American warfare 1690-1835 in popular culture, art, in miniature and in wargames, through Living History and in movies.
Lee, Wayne E. The Cutting-Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in Eastern North America, 1500-1800. (Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 2023),177. See here
Native Americans contributed materially to the British war effort, but their help proved expensive. Indian Agent John Stuart argued that despite high costs “we have not been able to do it without them,” and indeed the numbers could be impressive: in the first ten months of 1781 some seventy-five war parties totaling almost 3,000 warriors set out from Fort Niagara. But the situation at Niagara illustrates the difficulties of balancing costs and effectiveness. After the rebels' 1779 campaign into Iroquois country, Niagara became a refugee center with approximately 5,000 Indians camped in the area all demanding provisions. Costs for maintaining the women, children, and some warriors ballooned to £100,000 in 1781. Bruce Wilson calculates that the cost of "provisioning the Indians at the three major upper forts, Niagara, Detroit and Michilimackinac, reportedly exceeded the cost of the whole military establishment in Canada exclusive of provisions.” In contrast, during the French and Indian War Lord Loudoun's staff calculated that a regiment of 1,000 colonial rangers cost £42,400 in its first year of operations, slightly less thereafter, a cost considered exorbitant at the time. British General John Burgoyne claimed, with some exaggeration, that 1,000 Indian warriors cost more than 20,000 regulars. Thus, although the British had a potentially large pool of motivated Indian allies, they needed substantial resources to keep them, and frequently their dependents, on task. The Seminoles in Florida arrived in large numbers to assist the British, but lack of resources obliged British officials to turn them away. East Florida's governor, Patrick Tonyn, complained that he remained powerless without an ability to supply the Seminoles, leaving him "invested with the mere shadow of authority.”
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| Saint-Sauveur (France, 1757-1810), Labrousse (France, Bordeaux, active late 18th century) | Title | Costumes de Différents Pays, 'Guerrier Iroquois' | Description | English: | France, circa 1797 | Prints; engravings | Hand-tinted engraving on paper |
From With Burgoyne From Quebec.
Scalping
"Whenever they scalp, the seize the head of the disabled or dead enemy, and placing one of their feet on the neck, twist their left hand in the hair, by which means they extend the skin that covers the top of the head, and with the other hand draw their scalping knife from their breast, which is always kept in good order for this cruel purpose, a few dextrous strokes of which takes off the part that is termed the scalp; they are so exceedingly expeditious in doing this, that it scarcely exceeds a minute. If the hair is short, and they have no purchase with their hand, they stoop, and with their teeth strip it off; when they performed this part of their martial virtue as soon as time permits, they tie with bark or deer sinews their speaking trophies of blood in a small hoop, to preserve it from stupefaction, painting part of the scalp and the hoop all round with red. These they preserve as monuments of their prowess, and at the same time as proofs of the vengeance they have inflicted on their enemies."
Of all the British soldiers who served in North America during the American Revolution, none wrote more about his experiences than Roger Lamb. He certainly had a lot to say: his service in two of the most important campaigns—the 1777 Saratoga campaign and the 1781 campaign through the Carolinas to Virginia—put him in the thick of some of the war’s most famous battles. Moreover, he was twice captured and twice escaped, making his way through hostile territory to rejoin the British army. Later in his life he wrote two books chronicling these experiences in great detail. Hundreds of British soldiers went through similar ordeals, sharing in the campaigns, the battles, the captivities, the escapes, but none recounted any aspect of these activities in the level of detail that Lamb did.
The first edition of this book, published in 2004, combined all of Roger Lamb’s first-hand recollections from his two books, An Original and Authentic Journal of Occurrences during the late American War, from its Commencement to the Year 1783 (Dublin, 1809) and Memoir of his Own Life (Dublin, 1811). Since that publication, two more important documents written by Lamb have come to light—an intelligence report written in 1782 recounting details of one of his escapes, and a “commonplace book” kept later in his life to record a vast range of memories, thoughts, and observations. Roger Lamb’s American Revolution: A British Soldier’s Story combines all of the material from these four sources pertaining to Lamb’s career as a soldier, from the time he joined the army to his departure from it, plus his recollections of childhood and post-military life. The result is the most comprehensive first-hand account by a British soldier in the American Revolution, an essential record for understanding the war in its totality.
