Washita: The U.S. Army and the Southern Cheyennes, 1867-1869 (Campaigns & Commanders)
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
On November 27, 1868, the U.S. Seventh Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer attacked a Southern Cheyenne village along the Washita River in present-day western Oklahoma. The subsequent U.S. victory signaled the end of the Cheyennes' traditional way of life and resulted in the death of Black Kettle, their most prominent peace chief. Long considered a watershed event, the Washita received formal national recognition in 1996 when the site became a unit of the National Park System. Now, in a remarkably balanced history, Jerome A. Greene draws on newly available material from both Indian and U.S. Army sources to retell in unprecedented depth the story of what happened on the snowy banks of the Washita River at dawn that November day.
Tracing the history of the Southern Cheyennes from the seventeenth century, Greene describes the horrific losses Black Kettle's people suffered at Sand Creek, Colorado, four years earlier. Terrified of another attack, Black Kettle sought to maintain a fragile peace, but to no avail. On orders from General Phil Sheridan, the U.S. Army made a retaliatory strike against the Indians for purported raids, deliberately attacking the Cheyennes in the deep of winter when the Indians were most vulnerable.
Synthesizing primary and secondary sources, Greene describes the event's causes, conduct, and consequences even as he addresses the multiple controversies surrounding the conflict, including questions of whether the engagement was a battle or a massacre and whether Custer purposely abandoned his men during the fighting. As Greene explains, the engagement brought both praise and condemnation for Custer and carried long-range implications for his stunning defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn eight years later.
Volume 5 in the Campaigns & Commanders series
About the Author
Jerome A. Greene is Research Historian for the National Park Service in Denver. His other books include Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877: The Military View; Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877; and Morning Star Dawn: The Powder River Expedition and the Northern Cheyennes, 1876, all published by the University of Oklahoma Press.
Washita: The U.S. Army and the Southern Cheyennes, 1867-1869 (Campaigns & Commanders),Jerome A. Greene,University of Oklahoma Press,0806135514,1868-1869,Cheyenne Indians,History,History - U.S.,Indians of North America,Military,Military - United States,Military - World War II,Native American,Sand Creek Massacre, Colo., 1864,United States - State & Local - South,Wars,Wars, 1868-1869,Washita Campaign, 1868-1869,American history: c 1800 to c 1900,USA,c 1800 to c 1900
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