Yellow Ribbon Variants- Apache and Seminoles

 

Yellow Ribbon justly found fame as the Plains Wars gaming experience. The sections on Mountain Indians (think Chief Joseph and the Nez Peirce) and Apache are often overlooked.  Less showy I suppose. Yet the Yellow Ribbon touch is just as sure in these theatres.

Without much of a stretch you can use the Apache rules for the Seminole Wars.  Simply replace mountain and desert with the Everglades. 

As you have doubtless guessed I have some Apache and have bought some Seminoles.

These fellows did not fight like Plains Warriors. Although horses could appear.  The individual style of fighting was not for them. No counting coup, no emphasis on  warrior heroics.  Rather the aim was to collectively kill the foe.  All of the foe.

Truth to tell I have had the Apache for decades. They are from mostly QRF with a few Minifigs and a Hovels Mexican. 

The Apache and the Comanche constantly raided Mexico. They burned, killed and took prisoners. Depending on their age the prisoners became slaves or were adopted and brought up as Indians.

The Mexicans responded by putting a price on the head of every Apache. Man, woman and child. Scalp hunters assembled like Carrion Crows.

The Comanche also waged a war of near extermination against the Apache. It wouldn't make much of a game. The Comanche rode up out of nowhere and killed every Apache they could find. Then they went home. 

All very bleak. 

Here are my Apache on foot.

 

You really don’t need many figures for a good game. Here are my mounted Apache.

 

That’s it.  A transfer of my US Infantry from General Crook to General Miles and it is game on. May be a section of cavalry too, mules also. 

I already have Wickiups. Mine are from QRF, the smaller ones. They do big ones too. I bought the smaller ones because young Plains Warriors used to build and use them.  To avoid vexing the adults no doubt.

I feel the need to buy some Cacti.  Irregular or Peter Pig can provide them.  Scene setting. I have an excellent Geek Villain Desert Mat and there we go-Apacheria in miniature.

Florida terrain is going to be more of a challenge. My uncle told me that while he was golfing there an Alligator shot out and ate someone’s dog.  Irregular make an Alligator or maybe a Crocodile. In 15mm it won’t matter which. 

I may need one. You know the sort of thing throw triple ones and the Alligator appears.  Hungry. Throw a 6 on a D6 and you are lunch.  Throw a 5 and everyone does a full move in the opposite direction. Throw 1 to 4 and everyone blazes away at the Alligator.

QRF has two packs of Seminoles.  They include Africans who had escaped slavery. A nice touch.

The Chief pack above and the Warrior pack below.

Here are the Black Seminoles.  Good for Maroons I think. 

In fact the turban wearing Seminoles would make good Maroons too.  

The Seminoles favoured a sort of Mohican cut. You can see it in the Catlin paintings. QRF give us a 3 figures like that. 

Unless you think Maroons looked like the A Team's Mr T, that disbars those 3 poses. You could always add a turban with green stuff.

Between the two packs there is sufficient variation. I have not bought any Seminole civilians and probably won’t.  However many Plains types women and children could do.  A bit of translocation will do the job if I need them.

I did need to buy some US Infantry due to leather shako requirements.  I also bought a gun and crew that I have yet to paint.  

Here are the infantry, QRF once more. I have painted some of them as "Red Leg Infantry" that is to say Gunners deployed as infantry.

In pretty much any American conflict armed civilians turned up. These could be local settlers, formal or informal militia, or just the sort of fellows addicted to carnage, rapine and loot.

 

Once again note the small number of figures required for an interesting game. I'm minded to give it a go with Musket and Tomahawk too.  

The light was a bit tricky when taking these pic's. Hopefully it doesn't spoil your viewing pleasure entirely.

Somewhere I have additional Seminole figures for this. I'd like to find them.  Their exceptional field craft not withstanding, I will-eventually.

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.

Rosebud Notes-Yellow Ribbon

 

The highest estimate of rounds fired by Crook’s Command at the Rosebud is 48,000.  The lowest I have seen is 15,000 rounds.  Either way it is a lot of lead.  Journo Finerty’s figure was 25,000 rounds.  That reflected the views of some of the officers who commanded that day. 

Whatever, it leads us to anticipate a bad butchers bill for the fellows on ponies in paint and feathers.

It proved not to be so.  The Cheyenne said they didn’t lose a single man.  Though some may have died later from wounds.  Post battle the Cheyenne were ready for more. They were, of course, still incensed by the Powder River Attack.

