FPK/BTA Veteran’s Day Program

The Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association hosted a Veteran’s Day program on Sunday, Nov. 13 at Kearney Community Hall.

Local historians Bob Wilson and Sonny Reisch presented the program titled ‘Effects of the Civil War along the Bozeman Trail.’

Dave McKee, President of the FPK/BtA introduced the speakers, and thanked the audience for coming.

Sonny Reisch spoke about what was happening in the West during the last few years of the Civil War and years following. Even the uniforms and weaponry used on the plains were usually Civil War leftovers.

He said that the Civil War and the Bozeman Trail were deeply connected. At the time the Civil War started, many of the army troops that had been out west to help make peace with the Indians were sent back east to fight in the Civil War. A lot of the officers and men who were in the Southwest joined the confederacy.

A lot of the events along the Bozeman and the inter-meshing with the people involved at a lot to do with the Civil War, he added.

At first, Wilson added, the wagon trains were not actually harassed by the Indians, the Indians wanted to trade for food, supplies, ammo and, of course, whiskey.

Wilson then talked about the troops on the Western Plains, many who were volunteers.

He said that one of the first real conflicts happened along the Bozeman took place in 1865, when Col. John Chivington came to providence. In 1862, Chivington was in the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico where Confederate troops wanted to break the Union’s hold on the Western territories, but were defeated and had to withdraw back into Arizona.

Carrington was the hero then, but two years later, as Wilson put it, “his star started fading on him’ and he hoped that by attacking the Cheyenne at Sand Creek would bring him fame again.

But, the village was not actually hostile. It was mostly women and children, as the warriors were gone raiding. The attack at Sand Creek really started the problems with the Indians in the Colorado-Wyoming area, they began attacking along the South Platte River, working their way northward. Wilson added that the Indians were not entirely innocent as they had been raiding the ranches and killing the white settlers.

Many of Wyoming place names came from Civil War heroes. Including many of the Western Forts.

Wilson talked about Lieutenant Caspar Collins, for who the town of Casper was named. Collins was killed in an Indian engagement not far from present day Casper.

Later, soldiers saw the Indians leading a white horse away, they talked about that horse throughout their tribal history. No one could ever ride it.

In the West, during the last few years of the Civil War, there was little Army influence, and many of the units were without guidance or leadership. One of the commanders at the time was General Patrick Connor, who was the commander at the Connor Battle near Dayton.

Wilson talked about the Connor Battle, and the Sawyer Expedition, which were active in this area. At one point the Army, which started out with around 1000 head of horses, pushed them too hard without sufficient feed, and one cold night they lost 400 horse, about half of what they started with.

He said that Connor and his troops were near where they would later build Fort Phil Kearny, when:

Reisch took the podium and said that the army was made up of a ‘hodgepodge’ of troops, with many volunteer units and some ‘Galvanized Yankees’ that is, Confederate soldiers who had been in prison camps and were released if they would swear an oath to the Union and go west to fight Indians. They were assured that they would not have to fight other Confederate troops.

Wilson and Reisch also talked about the weapons, most were Civil war muskets at first, and later the troops did receive the breech loading rifles. They also emphasized that the tactics used in the civil war were not effective against the Indian’s light cavalry and that sending infantry west to fight the Indian cavalry was not the smartest move.

Wilson provided an extensive uniform exhibit, representing those worn by US infantrymen and their opposition during involvement in previous American Wars. These include the American Revolution, American Civil War, Spanish-American War, Korean and Vietnam.

Around 20 people attended the program.