In this episode, we take a closer look at the life of officers and enlisted men on the frontier. We explore the motivations for joining and the challenges of serving. The post Civil War Army served in over 200 posts spread through the west. They had to endure tedium, hardships, and occassionally the terror of serving in a battle. This episode will provide a broad overview of life on the frontier. Have a question, comment, concern, or compliment? Contact us at [email protected]....

As we draw down the arc of episodes related to post-Civil War Indian Wars, in this episode we will concentrate on subduing Geronimo. Geronimo bedeviled the US Army as he left the reservation three separate times. For the last two campaigns, General George Crook successfully cornered the proud warrior and compelled him to return to the reservation. Unfortunately, Crook was not happy the second time Geronimo went on the campaign trail and he was sent into exile in Florida. The native peoples...

In the episode we move from the Lakota and Sioux to the border region. Long before the United States controlled what we know today as the Southwest, Spanish and then Mexican authorities had to contend with Navajo and Apache raids. Once the Americans established themselves, the pressures of colonization would trigger Army intervention, and basically very little in the way of accommodation, triggering further raids and army reprisals. The episode will focus first on the Navajo and their...

I wanted to ask you all a question and wish you a happy and safe holiday season. If you would like to respond to the query, you can either respond through the podcast's facebook page or drop me a line through the podcasts email at [email protected]. Thank you for listening to this podcast for all of these years. I really appreciate the support. Please be safe and enjoy the time with your families!

The death of George Armstrong Custer and the destruction of the Seventh Cavalry is a touchstone for the Indian Wars. It is the one event that in many people's mind, is the touchstone for the post-Civil War conflicts with Native Armericans. We will focus on that in this episode of the podcast. The campaign to hem in the Sioux to their reservations was to be facilitated by a multi-prong advance. Rather than seeing success, the Army was blunted on the Little Big Horn and the Rosebud. The defeat...

We are moving to the center of the country with this episode. Before the beginning of the Civil War through the decade of the 1870s, the Army was busy in the center of the country. This episode will serve as bridge between the end of the Civil War and the Sioux and Lakota Wars of the 1870s. As settlement stretched west, there were clashes between native peoples and the Army. In a familiar story, dissatisfaction with treaties and the ongoing conquest of native lands, forced the hand of many...

This is our last episode concerning the Nez Perce War of 1877. In the aftermath of Big Hole, the Nez Perce continued east, traveling through the newly established Yellowstone National Park. As it became clear that they were not welcome in Crow Country, the Nez Perce decided to head north to Canada and sanctuary. After exiting Yellowstone, the Nez Perce swung north, clashing with the Army at Canyon Creek. After crossing the Missouri River, they found a site known as Snake Creek or Bear Paw to...

We continue our narrative on the Nez Perce War, concentrating on what happened at Big Hole Montana. After successfully eluding the army in Montana, they camped in the Big Hole valley, thinking they were safe. They were not. Colonel John Gibbon was in pursuit. In what could best described as a massacre in the making, Gibbon attacked the Nez Perce encampment early in the morning of August 9, 1877. As Gibbon's men fired into the tipis, killing women and children, the Nez Perce rallied, pushing...

We continue the Nez Perce War with this episode. After the various missteps and mistakes by General Howard, the Army struck the Nez Perce again at the Battle of the Clearwater. While it could be seen as a victory, the Nez Perce escaped, leaving their household goods behind. A council among the Nez Perce leaders resulted in a reluctant decision to head east, over the Lolo Trail, to their friends in western Montana. Hoping that they would escape the war, they went east. Howard, belatedly,...

We are continuing our story of the Nez Perce War of 1877. In this episode, we will concentrate on the start of hostilities. With emotions running high, Joseph and his band left the Wallowa's of northeast Oregon for the now reduced Nez Perce reservation. When they gathered at a place called Tolo Lake, emotions got the better of three young men who murdered some ranchers along the Salmon River. The army responded and the first battle of the war, at Whitebird, began in June of 1877. General...

With this episode, we continue the story of the Nez Perce War of 1877. With the onset of the colonization of the Pacific Northwest, tensions gradually rose between the Tribes of the Northwest and these newcomers. Once the border between British Canada and the United States was agreed to, the U.S. quickly organized the Pacific Northwest. Isaac Stevens was appointed territorial governor and Indian agent. He met with the Nez Perce in the summer of 1853 to negotiate a Treaty. When anti-treaty...

