The Powder River Fight 1- Yellow Ribbon

 

The Northern Cheyenne had found a good spot to hole up for the winter. They had put in good stores of food and piled firewood high.  Camped along the riverbank water was close at hand.  The severe weather added to their sense of security.  No one wanted to be out in that. 

All the same they knew General Crook was prowling and meant them no good.  Most thought the Army wouldn’t cope with the cold.  The leaders were cautious men. They sent out wolves (Scouts) to  give early warning of any Army approach.

The wolves were diligent and roamed far and wide.  No soldiers were spotted. They kept to their mission.  This alone tells us the Indians were taking the danger seriously.  Quite often Indians might get bored and go home.

In fact Crook was out there. The wolves hadn’t spotted him.  The West is and was a vastness.  

Crook’s column was well equipped and dressed for the weather. He had personally made sure his troops would be adequately fed and warm.  There was ammunition galore. 

Most of the soldiers were European immigrants. One third were Irish, Germans provided the second largest contingent. At one time or another most of Europe was represented in the ranks.   The officers were all Civil War veterans, mostly American born. All had held higher brevet rank.  Competition for a commission in the post ACW Army was fierce. All told there were just shy of 700 soldiers. Scouts, Packers and other civilians added another 60 so souls.

In an early set back some Sioux had run off the column’s cattle herd. It had constituted 2/3rds of the meat supply. If you wondered, 60 to 70 head. A drover was shot in the raid, fatally in the longer run. He took his place in one of the ambulances.

What followed was the first oddity of the venture. The next morning Captain Moore took a detachment out to recover the cattle.  Sensible. You didn't go chasing Indians at night. 

Moore advanced at a dawdle. A few miles out he announced that the cows of their own volition had simply gone home to the nearest fort. He ordered a return to the column.

Crook seemingly accepted this without demur. Raising the question who did they think had shot the drover and stolen his horse?

There was a night raid too, one lad was shot in the jaw. That sounds awful but in fact he was back in the ranks in a couple of days.

The column was being watched. Perhaps by Sioux.  In the hope of confusing the Indians Crook openly sent the infantry and the wagons back.  Everyone else had to travel light with only mules by way of supply.

Jumpy pickets produced a few false alarms. 

That apart the the soldiers contended only with the bitter cold and the monotony of the half rations diet. Coffee, Bacon and Army Bread.

All thought they were about to attack Crazy Horse’s village. He wasn’t there, although a pal of his was.  It didn’t matter.  Everyone had heard of Crazy Horse. it played better with the politicians and the public to attack his village rather than that of some unknown chief. 

Journo' Stanhorn of the Rocky Mountain News accompanied the Column. Echoing the troopers he called it the Crazy Horse Expedition of 1876.

With the rations nearly gone and the weather continuing diabolical no Indian village had been located. The men (and the officers!) had been eating the horses grain.  The situation was desperate.

Crook ordered the scouts out once more and a village was found. 

Crook had a plan and briefed his officers. Significantly he opted not to take operational command. He would remain in reserve with the supplies and an escort. Colonel Reynolds would command the attack.

 Although no one said it, Crook would provide a rallying point if things went wrong. 

Let us note here that the well connected Colonel Reynolds had a mixed Civil War record.  He was also, due to a medical condition, in extreme pain throughout the expedition. Despite the cold and hunger he disguised this very well indeed. 

Briefly then, the Army would divide its forces.  One group would take the high ground setting up a field of fire that would both supress resistors and prevent the non combatants from fleeing. 

Captain Egan’s troop would charge right through the village pistoling anything that moved. 

Bide with me here. While Egan was a brave and capable leader of the first order that was not why he was chosen.  Nor was it that the much wounded Egan stripped must have resembled a patchwork quilt and yet came back for more. 

No, it was simply that only Egan's fellows all had pistols.  An interesting point to remember.  I had thought cavalry equipment to be standard. Egan, Irish and up from the ranks, must have ensured his fellows each had a pistol.  Others hadn't.

