Black Kettle Research Articles

The Battle of the Washita: The Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867-69 , and: The Buffalo War: The History of the Red River Indian Uprising of 1874 , and: Death Song: The Last of the Indian Wars (review)

90CIVIL WAR HISTORY ners, customs, modes of travel, religion, moments of happiness and of sadness, politics—the sum of life as he experienced it. The result, if not startling, is a valuable account of life in the South, especially in North Alabama. The extremely thorough work of Editor Axford is highly useful and informative. William Warren Rogers Florida State University The Battle of the Washita: The Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867-69. By Stan Hoig. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday fit Company, 1976. Pp. xvii, 268. $8.95.) The Buffalo War: The History of the Red River Indian Uprising of 1874. By James L. Haley. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday fit Company, 1976. Pp. xxi, 290. $7.95.) Death Song: The Last of the Indian Wars. By John Edward Weems. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday fit Company, 1976. Pp. xx, 311. $10.95.) These volumes cater to the public's insatiable fascination with the Great Plains Indian wars during the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Triggered by the headlong expansion of aggressive white trespassers—buffalo hunters, miners, ranchers, farmers, townbuilders —into the trans-Mississippi West, military engagements between blue-coated cavalrymen and painted warriors defending their homelands were a mixture of savagery, heroics, treachery and confusion on both sides. Hollywood notwithstanding, "To be caught up in an attack by Indians was not romantic," writes James L. Haley; "it was a cold, mean, bloody, cruel and terrifying experience. But above all it was a revolting, ugly thing." Yet the allure of these events and such colorful personalities as George Armstrong Custer persists even for historians. The three volumes under review broaden our understanding of this frontier clash of arms, yet one laments the relative lack of scholarly interest in the fate of the Plains tribes once they ceased to be a military problem and were shunted off to isolated reservations. No doubt a major cause of contemporary public apathy toward the American Indian is the historian's failure to explore the long-range consequences of the Plains Indian wars— the linkages of the Little Big Horn, for example, to Wounded Knee I and Wounded Knee II. One of the post-Civil War era's most decisive campaigns was the Sheridan-Custer invasion of the Indian country south of Kansas during the winter of 1868-69, culminating in the battle of the Washita—the subject of an in-depth study by historian Stan Hoig. Introductory chapters trace the events which led to this contro- BOOK REVIEWS91 versial engagement: the abortive 1867 campaign of General Winfield S. Hancock, the failure of the Medicine Lodge Creek Treaties to confine Plains nomads to their assigned reservations, and the bloody but indecisive skirmishes north of the Arkansas. Angry and frustrated, Major General Philip H. Sheridan bargained that a three-pronged winter drive south of the river would catch the elusive Cheyenne and Arapaho hostiles in their home camp. For his field commander, Sheridan selected Lieutenant Colonel Custer, who trained his men intensively for their bold offensive. Custer's orders were to proceed south from Camp Supply (on Wolf Creek of the North Canadian) "in the direction of the Antelope Hills, thence towards the Washita River, the supposed winter seat of the hostile tribes; to destroy their village and ponies; to kill or hang all warriors, and bring back all women and children." He did just that. After a four-day march through heavy snow his command attacked at dawn on November 27, 1868, the Cheyenne village of peace chief Black Kettle, nestled in the Washita River Valley. The surprise was complete, just like the one sprung four years earlier —almost to the day—on Black Kettle's Sand Creek encampment. The toll at the Washita was likewise grim: 103 Indians killed, including principal chief Black Kettle; 53 women and children taken prisoner; the contents of the Indians' teepees, including all winter provisions, burned; and over 800 ponies shot. In the author's judgment, the Sheridan-Custer campaign "destroyed, both in concept and in reality, the Indian Territory as the red man's last refuge from the onslaught of white civilization. The campaign was the vanguard invasion by the white man of lands that would...