As we move to the Pacific Northwest from California, it is time to consider the Nez Perce War of 1877. The conflict captured the public's imagination, much like the Modoc War, of a Tribe wanting to establish a home, but not allowed. To understand the full measure of the Nez Perce War, this episode and the next will focus on the roots of the Nez Perce culture and homeland as well as the challenges to their sovereignty. Fur traders gave them manufactured goods. Missionaries brought Christianity...

Once a year I post a short episode on the state of the podcast. It is an overview of where we are and where we are going. No someone who enjoys history? Tell them about this podcast! We could use some more listeners.  Have a question, comment, concern, or compliment? Contact us at [email protected]. You can also leave comments and your questions on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/americaatwarpodcast/. Thanks for listening!

In this episode we will be concluding our series on the Modoc War of 1872-73. With the Modoc on the run, they retreated to a stronghold on the toe of a lava field, providing a bastion to protect their families from the U.S. Army. It took time to gather soldiers and supplies and did not attack until January 1873. It failed. In an attempt to break the impasse, negotiations led by General Canby were met with violence, coming to a sudden conclusion with the assassination of the general. A second...

This is part two of a three episode arc on the Modoc War of 1872-73. With an increasing number of Euro-Americans settlers coming into the Klamath Basin astride the Oregon/California border after the end of the Civil War, tensions rose. Modoc's feared a loss of access to their homeland and it became an issue with both parties. It put increasing pressure on the Lost River band of the Modoc Tribe to remove themselves to the Klamath Reservation. Governed by two different agreements, one approved...

We are moving into our season on the wars of the western frontier. We are starting on the Pacific coast with the Modoc War of 1872-73, California's only large post Civil War conflict with a native people. This episode sets up the events of the war. The Modoc homeland, in the far reaches of Northern California in the Klamath Basin, was under pressure with waves of immigration that occured in the aftermath of the Civil War. Tensions between settlers and Modoc gradually rose through the 1850s...

We are now moving beyond the Civil War and examining the armies role in the western United States. In the decades after the Civil War came to an end, the regular army was sent west. After 1865, with the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the Homestead Act, settlement of the west accelerated. Unfortunately, as the western states began to wholesale colonization, it brought them into conflict with the native peoples who lived in the areas west of the Mississippi River. As this...

Once Atlanta was secured, Sherman considered next steps. Sherman mulled over an idea - marching through Georgia. After deliberations with the Lincoln Administration and General Grant, Sherman convinced them to back his plan. He wanted retribution and to demonstrate what the Union could do. In a severe blow to Confederate morale, Sherman wrecked the economy of Georgia. Rather than contesting Sherman, Confederate General Hood marched north to Tennessee to distract Grant and the Union high...

In this episode we journey east. In the aftermath of the disaster at Cold Harbor, Grant turned his eyes toward Petersburg, the critical supply hub for the rebel capital at Richmond. While giving Lee the slip, Grant's tired troops bungled the capture of Petersburg. A siege ensued. In the meantime, in an effort to siphon troops from the siege line, Jubal Early launched a raid on Washington, DC. While it temporarily succeded in drawing forces off the siege lines, it caught the attention of...

In our last episode we covered Sherman's march to Atlanta. In this episode we cover the siege and fall of Atlanta. Dissatisfied with General Johnston's penchant for retreat, Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced him with John B. Hood. Hood was the polar opposite of Johnston - aggressive to the point of recklessness. Upon taking command, Hood tangled with Sherman in attempt to stop his advance on Atlanta. Given Hood's desire to attack, he may have slowed Sherman down, but could not...

As we mentioned in our last episode, we are ready to start 1864, the last full year of the Civil War. We will focus on Ulysses S. Grant's assumption of command of all armies that the Union could field. After years of searching, President Lincoln finally found a general he could work with. Grant, unlike his presecessors, was not only ready to commit the Army of the Potomac to battle, but pursue Lee until the rebel army was broken. Grant was also ready to apply force at every point of the map...

As Meade battled Lee at Gettysburg, Grant captured Vicksburg, and William Rosecrans was wrestling with Braxton Bragg in Tennessee. For the better part of the 1863 campaign season, Rosecrans was far too slow in making his moves. While Rosecrans was able to maneuver Bragg out of Chattanooga, Rosecrans split up his army, providing an opportunity for Bragg to attack. Bragg put Rosecrans in his place at Chickamauga, narrowly missing an opportunity to destroy Rosecrans' army. Have a question,...