in these conflicts, so the Europeans strove for Native American loyalty and military support.

The conflicts already existed between the Amerindian nations before the arrival of the Europeans. The European armies have taken advantage of these existing alliances and divergences to master the territory. In reality, militarily speaking, Amerindian soldiers are an important part of the construction of modern North America.

Below is the number of soldiers identified for a battle of the Indian Wars in particular, we invite visitors to visit the corresponding pages for more details.

The Seminoles are Creeks Indians settled in Florida in the 1700s, encouraged to establish themselves as farmers by the Spaniards, who hoped to stop the progression of the British to the South.

The Sioux War: Sioux discontent turned to revolt. The uprising of Native Americans soon spread throughout Minnesota and neighboring Dakota. If some white pioneers were killed, soon the US military will send important reinforcements to bloodthirsty Amerindian revolt. The United States Government does not deliver as promised the goods due for the purchase of land from Sioux Santees (or Dakotas) and Sioux Sisseton-Wahpeton tribes. Bursting during the Civil War, this massacre by the Sioux benefits from the lack of available enemy troops.

This war will make more than a thousand dead including more than 800 Sioux and more than 350 American settlers. Nearly two thousand Amerindians were captured. They were finally tried in mass trials by military courts. 303 were convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death. Of these convicts, 38 men were hanged in Mankato on Boxing Day in the largest mass execution in US history. Abraham Lincoln commuted the other prisoners to prison. About 1,500 Sioux are held at Fort Snelling until the spring of 1863; 130 die during their detention. The Shakopee and Medecine Bottle leaders, refugees in Canada, were kidnapped and hanged in 1863. Little Crow was also killed by a settler the same year.

It is caused by several factors: the territorial pressure of the settlers, protected by the construction of forts by the army, the Indian customs of permanent guerrilla warfare; the destruction of buffalo herds by white hunters. It takes place in the South of the Great Plains.

The pressure of the settlers led to a first treaty delimiting the territory Nez-Percés in 1855. Treaty whose US government requests the revision in 1863, decreasing the surface of the reserve by 90%. Some chiefs, including Lawyer ( Lawyer ) sign this treaty, and go to an Idaho reserve. Five tribes refuse to be locked in a reserve, including that of Old Chief Joseph. His son, Young Chief Joseph, continues to refuse this treaty, and to maintain good relations with the Wallowa authorities. They decided in 1873 that the land occupied by the settlers had been illegally acquired, and asked them to evacuate them.

In 1876, the battle of Little Big Horn increased the pressure of the army for the Indians to be confined to their reserves. But the Nez-Percés, finding no suitable ground in the reserve in Idaho, refuse, until the ultimatum of General Oliver Howard, May 3, 1877. The remaining Nez-Percés are divided into three groups: some join the reserve, others go to the bison plains, the last group tries to escape to Canada.

After the Treaty of Fort Wise, challenged by the Cheyenne for corruption, in the Gold Rush of Pikes Peak, Colorado, the Cheyenne were victims in 1864 of the Sand Creek massacre during which the Colorado militia killed 150 Cheyennes, including at least 50 civilians. Early in the morning of November 27, 1868 the Battle of Washita River began when US Army Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th Cavalry in the attack of a gang of Cheyenne-led raids. the Black Kettle chef. 148 Cheyennes were killed, including about 20 women and children. The Northern Cheyenne and some Southern Cheyenne participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn (June 25, 1876). With the Lakota and a small band of Arapahos, they annihilated George Armstrong Custer and his contingent near the Little Bighorn River. The population of the Cheyenne, Lakotas and Arapahos camp near the battle site is estimated at about 6,000 (including 1,500 warriors); which would make it the largest Amerindian gathering in North America before the generalization of the reserves.

After the Battle of Little Bighorn, attempts by the US Army to capture the Cheyenne intensified. A group of 972 Cheyenne were deported to the Indian Territories of Oklahoma in 1877. There, the living conditions were terrible, the Cheyenne of the North were not accustomed to the climate, and soon many were suffering from malaria. In 1878, the two main leaders, Little Wolf and Morning Star (Dull Knife), called for the release of the Cheyenne so that they could return to the north. In the same year, a group of about 350 Cheyenne left the Indian Territories north, led by these two chiefs. Army soldiers and civilian volunteers, estimated at a total of 13,000, were quickly pursuing them. The band split quickly into two groups. The group led by Little Wolf returned to Montana. The Morning Star band was captured and escorted to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, where they were sequestered. They were ordered to return to Oklahoma, which they quickly and firmly refused. The conditions became more and more difficult at the end of 1878, and soon the Cheyenne were confined to their quarters, without food, water or heating.

In January 1879, Morning Star and his companions escaped from Fort Robinson. Most were shot while fleeing the fort. An estimated 50 survivors, who joined the other northern Cheyenne in Montana. Thanks to their determination and sacrifice, the Northern Cheyenne have earned the right to stay in the North near the Black Hills. In 1884, by order of the executive, a reserve for the Northern Cheyenne was established in southeastern Montana. This reserve was extended in 1890 to extend from the Crow Reserve in the west to the Tongue River in the east.