I'm frankly appalled that no one has even mentioned the one book that sweeps all the works on LBH off the shelves and into the dumpster, 1993's "Archaeology, History, And Custer's Last Battle," by Richard Allan Fox.
The synthesis of the 1984 dig on the Custer battle sites, the book not only provides a more nearly correct picture of what really happened there based on the actual artifacts and human remains, but provides the perspective of how the troops were trained.
Three of the best titles to bring anyone into the subject are available at very reasonable prices through Alibris.
Rickey's "Forty Miles A Day On Beans And Hay" link
Utley's "Frontier Regulars," and link
S.L.A. Marshall's "Crimsoned Prairie" link
Not all of what appears prior to this post is accurate, and much of the rest is true, but necessarily not thorough. What follows is meant to turn a harsher light on some elements of Army life during the 11 years from the end of the Civil War to LBH.
First, it must be understood that this was still the era in American History where Congress--and most of the people--saw the US Army as a leper colony kept only because it was mandated by the Constitution. No where was it made mandatory to be kept modern, prepared, and cared for as the guardians of the nation's borders. It was controlled, regulated, and marginalized as if it were the Country's crazy Aunt chained in the attic.
The presence of armies and soldiers in the Recent Unpleasantness did nothing to make them more attractive--though there was a growing sentimentality for the hundreds of thousands of dead ones--always a great comfort to the living ones.
Consequently, it is true that the post-war Frontier Soldiers were dreadfully unprepared for the sort of combat they had to face. Fully 25% of Custer's command had been in the Army about six weeks prior to marching off to LBH. Weapon's training at some posts was basically for one day a year--partly from indifference to limited ammunition stores.
Promotion was glacial, Seniority of actual rank (not the wonderfully sounding Brevet's largely gained in the Civil
War) being the rule for assignments. The exact number of Lieutenants in the Army, for example, was limited by Congressional order. Not until one resigned, invalided out, or died could the next soldier have a chance for a commission. That is, after the next Class from West Point go their assignments.
Promotions--real and brevet--could still be gained in combat, and the unofficial motto when heading into combat was, "Here goes for a brevet or a coffin!"
Some 89 Officers alone got the coffins before the wars ended.
Many soldiers were in terrible physical condition, with back and leg injuries frequently suffered before and during their service. The Army pretty much accepted--and kept--anyone who could walk up to the rolls to sign his name or make his mark. It must be remembered that--very much as in Britain--a man joined the army only because he had no prospects, no education, knew no trade, was incapable of regular manual labor, was alcoholic, etc, and for whom the only remaining alternative was crime.
Oh, and many volunteers actually were criminals on the run who by signing up under assumed names had a chance to escape.
The beautiful sentimentality of John Ford's version of the Frontier Army must--sadly--be similarly swept into the dumpster. Conditions were harder than any 20/21st Century man could possibly accept for more than a few days, and definitely not for life.
Sabres were commonly left behind for the simple reason of weight. They served no practical purpose in the field, and minimizing the load on a mount was everything. The troopers themselves tended to be smaller than the Infantry, but don't think of jockey's--though they would have been ideal!
Army horses (Morgans) were fed grain as much as possible, giving them weight and endurance, but not top speeds. In the field, they ate the grass they could find with a serving of grain as long as it lasted. Indian ponies were entirely grass fed, and though very fast and light, they did not have the capacity for long running fights or constant marches.
Each man carried a 1 quart canteen, and this had to be shared by him and his mount between better sources. At 8 lbs per gallon, water was a vital necessity usually left to the choice of march route and luck as it just could not be carried along as needed. By modern standards, most soldiers and horses in the field would be seriously dehydrated most of the time. Rivers and streams were crucial when crossing well known country, and a primary object for advance scouts. Marching from watering place to watering place was the preferred practice.
Human amenities on Frontier posts were essentially non-existent. No libraries (even if someone could read), no newspapers, and no PX. There might be a Sutler's store, but most posts had so few soldiers in them, with little or no money to spend, these were scarce, and about all they had besides some canned items not provided by the Army was alcohol.
Some Post Commanders--or their Wives, if present--did attempt to improve conditions locally, but neither the Army nor Congress showed any concern for the soldier's welfare.
Monthly pay for a Private ran around $17.00 USD a month. In Civilian life, that compared nicely to a skilled laborer's wages. However, this money was frequently late, and by various means, usually less when actually doled out.
Men gambled--Paymaster's frequently ran the games in order to indebt the soldiers and take their pay--or drank to keep up a numbed semi-sobriety in the face of the awful sameness of day-to-day life. Outright drunkenness put men in jail ("Company Q"), and could also rate physical punishments.
If there was any money left in a soldier's pocket, it frequently went to the prostitute(s) who frequently set up shop in the back of a wagon (covered if it was an "up-scale" operation) outside the post boundaries. The Nymphes-du-Prairie were inevitably diseased and shared the gift that keeps on giving with their clients. Venereal diseases skimmed off a constant percentage of soldiers, either in hospital or discharged to social oblivion.
And don't even ask about the quality of medical care. However, just keep in mind that in an era when there were never enough Doctors in Civilian life, those that couldn't make a comfortable from St. Louis to Back East were only the ones too incompetent/alcoholic/diseased to cut it--but who could still find steady employment by the U.S. Army.
Throughout the period of the Plains Indian Wars, annual desertion rates ran between 20% and 25%. In practice this meant that only a very small percentage of Private Soldiers completed more than five or six years in the ranks before having his fill of the Army and going over the hill. Deserters were rarely pursued, and even more rarely brought back or punished in any way.
It was the rare Soldier, indeed, who spent years in the Army and actually learned his craft and, therefore, as an NCO at least, give his fellows the benefit of that experience.
Under such circumstances, it would be nothing less than miraculous if the Army was ever really the "professional" fighting force it was supposed to be.
Mind, almost as an historical aberration, Congress had decades before allowed the Army a top notch Officer's training facility--West Point--and, by and large, the graduates were professionally minded, well educated, and proved themselves in the Mexican War. Unfortunately, the greatest opportunities for these men were to be turned against one another in the Civil War.
Many surviving Officers, both West Pointers and Volunteer Army veterans, stayed in service and, many of these eventually went out West. By and large, these Officers were able to hold the Army together sufficiently to go on campaigns against a wide variety of Native American's and, in a remarkably short time, kill thousands and force the survivors onto Reservations.
In some ways, dealing the Native Americans was the ultimate "dirty detail," for which they were unrewarded--and rarely supported--by the Government that gave them the job, and commonly also the whipping boy of the Eastern Press and much of the Public which sympathized with the Indians--but didn't want any living within sight of them.
In short: The Frontier Army was not quite a rabble, generally professionally led, but with a greater distance between Officers and men beyond just the necessary, a distance that largely left the soldiers to their own devices, which were few and largely degenerative. Ruled by a parsimonious and largely contemptuous Congress, they barely had the wherewithal to meet their assignments. Likely motivated more by fatalism than patriotism, they did, however, open the West for settlement and development, and in retrospect for a bargain price to the dominant culture.
TVAG
takes another stab at building a more perfect flight stand.
