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Full Description
For a period of about week in February 1865, as the Civil War was winding down and Plains Indian communities were reeling in the wake of the Sand Creek massacre, combat swept across the Nebraska panhandle, especially along the Platte River. The fighting that marked this event barely compares to the massive campaigns and terrible carnage that marked the conflict that was taking place in the eastern states but it was a significant event at the opening on the ensuing Indian Wars. Operating on terrain they knew well, Cheyenne warriors and other Native forces encountered the US Cavalry who operated within a modern network of long distance migration and pony express trails and military stations.
The North Platte Campaign offers a good basis for the application of landscape approaches to conflict archaeology if only because of its scale. This fighting is both easily approached and fascinatingly encompassed. There were probably far fewer than 1000 fighters involved in those skirmishes, but before, after, and between them, they involved substantial movements of people and of equipment that was similar to the arms and gear in service to other Civil War era combatants. They also seem to have used approaches that were typical of America's western warfare. Like many of the conflicts of interest to modern observers, the North Platte fights were between cultural different opponents. Archaeological consideration of battlefields such as Rush Creek and Mud Springs, bases, and landscapes associated with this fighting expose how the combat developed and how the opposing forces dealt with the challenges they encountered.
This study draws on techniques of battlefield archaeology, focusing on the concept of 'battlespace' and the recovery, distribution and analysis of artifacts and weaponry, as well as historical accounts of the participants, LiDAR-informed terrain assessment, and theoretical consideration of the strategic thinking of the combatants. It applies a landscape approach to the archaeological study of war and reveals an overlooked phase of the American Civil War and the opening of the Indian Wars.
Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Landscapes and Dynamics of the Platte Valley in 1864 and 1865
Forms and Features of the Platte Valley Landscape
The River Course
North Platte Valley Side Slopes
North Platte Bluffs
Plains
Traffic and Trail Patterns of the Platte Valley
Euro-American Trails
Native American Trails
Euro-American Civilian Facilities
Relations between the United States Government and Platte Valley Native Communities
The Sand Creek Massacre
Indian Reactions to Sand Creek and the move to the North Platte Valley
Army Reactions to Sand Creek
3. Conceptual Tools for the Consideration of Conflicted Landscapes
Levels of War
The Strategic Level
The Operational Level
The Tactical Level
Conflicted Landscapes as "Battlespace"
4. Levels of War and Battlespace in the North Platte Valley of 1865
Levels of War and Battlespace among the Cheyenne and allied tribes
Levels of War and Battlespace of the Civil War Frontier Army
Battlespace - Trails and Battlefields as Essential Elements
5. Conflict Begins - The Battle of Mud Springs
Mud Springs as Battlespace
Strategy and Tactics of the Mud Spring Operation
6. The Archaeology of the Mud Springs Battle
The Archaeological Assemblage
Firearms Artifact Distribution
The "Rifle Pit" Feature
Interpreting the Actions and Evidence of Mud Springs
7. The Road to Rush Creek
Cheyenne Movements away from the Camp on Rush Creek
The Army's Pursuit
Discovery of the Rush Creek Camp
8. The Forces Collide at Rush Creek
Beginning of the Battle
Tactical Operations of Rush Creek Combat
Artillery at Rush Creek
Cavalry Action at Rush Creek
9. Archaeology of the Rush Creek Battle
Archaeological Expression of the Battlefield
Small Arms Evidence
Artillery Evidence
Rush Creek: A battlespace adjusted to surprise
10. Conclusions
Appendix: Transcriptions of Enlisted Men's Accounts of the Fights
References
Index