A third group would secure the pony herd.  All would then converge on the village.

At that point captives would be secured and supplies seized. Crook intended to run part two of his operation on Indian rations and warm buffalo robes.  It was an audacious and readily achievable plan.  No officer dissented or proposed modifications.

It went badly wrong.

In the Court Martials that followed much was made of the axiom that dividing ones forces was dangerous.  In fact everyone had to divide their forces if they hoped to fight Indians.  Of course it remained a dangerous thing to do.

We will see what happened in Part 2.

Head Quarters detachment 2-Yellow Ribbon

 

Above Head Quarters Detachment on the move.

Before we do anything else let’s take another look at tribal hair styles.  Today it is the Shoshone. Distinctive enough for recognition I'd say. Not easily confused with the Crow, Rees or Sioux we have seen so far. 

 

The Shoshone scouted for Crook and fought alongside the Crow at the Rosebud.  As you can see they wore their hair loose with the top hair combed (or greased) high.  I intend adding a small band of Shoshone to Crook’s Command.  Six or eight figures including a lad in feather War Bonnet as their Leader.

The General and pals have ridden ahead with the Indian Scouts, Crow in this case. Below, at the head of HQ Detachment.

Now, more US cavalry.  All from QRF mounted. Somewhat under strength at 12 rather than 16 figures. Here we have B Company 2nd US Cavalry.  They are attached to Head Quarters tasked with ensuring the protection of supplies and provisions and anything else the General might command. 

 

Horses and horse holders.

Deployed for skirmishing.

 

Here another skirmish line on foot, Peter Pig tepees in the background.. 

These are a mixture of Minifigs, Peter Pig and QRF.  Proof positive that they mix well.  Good news for those of us gaming the period.  I nearly wrote heading West but that has other connotations.

Here is my Gatling.  I doubt I will use it very often.  Now and then though, certainly.

 

It is from QRF and is a nice piece at a good price. Again, with a Minifigs Crew.

The Ambulance.  Another from QRF and I’m happy with it.  It will have an important role in some games.  Above, you see it with the Medical Staff.  Military Doctors and their assistants tended to be very good.  There was a lot of learning in the ACW. Civilian hires might be good, or not. I have yet to add the driver to the ambulance.

More mules and Packers.  Note the boy with the (L) on his base.  Yellow Ribbon requires the Packers to have a Leader.  This is he.

This is the complete Mule Train. Ten mules in all.

With that Head Quarters Detachment is done.  Next, The Kit Foxes Warrior Society.

Elk Scrapers -Yellow Ribbon

 

The Elk Scrapers are my second Plains Indian Warrior Society.  These ones are from Minifigs. Pleasingly, I got a big bag of them as an ebay bargain!  A major project saving.  They came on horse and on foot.  These are very nice figures and easy to paint.  Once again the band is 18 strong.  As required by Yellow Ribbon I have them on foot too.  You can see one has been designated as Leader.

The Warrior Societies competed for members and membership was taken seriously.  Apart from scouting missions (Wolves) members always fought together.  The tactical method was always the same. Locate and watch the foe, skirmish and then attack.  Warfare was fluid in nature.  There was one exception.  If a village was attacked all warriors would stand and fight until all women children and elderly had been evacuated to safety. 

Here is my rating for the Elk Scrapers Warrior Society.  Medicine is high. Perhaps they are the survivors of the Powder River attack. Almost all Cheyenne survived that but they were utterly impoverished by the burning of their village. According to Scout Frank Grouard it had been a rich village. "Those Indians were well to do" he said. Naturally, they were furious.  The Sioux re equipped them gratis.