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| Benjamin West 1764. A Conference held between some Indian Chiefs and Colonel Bouquet, in the Year 1764 |
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| The Indians returning English captives to Colonel Henry Bouquet in November 1764. |
Artist/MakerAnne-Marguérite-Joséphine-Henriette Rouillé de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville (French, 1771–1849)
From here where there is a biography
This book from 1893 is available to read free if you have an interest. Here is a sample bit on the formation of Butler's Rangers.
Butler went to Quebec to settle his accounts, taking with him three of the principal chiefs to present them to the Governor. He then renewed his proposal to raise a battalion of rangers to serve with the Indians, to which Sir Guy Carleton readily consented, and furnished him with “beating orders” for the enlistment of eight companies, each composed of a captain, a lieutenant, three sergeants, three corporals, and fifty privates. Two of these companies were to be formed of “people speaking the Indian language and acquainted with their customs and manner of making war,” and were to receive four shillings, New York currency, a day. The remaining companies, “to be composed of people well acquainted with the woods, in consideration of the fateague they are liable to undergo,” were to receive two shillings a day. The whole were required to clothe and arm themselves entirely at their own expense. This was considered extremely [38]high pay, and it was subsequently estimated by General Haldimand that these eight companies of rangers cost the Government as much as twenty companies of regular infantry.
From The Burning of the Valleys G. K. Watt
Putman observed the Indians’ methods of setting the fires, “. . . one of the party . . . after swinging a fire-brand several times over his head until it blazed, applied it to the well-filled barns which were soon in flames . . . several of the party fired their guns into a number of stacks and barracks of grain . . .”
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| Image from John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk |
From Kronoskaf - order of battle Lake George 1755L
Order of Battle
British Order of Battle
Commander: Major-General William Johnson
Provincial (2,932 effective men as per the returns of August 17, 18 and 19)
1st Massachusetts Provincials (about 450 men) under Colonel Timothy Ruggles
2nd Massachusetts Provincials (about 450 men) under Colonel Moses Titcomb
3rd Massachusetts Provincials (about 450 men) under Colonel Ephraim Williams
1st Connecticut Provincials (about 450 men) under Major-General Lyman
2nd Connecticut Provincials (about 450 men) under Lieutenant-Colonel Whiting
Rhode Island Provincials (about 250 men) under Lieutenant-Colonel Cole
New York Provincials (3 coys from Connecticut totaling about 200 men) many settlers in upstate New York came from Connecticut
Mohawk Indians (about 250 men)
French Order of Battle
Commander: Baron Ludwig August Dieskau seconded by M. de Montreuil
French regulars (220 men)
Languedoc Infanterie (2 coys)
La Reine Infanterie (2 coys)
Troupes de la Marine (12 men)
Milices Canadiennes (684 men)
Resident Indians (678 men) aka Mission Indians
Did some good studies of Provincials. His Ranger studies are a bit rubbish. Wiki
I think these images are from Anne S. K. Brown.
Here for more info. On next weekend.
On September 9th and 10th, Herkimer Home State Historic Site will continue the 2023 season with the “Return to the Mohawk” living history event. The event will include historic demonstrations, battle reenactments, guest speakers, and a taste of what life was like in the Mohawk Valley during the American Revolution. Demonstrations on Saturday take place between 9:30 am and 4 pm and on Sunday between 9:30 am and 2 pm and will include topics such as 18th-century trade and transportation, blacksmithing, colonial toys and games, laundry, and the daily life and accouterments of the American soldier during the Revolution.
On Saturday, at 10 am and 1 pm, and Sunday at 1 pm, our living historians will provide large-scale tactical demonstrations depicting the “Raid on Herkimer Flatts” and “The Ambush,” a recreation of the Battle of Oriskany, in which General Herkimer was mortally wounded. These demonstrations will offer visitors the ability to experience the sights and sounds of the American Revolution as it played out in the Mohawk Valley. Programming will include Perry Ground, storyteller, cultural educator, and Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, who will present “Stories from the People of the Longhouse” at 11:30 am and “Changes to the Longhouse” at 3 pm on Saturday, September 9th. On Sunday, September 10th, Vic DiSanto will present a program about David Williams, one of the militiamen who captured major John Andre and foiled Benedict Arnold’s plan to turn over West Point and George Washington to the British. In addition, there will be various historic vendors selling their wares on-site throughout the weekend event.
We've got an early Christmas present for everyone this weekend, with another batch of fantastic Clib sculpts for our American War of I...
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