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.

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.

K Company for Yellow Ribbon

 

Here is Lieutenant Edward Godfrey and K  Company 7th Cavalry.  They are intended for Yellow Ribbon.  

Above, you see them mounted.  Below they are dismounted.

 

Set tactics required a skirmish line spaced about 5 yards apart to minimise incoming damage.  The troopers would then volley or fire at will.  Mostly it worked.  

Mounted charges were mainly reserved for when the Indians were caught napping.  Fighting with mounted troopers against Indians who were ready rarely paid dividends.

Dismounted troops need horse holders.

Otherwise the Indians will run off with the horses.  Even with horse holders they might do so.  Your first decision personating Godfrey is who your horse holders should be. Use picked men with proven skills and you weaken the skirmish line.  Use ordinary troopers and the Indians might best them and take your horses.  Yellow Ribbon demands lots of decisions.  Constantly.

What can we say about K Company?  Yellow Ribbon requires you to rate your cavalry units.  The various skill levels do impact on the game.  Let us rate K Company.

K Company	US 7th Cavalry	Lieutenant Edward Godfrey
Movement Foot	Dismounted Cavalry
Movement Mounted	Average
Exhaustion Foot	10
Exhaustion Mounted	9
Field Craft	Average
Close Combat	Average
Marksmanship	Average
Weapon	.45, Sharps Carbine
Ammunition	() () () () () () () () () () () ()
Morale	14

 

 Not a bad outfit.  Average was pretty good for the cavalry in those days.  Godfrey is assisted by three non commissioned officers, First Sergeant, Sergeant, and Corporal.  Godfrey was a little deaf.  There must have been a more than average amount of shouting in K Company.

There are also two troopers who count as picked men.  These might be the Bugler and the Guidon-but need not be.

The rest are ordinary troopers.  As was usual in the US Cavalry of the day there were many Germans and Irish and some other newly arrived fellows.  The temptation to do the "Grand Bounce" was high.  Custer exerted an influence on that.  Once he took over desertion sky rocketed.

We have glimpses of Godfrey the man in the accounts that survive. Amidst the massacre at Washita he lamented the fact that he was ordered to destroy a particularly fine example of a decorated buckskin Cheyenne Wedding Dress.  Betimes he mentioned it for the rest of his days. This was noted and so I relay it to you.  It bespeaks of a man not entirely comfortable with what he was doing.

Godfrey and K Company survived the Little Big Horn.  Lt. Godfrey went on to become General Godfrey.

There is also a train of two mules with a Packer.  This is where the extra ammunition is carried.  

Godfrey might need it so the Mules are important.

Should any of K Company be seriously wounded Godfrey needs to detail men to get them to safety.  Failure to do so will cause K Company’s Morale to collapse.  Everyone knows what happens to those left behind.  Those detailed cannot help the fight.

Lieutenant Edward Godfrey has a lot to get right.  He has to find the Indians, fight them, keep hold of his horses and pack train, not exhaust his men, minimise casualties and succour the wounded.

The figures you see, except the Peter Pig wounded, are the original castings of the dedicated range made to support Yellow Ribbon.  They are still available from QRF.  I recall Geoff and Chas re-did the moulds so todays castings may well be sharper.  You can get a pdf of Yellow Ribbon from QRF too. 

Back in the day Geoff and Chas intended to do a reprint illustrated with painted figures from the QRF Range.  That would have been nice.  Doubtless other business priorities precluded it.  A sound idea all the same.

Yellow Ribbon

 

I recently re-read ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY and CUSTER'S LAST BATTLE by Richard Allan Fox, Jnr.  The definitive work that cut through a century of wishful thinking,  self -serving nonsense and plain just getting it wrong.  Very good you say, and?

I have a hard copy of Greg Novak's Yellow Ribbon rules for the Plains Wars.   Amongst aficionados of the period Yellow Ribbon claims the Laurels.

I also have a box full of 15mm figures.  Last opened circa The Men Who would Be Kings.  I opened the box.  I had thought I was going to need horses for the horse holders.  Not so, I had already bought them but not painted them.  Grand.

Yellow Ribbon requires 16 figures per Company of cavalry.  Mounted and dismounted.  This I had.  I had more but not enough for a second company.  I also have Crow Scouts and some infantry.  There are some pack mules some where and figures suitable for Packers. One packer for 2 Mules, two Mules per Company.

I will do a second Company.  I also need some wounded cavalry figures.  They are an important feature of the game.

As for the Plains People I have loads of warriors.  Yellow Ribbon requires bands of 12 to 18 figures.  Mounted and dismounted.  These I have in great store.  I need more Indian women, children and elderly-dismounted only.

I could go more Tepees too.  Irregular again I think.  It is the cost effective option.

First though I need to make a QRS for Yellow Ribbon.  No small task.  The original is in small text, produced on machines that have long been obsolete, the pagination has gone wrong and the information could have been ordered better.  No matter, this is one of the Great Games.  Superbly conceived and covering all aspects of the War on the Plains.  In Yellow Ribbon Indians behave as Indians and the Cavalry need to take care.

Should you fancy doing the Plains Wars 10mm has much to recommend it.  Mine are 15mm. My point is the more space on the table the better.  

The West was vast and empty. Until it wasn't empty.  Hoka Hey!

In my next Yellow Ribbon post I will show you my first 7th Cavalry Company.  That means 16 cavalry mounted, 12 cavalry horses, and 13 dismounted cavalry.  Three troopers remain mounted as horse holders. Also two Pack Mules and a Packer to lead them.  That is the basic USA unit for Yellow Ribbon.  Mine represents Company K 7th Cavalry led by Lieutenant Edward Godfrey.

Some judicious additions have been ordered. They include a pony herd, a USA Wagon, additional troopers and Indian non combatants.

Above we see one of my Indian bands.  They are organised into Warrior Societies.  We will meet each of them as we go.

If you are new to the Plains Wars you might be asking What is so special about Yellow Ribbon?  The answer is simple.  The Indians behave like Indians did in the Plains Wars.

Do ride along with me as we head into the West.