 

Elk Scrapers	Cheyenne Band	Leader, Wooden Leg
Movement Foot	Indian
Movement Mounted	Crack
Exhaustion Foot	11
Exhaustion Mounted	12
Field Craft	Crack
Close Combat	Crack
Marksmanship	Good
Weapon	Well Armed
Medicine	18

Normally, women did not fight. Yet, sometimes we read accounts of young women joining the warriors.  Then, riding with the best of them, they killed.  In each case that I have read this behaviour was occasioned by the death or injury of a young male relative.

Famously, a young Cheyenne  woman fought at Little Big Horn.  Here is another example.  At the Rosebud  a Crow warrior attempted to count coup on a Sioux.  The Sioux shot him in the knee and de horsed him.  Counting coup was always dangerous.  The Crow had failed in the attempt and the Sioux came in for the kill. He was shot dead by a Crow woman who had joined the fight.  Her brother had previously been killed by Sioux.

There is more.  The fallen Sioux was scalped by the Crow woman. Subsequently, she distributed parts of the scalp to women of her village. Then, when the scalp dance was performed the women joined in each displaying their scrap of Sioux scalp.

The origin of Scalping is much disputed.  Scalp Dances are much easier for us to locate.  During a scalp dance every warrior displayed the scalps he had taken. He then sang and boasted of the how and when. His women folk then acted as a sort of Greek Chorus.  They echoed his words, shouting his exploits. This was a high point in Plains Warrior culture.

To be an Indian was to compete for in tribe status.  Status came from hunting and warrior skills.  The more meat and hides provided, Coup counted, scalps taken the higher the status accrued.

The pressure on young men to gain status was immense.  Older warriors already had it.  Paint patterns of coup counted and men killed, scalps adorning war shields and lances all fore fronted their achievements. Scalp dances provided an additional reminder of who was who.  Young men yearned to be counted in.

This brought tensions as America advanced.  Red Cloud could afford to sit on his reservation.  No one could challenge his warrior status.  He had killed the foe, won his wars, brought fame to his name.  A young man seeking similar status, by necessity, must go to war.  There was no other way.

The Sitting Bull solution was to avoid America all together.  That was no longer possible.  America did not stand still.

On a Reservation a young Indian normally could not go to war and thus could not accrue status.  Progression to full manhood was then denied him. This was destructive of Indian Society.  Generational conflict was uncontained.  It found various outlets-none of them good.  The Comanches who we have yet to consider suffered most.  We may look at that later.

Some responded to Army calls for hireling warriors.  Once engaged they could fulfil their cultural imperative to war.  They could then return home having achieved status.  Or, possibly.  That they had fought and killed their own kin was a serious breach of tribal mores. For Reservation Crow or Shoshone no such problem existed.  They went out against traditional enemies.

We have not entirely reached those fraught times. In front of us is Powder River, The Rosebud and Little Big Horn.  We also need to say more about the Army, the Kit Foxes and potential scenarios.

All Brave Dogs- Yellow Ribbon

 

By the time of the Rosebud the Plains People were frantic.  No matter what they did, and they did a lot, nothing improved. More land was gone, more people were lost.  They felt, rightly, that their backs were against the wall.  Everlasting treaties barely saw a decade out. If the Government found Indian decision making trying the Indians found the converse utterly baffling.

Black Kettle died at Washita as a direct result of his sustained attempts at diplomacy.  He was emulating Red Cloud.  He lacked the Red Cloud touch.  He also wanted for Red Cloud's massed warriors.  

Custer claimed he had killed 110 Cheyenne warriors at Washita.  In fact he got 11 warriors.  The rest were women and children.  The bulk of the Band's fighters were off on a hunt.

All the same Red Cloud's inspirational military and diplomatic win was not all it seemed. True, Forts were abandoned, True, the Bozeman Trail was closed to American settlers.  Yet, Washington had simply placed its strategic eggs in the railroad basket.  The aim had not changed.  This was a world beyond Indian experience.

Crook's winter attack on a Powder River Cheyenne village was the final straw.  At some point we will look at that action in detail.

The Cheyenne, en masse, joined the Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse lobby. Their policy was admirably direct- if they won't leave us alone we fight. 

