"Which other units of cavalry to field?" Topic

Okay, the 7th, of course – got the whole regiment, all twelve companies plus command just waiting to be primed. But what of the other companies I have, enough for a second regiment plus one headquarters company?

I know I will do one battalion of the 9th/10th cavalry, the Buffalo Soldiers, that's a given. But what other three regiments are best to represent battles on the northern plains AND the Apache wars? And what regiment would be most likely to provide a company to escort a general about? I need to pick three other regiments to have a battalion and a fourth regiment to have a company.

And on that front, who should be my three command groups? Custer is one and then I'm thinking Terry and Crook and then my infantry commander being Gibbon. But what of the Apache wars? Crook again but what about Miles?

And for those wondering, I also have figures for the Denver Free Militia and some Mountain Men mounted and on foot that might do double duty for the notorious Colorado cavalry.

So, what three other regiments do you suggest for battalions and what regiment for one more company? Thanks for your input.

Need you ask? The 4th with Mackenzie. The 4th was sent North to take the place of the 7th after Custer's loss. The 4th also served in Arizona taking part in the campaigns against the Apache.

Perhaps the 6th saw the most action against the Apache.

And to not do Grierson's 10th would be a crime.

As far as command groups, it depends mostly on the regiment & the year. The government constantly rotated the regiments. A regiment that spent 1872 on the Platte might find itself in 1875 on the Rio Grande.

Apart from Custer's personal standard, any cavalry unit could be used in any regiment. Regimental standards were not carried into the field.

You really should get Michno's Encyclopedia of Indian Wars. There really is much much more than the 7th cavalry & the Little Big Horn.

Did we fight Apaches (I mean US military vs them on a war scale?)

I dont know. All I know about them is that they fought a lot against settlers and frontiersman.

Yes, pretty much the same scale as the campaigns against the Comanche, Sioux, Modocs, & other tribes.

Im reading a good history now by Michno 'The Deadliest Indian War in the West: The Snake Conflict 1864-68'.

As the title states, more people died in that war than any other Indian conflict west of the Mississippi. I had never even heard of that one. One always thinks of the Sioux conflict, Custer, etc but there are a lot of interesting campaigns one could play.

The book goes into great detail and would give gamers loads of skirmishes and firefights. No battle the size of Rosebud or Little Big Horn but still plenty of fights.
The whites had regular cavalry, state volunteer cavalry, regular infantry, civilian volunteers and ah hoc groups like armed settlers, miners etc. The Indians were a mix of tribes such as the Paiutes, Bannocks, Shoshoni, and more.

mghFond, thanks for the tip. I just ordered the book from Amazon!

I, too, am interested in the Michno titles – when I have the time. And I appreciate the constructive replies.

I hope my questions revealed some understanding of the era – I'm not seeking to field a brigade against the Indians, though Crook sort of did at the Rosebud, in a way. I'm just trying to decide how to designate the units in my Ad Hoc regiment knowing that they may stand in for other units. The 9th for the 10th, for instance. My candidates were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th but I was hoping someone might pop up with other options or better support for one over the other – like Atomic Floozy first response.

So, let me reframe the question – of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th – which regiment is least deserving of being represented on the table?

But only in the sense that other regiments saw more action, not to demean the unit, of course.

If you were gaming only the Nortren Plains, 1867-1890, then you would leave out the 3rd & the 6th.

If you were gaming only the Southwest, you would leave out the 2nd & 5th.

The unit that saw the most action after the Civil War was the 8th. The unit which saw the least action was the 7th, but it saw some of the bloodiest battles. The unit that saw the most action in the Indian Wars for the entire period from 1850 – 1890 was the 1st.

If it was my choice out of the options given, I'd go with the 4th followed by the 6th.

If you are not giving them the John Ford treatment, then every cavalry unit looks pretty much the same. If you choose the John Ford look, or model the cavalry in the mid-1880s, then you have the red & white guidons with regiment number & company letter, before then, they all carried the Stars & strpes swallow tail standard.

Disagree with much of the above. For the Great Sioux War of 1876-77, the cav regiments involved were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th. Crook's column originally included troops from the 2nd and 3rd cavalries, reinforced by 10 companies of the 5th in July. McKenzie and about half of his 4th joined Crook in the Fall of '76 to help relieve many of the troops that had survived (barely) Crook's Starvation March that September.

The First Cavalry was stationed in the Pacific Division and spend its time mainly in California, Oregon and Washington with a few troops assigned to Arizona for short periods.

Crook's 1873 campaign is Arizona vs Apaches was largely fought by the 5th Cavalry (before its transfer to Nebraska/Wyoming in 1876.) With its departure from Arizona in '76, the 6th Cavalry took its place in the Arizona portion of the Apache Wars while the 9th assumed that role in New Mexioo. In 1882 the 4th Cavalry, now under Col. George Forsyth joined the forces arrayed against the Apache, fighting on both sides of the Arizona/New Mexico border.

However, as Atomic Floozy said above, all of cavalry regiments were uniformed and equiped essentially the same, so excepted for the 9th and 10th (with their African-American enlisted personnel and white officers), you can use any figures for any regiments.

Last two posts are the sort of information I was hoping for – and something I can start building from beyond what I've already got going.

As to uniforms, sure, understand, but for game purposes I will be doing things to separate regiments just to keep units strait. Not strictly historical, but one option is to paint each regiment (or battalion) with a different color handkerchief – or maybe just different colored hats. One 'challenge' I have is that a lot of my figures are wearing kepis/forage caps but I'm not replacing figures this late in the game, will just paint them and play with them.

I know not always done, but I plan to separate companies by horse color generally – though not sure how to carry that into the dismounts!

BTW, bandanas were not an issue item so no yellow scarves. Troopers bought their own from whatever the post sutler store had on hand; typical colors are thought to be red and white pattern, blue and white pattern or dark (drab) colors which are not very colorful and thus pretty much invisible on small figures. Several regiments, including the Seventh, did indeed have troop horses segregated by companies, several on bays, one on blacks, one or two on roans, one on grays, etc. For dismounted troops, have horse-holders to the rear of the respective companies, which was almost always done.