General George Crooks Development as a Practitioner of Irregular Warfare During the Indian Wars

Abstract

Following the conclusion of the Mexican-American War, the expansion of the United States to the west coast in the nineteenth century required the conquering of the Native American tribes of the west. This was a grueling and protracted war that spanned nearly fifty years, tested the national will, and forged the nation's identity. The frontier Army was critical in this process. General George Crook emerged from this time because of his success in defeating the Native Americans when few before him could, in the most difficult environs on the continent. His success is directly attributed to his unique understanding of the context and nuance associated with the Indian problem. This study evaluates the factors that facilitated his development as a practitioner of Irregular Warfare in the Rogue River Wars, the Snake River War, and the Apache Wars. These lessons offer valuable and timeless nature of Irregular Warfare useful for today's practitioners.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 09, 2017
Accession Number
AD1038598

Entities

People

  • Nicholas J. Cruz

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • California
  • Civil War
  • House Of Representatives
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military History
  • Military Science
  • Native Americans
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North America
  • Terrain
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • United States Military Academy
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.