The Crow considered Rosebud a good day out.  Collectively they took 13 scalps. Presumably from stricken Sioux. Light losses for them too.  As ever the wounded might die subsequently. The Shoshone lost a lad minding the spare ponies to a Sioux raid.  He was 15.

Post battle the Crow decided to go home.  As did the Shoshone. For both fighting was what they lived for.  Now it was time to sing and dance about it.  Ominously, yet reasonably, they told Crook that they were going home because not to would get them all killed.

The Sioux immediately post action thought their own losses minimal.  There were more wounded than the 13 killed.  Mostly they thought they had done well and they also had lots of loot.  We know this because warriors interviewed in quieter times itemised the goodies. One fellow snagged a new hat, a rifle and a bag of coffee for his mother.  Across all cultures it is necessary and commendable to be a good son. 

Post action, the Sioux deliberated and decided they had won.

Crook’s regulars, infantry and cavalry, seem to have lost nine, or maybe 29 killed.  Again there were wounded.  The Indians had blazed away all day too. No shortage of ammunition there.  All in all light casualties all round. 

Tellingly, despite many witness written accounts, we cannot be certain of the true figures.

Crook held the field of battle.  He said that proved he had won.

Different perspectives then.  I find the Crow and Shoshone view compelling. They thought to continue would be the end of them.

The Rosebud was the biggest Plains War battle ever.  The Front ran for 3 miles. 

Low casualty rates aside, the Rosebud was an important battle. All involved fought hard and tirelessly for hours.

How many fought for the Home Team? Likely the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe warriors numbered between 750 and a 1000 men and youths.  It seemed like a lot more. The Indians attacked at various points during the day.  Then disappeared and attacked somewhere else.

Crook’s lads numbered 950 combined, cavalry and infantry. The armed Packers added about 100 men.  The Crow provided a solid 175 and the Shoshone 86 warriors.  Crook had the numerical edge.

Indian mobility meant that Army numbers couldn’t be brought to bear.  Royall’s entire command nearly ended up as dead as Custer's Command.  They faced about 500 warriors and the warriors weren’t messing. 

Luckily for those soldiers the Crow and Shoshone charged in and saved them. The soldiers then executed a fighting retreat that degenerated into a run for safety.  Intense fire from infantry “long Tom’s” enabled most to survive.

It was nearly a prequel to Little Big Horn.

Crook was a competent soldier and had perfected his Indian fighting tactics. Let’s summarise them:

Use Indians to find Indians.

Surprise attack the Indian Village, ideally at dawn.

Capture the pony herd.

Immobilised, the Indians must stand and fight while the elderly and women and children flee.

Capture the fleeing non-combatant Indians.

Burn the Village and shoot the ponies.

Kill the warriors or accept their surrender.

So much for the theory. What about the practice? What went wrong?  

First Crook was beaten to the attack. 

Second he was convinced that a major Indian village was nearby-it wasn't. In that belief he deployed and issued orders to enable the capture of the imaginary village. 

Thus he believed the warriors would fall back to defend it.  They didn't, because it wasn't there.  

Vital forces were detached to storm the phantom village taking them out of the fight.  They had to be recalled when things got tricky.  

Until near enough the last Crook thought he held the tactical initiative when in fact that lay entirely with the Indians. The Crow and Shoshone knew that all day long.

Post battle, and after withdrawing, Crook spent his time hunting and fishing. Sports very dear to his heart.  His men welcomed the supply of fresh meat.

Some scholars think the Rosebud experience had occasioned a collapse of his morale. It may have been so. Crook was used to winning his Indian fights and he had very nearly badly lost an important one.  At the very least he must have been seriously disquieted.

One of the Home Team opined that the warriors had fought in an entirely new way. Maintaining the fight when normally they would have gone home. Certainly, they had stopped Crook's expedition dead.

As the Army departed the Crow discovered a Sioux warrior blinded in the fight. They shot him dead and scalped him. Then they cut him into pieces and waving the body parts began to dance. Crook's column marched past in silence. The Crow capered and sang.

Out in the vastness of the West General George Armstrong Custer was searching for the same tribes Crook had just encountered.  He would find them encamped on the Little Big Horn River.  Custer would not be as fortunate as General Crook.

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.

Head Quarters Detachment Part 1- Yellow Ribbon

 

My HQ Detachment is loosely modelled on that of Crook on the Powder River and Rosebud Expeditions.  Let us look at progress on the various elements.  They all offer interesting gaming opportunities.  Be advised, this started off as a single post.  I realised it would take two posts and cut it.  Hopefully it still reads well enough

Above, we have the Great Man himself, the General.  He was normally accompanied by an Adjutant(s) and the vital Indian Scouts.  Numbers of the latter could vary.  Note the scouts are wearing red.  This is so Crook's soldiers can recognise them as allies. Unfortunately, red was a favourite colour of the Sioux and Cheyenne too!  An ahh.. moment for Crook. 