Partners in Rebellion: Alabama Women in the Civil War (review)

BOOK REVIEWS271 nessee; at Treadwell's near Clinton and Vernon Cross Roads, Miss.; and at Pungo Landing, N.C. Shelby's cavalry in Missouri fought at Johnstown, Deer Creek, and near and at Humansville. A few reviews have suggested that it is engrossing to read Long's book straight through, but given passages like the last, the attempt is not recommended here. Apart from these limitations implicit in the method or otherwise selfimposed , it must be said that Long has done his job well. Bruce Catton , whose researcher he was for The Centennial History of the Civil War, writes in the foreword that "It is no exaggeration whatever to say that this man knows more facts about the Civil War than any other man who ever lived." Catton may be right; in this vast collection of facts, scarcely a mistake has slipped through—though Long kills off poor old Black Kettle of the Cheyennes in the Sand Creek massacre of November 29, 1864, which might of course have been more merciful than his actual death four years later in the Washita fight. The book is partly a byproduct of Long's work on Carton's Centennial History, and it includes a full bibliography of materials used in preparing that history but not completely listed therein. The most valuable feature may well be the section of "Special Studies," containing statistics of population, size of armies, casualties, disease, desertion, prisoners, the navies and the blockade, and also of the economic matters neglected in the almanac section. There is a large and good index which also helps compensate for the shortcomings of the almanac method. Perhaps though associated with the Centennial History, The Civil War Day by Day is really aimed at the war's bicentennial. When the years 2061-2065 roll around, this book will offer the Civil War buff a privilege not available to his counterpart of 1961-1965, a handy guide to knowing just what happened every day during the war years as the anniversary observances proceed. Perhaps this is the need the book fulfills. Russell F. Weigley Temple University Partners in Rebellion: Alabama Women in the Civil War. By H. E. Sterkx. (Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970. Pp. 238. $10.00. ) In this age of women's liberation, publishers seem anxious to load our bookshop shelves and library stacks with volumes devoted to feminine accomplishments. It must be admitted that women's place in the affairs of nations has received inadequate attention until recent years. For example, one finds reams of material devoted to the men of the Civil W7ar. But what about the women they left behind? Certainly their role was not a completely passive one. Yet relatively little substantial attention has been devoted to their contributions in this momentous 272civil war history struggle. There are a few accounts, e.g. those by Francis B. Simkins, James M. Patten, and Mary Elizabeth Massey. But recently, H. E. Sterkx, professor of history at Auburn University, has published Partners in Rebellion: Alabama Women in the Civil War. Mr. Sterkx, in an endeavor to recreate the role of over a hundred thousand female Confederate sympathizers by supplying the organization of and transitions between their quoted words, has not attempted "to resurrect the past for its own sweet, sentimental sake." Indeed, as he so wisely points out, war is not sweet or sentimental; it is an ugly, traumatic experience for all concerned, the victors and the losers. From his research and reporting, Sterkx believes the common denominator among the southern women was their belief that all great enterprises were easy, requiring little planning or preparation. Needed for victory were enthusiasm and self-sacrifice, faith in the cause and in its ultimate success. Though such a belief failed to result in victory, Sterkx strives to prove that conditions for the Confederacy would have been far worse without the help of these women on the home front. Sterkx's work is well written and adequately documented, though footnotes at the bottom of each page rather than at the end of the book would be more desirable. Nevertheless, this small volume at its inflationary price should have a rather limited appeal. Alabama Women in...

Remember tHe black kettle and soap making time

Remember tHe black kettle and soap making time

Remember the black kettle and soap making time

Remember the black kettle and soap making time

Mathesis

The scene is an underground studio or workshop. Incense is burning in a large black kettle hanging from a black tripod at front of stage. A red electric bulb under the kettle is surrounded by sticks of kindling wood. Two large portable blackboards are placed one at each side of front stage. Small table with white paper spread ornamented with black paper figures (circle, trapezoid, triangle, etc.) is concealed behind left blackboard. On the table are the following articles: cardboard cylinder, three ice cream cones filled with sand and having same base and height as cylinder. Two eighteen-inch boxes at right front stage covered with white paper and ornamented with black circles to imitate dice.