Old enmities were perforce forgotten. The Black Foot reported for duty.  Like many another before them the tribes resolved to combine and teach the interlopers a lesson they wouldn't forget.

The concept was sound, the actuality fraught.  The best weapons came from the people they intended to fight.  Sometimes they were freely given, betimes traded and of course, captured the hard way.  

The fact remained the other side had a monopoly on the good stuff.  No doubt many Indians recognised the problem.  It didn't matter.  To fight and die was better than just dying. Also, it might possibly work and the tribes were better armed than they ever had been. Today we are rating the Sioux All Brave Dogs Warrior Band.

All Brave Dogs	Sioux Band	Leader, Little Wolf
Movement Foot	Indian
Movement Mounted	Crack
Exhaustion Foot	11
Exhaustion Mounted	12
Field Craft	Crack
Close Combat	Crack
Marksmanship	Good
Weapon	Well Armed
Medicine	14

 

Man for man the Indian was confident of his superiority in combat. It was not misplaced.  He was acclimatised to killing from an early age.  He killed to eat via hunting. He killed men for social prestige or simply to protect others and to survive himself.  He knew not just when and how to strike but also where to strike for the best result.

We can note he was not especially muscled.  Women did most of the physical work.  He was generally tall or at least of middle height. He was inured to bearing hardship.

His ultimate accolade came from striking an armed foe with an open hand or a stick.  Thus demonstrating combat primacy and no small degree of contempt.  It was an irresistible cultural priority.  Men died attempting it.

You might be interested to know it was colour coded. A green paint spot for touching a Crow, Red for a white man, Yellow for a Shoshone.  You could decorate your gear or pony accordingly.  Then everyone would know. 

Obviously living that way came at a price.  The tribes were never rich in man power.  Each man lost to battle was a local disaster. This shaped the Indian approach to war. The aim was to dish out the maximum punishment for the minimum attrition.

War Chiefs could not command, rather they advised.  Mostly they led by example. All the same every Indian was his own General.  His decisions were his alone and could not be criticised.

Indian camps were often surprised in dawn attacks. Leaders could ask for sentries but nothing could compel those sentries to stay at post or awake.

All of this made it difficult to mount a co-ordinated campaign.  The Rosebud was a trial run at it.  It stopped Crook dead.  Little Bighorn was an ad hoc response to an incursion by the 7th Cavalry.  Once again the Indians were surprised.

All this brings us to the appearance of the Plains Warrior.  Eclectic doesn't do it.  He dressed with great care.  He might wear anything that he considered suitable, highly decorated buckskins, parts of silk dresses, bits of Spanish armour, tail coats, stuffed birds. Buffalo caps with horns. Things he had seen in dreams especially. Feathers. The scalps of previous opponents. Magical charms. The list was endless.  

Added to this he painted himself and his pony with a stylised visual record of his martial accomplishments. More paint was added as suited. No two warriors looked the same.  In combat the effect was terrifying.  Then we have war cries and for the Sioux the screech of eagle whistles.

The Plains People wanted to live as Indians.  For the US Government that was an impossible demand.

We may dip further into the subject further as we see other Warrior Bands. For moment I'll just say Yellow Ribbon delivers on the Plains Indian Way of War.  No mean accomplishment.

The Crow-Yellow Ribbon

 

The Crow (Absaroka) were a clever, fierce and tenacious people caught between a rock and a hard place.  Like their neighbours they had originated from a far away place.  They had been pushed West by an expanding United States as had their neighbours.  The Crows and their neighbours didn't get on.  In fact their neighbours were in the process of pushing the Crow out.  Land had already been lost.

The Crow knew that America was coming for them.  They knew how that always ended up.  More immediately, the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho were already exerting relentless and bloody pressure.  Luckily, someone had a dream.  Dreams were major events for all Indians and the Crow were no exceptions.

