The Trapdoor Springfield: From the Little Bighorn to San Juan Hill (Weapon) by John Langellier

Author:John Langellier [Langellier, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781472819727
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2018-06-27T23:00:00+00:00

The Nez Perce War

Similarly, the Nez Perce War of 1877 pitted the Army’s far superior numbers against a much smaller but highly adept enemy. In a remarkable campaign that demonstrated the unique capabilities of guerrilla forces and the difficulties that formal military units have in dealing with them, the Nez Perce led the Army on a 1,300-mile chase over the Continental Divide punctuated by a number of sharp engagements. The Native Americans used the terrain to great advantage, fighting when circumstances favored them, sidestepping around opposing forces or breaking contact when the situation dictated it. They lived off the land, while the Army was tied to supply trains that were vulnerable to Native American attack. Their women and children often hindered the Native Americans’ freedom of movement, however, and eventually Army superiority in strength and weapons began to tell. Native American rifles were no match for howitzers and Gatling guns, and of course the Springfield trapdoors carried by the Army’s infantry and cavalry, who were well supplied with ammunition. Moreover, Native American mobility could not outstrip the Army’s use of the telegraph to alert additional forces along the Nez Perce line of flight. The battles of White Bird Canyon, Clearwater, Big Hole, Canyon Creek, and Bear Paw Mountain involved hundreds of troops and numerous units under Major General Oliver O. Howard, Colonel John Gibbon, Major Samuel D. Sturgis, and Colonel Nelson A. Miles.

There were heavy casualties on both sides before Chief Joseph surrendered. Joseph concluded the peace talks with one of the most memorable speeches in Western history. “Hear me, my Chiefs,” one Army observer remembered Joseph saying, “I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever” (quoted in Utley 1973: 323).

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