 

While we are on Scouts here is a photo of Arikara and Crow Scouts. No one makes Arikara (Rees) in 15mm.

I think it was taken at the site of the Little Big Horn battle.  We have discussed tribal hair styles before and here we see how distinctive they could be.  The Arikara (Rees) have a top knot or tuft, the Crow a quiff and plaits.

Horses, Mules and Men had to be fed. Reserve ammunition was essential.  Crook was a mule enthusiast.  They were tough and highly mobile. So were the Packers and Crook loved them too. All the same mules lacked capacity and the more you took the more Packers were needed.  Packers had to be fed too and so did extra Mules.

Here's another thing about Packers-they were incredibly well paid.  They earned more in a week than a trooper did in a month.  Lots more. 

Finerty, a journalist accompanying Crook chose to Mess with the Packers.  Crook invited him to dine.  "Ah, no thank you General said Finerty, previous engagement!"  The Packers dined well. Custer famously used soldiers as Packers. It saved a fortune.  His packs never showed up.

The solution was the wagon.  Not so mobile but roomy.  Mules could accompany a detached Battalion or Company.  Wagons stayed with the HQ.  

As an expedition progressed the contents of the wagon would be consumed.  This resulted in capacity for carrying the wounded.

Here is my QRF Wagon, easy to assemble and it looks the part.  Good price too.

A Surgeon accompanied the Army.  He might have his own Ambulance if the soldiery were lucky. Again he was part of HQ Detachment. My Ambulance has not arrived yet.

Here is half of my Mule Train. Note figures on foot too. a Yellow Ribbon requirement. I  could do some military Packers to accompany them. Civilian Packers were hugely expensive.  My Packers are shot gun armed just because of what I had lying about. Civilian Packers often liked Winchesters. The figures are Confederate Irregulars from Peter Pig mounted and Minifig dismounted.

Food on the hoof was useful too.  A small cattle herd might accompany HQ Battalion. Mine are from Peter Pig.  One of the packers is riding herd. I'm sure I have another Cowboy somewhere.

All of the foregoing needed protection.  HQ Detachment had the choice of the best men and horses. However, post the Powder River expedition morale was poor among the units who had participated.  My HQ has a Company of Troopers to keep everything and everyone in one piece.

Some of HQ Troopers wear the new issue blue Army Shirt.  All the good stuff was to be found at HQ.  The Army took pains over logistics. Of course I need this Outfit dismounted too. And horses.  Next time.  

I also have an Infantry Company to accompany the wagon. Eight Privates and a Sergeant.  Infantry are no use at all in pursuing Indians.  They are very good at defending wagons, improvised hospitals and livestock.  Longer ranged rifles, "Long Tom's" in the argot of the Army. 

QRF once again. I actually have near enough 3 of these units.  Infantry escorting a supply train, or simply going into garrison, gives a different sort of game challenge.  

The infantry, along with the Crow and Shoshone, saved the day at the Rosebud.  Scout Frank Grouard thought Crook would have quickly lost half of his command without them.  I could buy some mules for mine. Then I'd need mule mounted soldiers too.  Maybe I will. That would be an additional 20 mules and 20 mule mounted infantry. 

You don't need many figures for Yellow Ribbon but the variants mount up.  No pun intended!  They dismount too.

HQ Detachment is also the place for your Gatling Gun should you have one.  Custer, famously, refused to take any.  He said it would slow him down.  It would have.  Also, difficult ground was a Gatling challenge.  Five men were injured trying to push and pull one through the rough. We will see mine in Part 2.

Your General might be desirous of favourable publicity and successful post campaign grandstanding.  If so he might have a pet Journalist along to attest his military brilliance. Getting him killed would be a black mark.  

Could this be Journalist Finerty ?  Will he keep his hair once again?  Crook's accompanying journo's were mainly to be found in the thick of the fighting.  It made for interesting copy.

We will have another look at HQ Detachment when everything has arrived and is painted.

Next time we will consider some first hand accounts from both sides.  Somewhere along the line we are going to have a close look at Army tactics, soldiers and officers.  Lots ahead of us, Powder River, Rosebud and other interesting stuff.  I'll post it all as it comes with maybe other periods interspersed as opportunity presents.