The important thing about dreams was the correct interpretation of the message.  The message in this case was "Ally with the Americans and We might hang on to a bit of land and live to enjoy it."  It was the best choice from a menu of bad options.  The Crow, no slouches, actioned it.

Here are my Crow drawn from Minifigs, QRF and mainly Peter Pig.  Note that they have an awful lot of US Army gear.  This is not loot.  As allies the Crow received  arms, equipment and betimes wages.  When the Crow rode out they were well prepared.

In Yellow Ribbon they count as Well Armed.  They remained committed to the Indian Way of War and behave like any other Indian Band. 

Yellow Ribbon requires you to rate your Indian Bands.  The various skill levels do impact on the game.  Let us rate our Crow Band.  Do note the Medicine level.  In Yellow Ribbon you throw either 2 or 3 D6 to establish a band's Medicine.  You get 3 dice for a Band defending their territory.  Our Crow aren't doing that, they are making sure the Cavalry can get at the Sioux or Cheyenne.  Two dice then.

Crow	Indian Band	Leader, Old Crow
Movement Foot	Indian
Movement Mounted	Crack
Exhaustion Foot	12
Exhaustion Mounted	11
Field Craft	Crack
Close Combat	Crack
Marksmanship	Good
Weapons	Well Armed
Medicine	10

  

Mostly the Army used them as scouts, they could be trusted to run off pony herds too.  As for fighting they would if they wanted to.  They did at the Rosebud. Then they would fight very hard indeed.  That was the Indian way.  Otherwise, they might go home or just watch as they did at Little Big Horn.  The aim of the game for the Crow was survival.

I'd say Peter Pig have got the Crow style off best. Two front plaits in tubes or wrappings, forelock long and greased high and back.  Sometimes painted white, the rest of the hair worn long.  Of course an Indian might, and did, wear whatever took his fancy.  The tribal hair style tended to be maintained.

We have a description of the Crow from Lt. Edward Maguire of the 7th.

"A very handsome set of men....extremely good natured".  Maguire was of course seeing them on their best behaviour.  All the same he thought they looked "more aggressive than the Ree." and that their language resembled Spanish in its musicality. 

Lt. Bourke noted the Crow were lighter complected than the Sioux.  He put it down to mountain living.

My last Crow pic' with a couple more Peter Pig and a nice Minifig Crow Scout. I'll add that there is at least one figure in the Minifigs Plains Indians pack with the distinctive Crow hair do.  There could be more, mine being bought second hand, I cannot say.

Here's a thing.  You may have read that Custer shot himself at the Little Big Horn.  For certain you didn't want to be captured by Plains Indians if you were a grown white man.  Soldiers did sometimes suicide rather than face protracted agony.  Did Custer do so?  Maybe.  The story seemingly originates with two Crow warriors.

The Crow liked Custer.  Custer was doing just what the Crow wanted in the West.  Hammering the enemies of the Crow.  They had no reason to traduce him.  Then again all Indians found White behaviour puzzling.  Who knew what they would do next?  They were probably just saying what the Crow believed.

Benteen, who didn't like Custer, said the story was wrong. Then again Benteen was a career soldier and even he had to toe the line sometimes.  Custer, post mortem, was by then doing useful service as a culture hero.

In short we don't know.

A word about what is coming up in this series.  I had intended to do a single post showing my 3, maybe 4 Indian Bands.  Mounted and dismounted of course. Instead there will be a post on each Band.  

The reason being I'm reading Paul L Hedren's two books Powder River and Rosebud.  I'm reasonably well read on the Plains Wars yet Hendren is greatly improving my knowledge and understanding of the subject.  I want to share some of that with you.

First up the All Brave Dogs Warrior Society. Then the HQ Company of the 7th. After that the Kit Foxes Warrior Society.  Then another US Cavalry Company.  There is my Indian Village too and another Warrior Society as well.

I also want to try my hand at some scenarios for Yellow Ribbon and to show a couple of games.