US Army: Indian Wars, 1867-91, Orbat

US Army: Indian Wars, 1867-91, Orbat
v.1.1 August 14, 2002

Ravi Rikhye

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Thanks to Hollywood, the Indian Wars are, at least for non-Americans, the most intensely romanticized conflicts of the US Army. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s Hollywood brought the cavalry and Indians to every part of the world. No matter what their political affiliation, the audiences cheered the cavalry. Americans and non-Americans alike now have an altered perspective on the relationship between the settlers and the Indians. None of this however, diminishes the military achievements of that era. The sanctioned strength of the US Army in this period was about 26,000, but sickness and desertions rendered the effective total less. This tiny force was responsible for an area of perhaps 1.5 million square miles or more. The regiments listed below had strengths of about 400-500 each; of course, the number of fighting soldiers was akin to the number of soldiers in the rifle companies of today’s western infantry battalions.

Named Campaigns, Indian Wars 1867-1891

Comanches, 1867-75
Modocs, 1871-73
Apaches, 1873, 1885-86
Little Big Horn, 1876-77
Nez Perces, 1877
Bannocks, 1878
Cheyennes, 1878-79
Utes, 1879-80
Pine Ridge, 1889-91

Regiments

[Complete list, circa 1880s.]

Cavalry	Infantry	Artillery
1^st Cavalry	1^st Infantry	1^st Artillery
2^nd Cavalry	2^nd Infantry	2^nd Artillery
3^rd Cavalry	3^rd Infantry	3^rd Artillery
4^th Cavalry	4^th Infantry	4^th Artillery
5^th Cavalry	5^th Infantry	5^th Artillery
6^th Cavalry	6^th Infantry
7^th Cavalry	7^th Infantry
8^th Cavalry	8^th Infantry
9^th Cavalry	9^th Infantry
10^th Cavalry	12^th Infantry
	14^th Infantry
	16^th Infantry
	17^th Infantry
	20^th Infantry
	21^st Infantry
	22^nd Infantry
	23^rd Infantry
	24^th Infantry
	25^th Infantry

Notes

The famous Buffalo Soldiers, American blacks in the US Army, served in the 9^th and 10^th Cavalry, and the 24^th and 25^th Infantry Regiments. Thanks to historical revisionism, we now know that not only did black soldiers make a big contribution to the winning of the West, blacks and Mexicans made up a substantial percentage of that other romantic feature of the Wild West, the cowboys.
Just in case any of the younger generation need reminding: it was the US 7^th Cavalry that Custer commanded at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The regiment had 600 men in 12 companies when it attacked on June 25^th, 1876 (the term “troop” came into use later). Two hundred and ten men in the five companies Custer personally led were killed, as were 53 killed (and 60 wounded) from the other seven companies. The Indians numbered several thousand Cheyenne and Lakota, perhaps less than 100 were killed. Custer is often mentioned as General Custer: he had earned the rank of a brevet brigadier-general in the Civil War, but was in fact a Lt.-Colonel at this time. A good summary of the battle: http://www.ibiscom.com/custer.htm