After the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson signed
an “Act to increase and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United
States” to strengthen western security. The constituents living in the west
were being preyed upon by Indians and
civil war soldiers unable to settle into regular life and they asked for more military force.
The U.S. Army had five regiment of artillery and
they added infantry from nineteen to forty-five regiments. The six regiments of
U.S. Cavalry were expanded to ten. Negro enlisted men made up two of the new
mounted regiments and four of the infantry. They were led by white officers.
The Army permitted 1000 Indian scouts to work as cavalrymen on the frontier.
The legislation allotted a similar system to the
cavalry as was used during the Civil War.
Regimental staff consisted of:
one colonel
one lieutenant colonel
three majors
one adjutant
one quartermaster
one regimental commissar
one veterinary surgeon
one sergeant major
one quartermaster sergeant
one commissary sergeant
one saddler sergeant
one chief trumpeter
one regimental hospital steward
There could also be one
veterinary surgeon who functioned without a commission.
A Company consisted of:
One captain
One first lieutenant
One second lieutenant
One first sergeant
One quartermaster sergeant
Five sergeants
Eight corporals
Two trumpeters
Two farriers and blacksmiths
One saddler
One bagoner
And seventy-eight privates.
In 1867
President Johnson allowed all companies to have 100 privates.
The reason I looked up this
information was to get a feel for the officers and numbers of the Army and
Cavalry who chased after the Non-Treaty Nez Perce when they fled to freedom in
1877.
My current release Spirit
of the Sky is set during the grueling chase and the aftermath and
consequences forced upon the Nez Perce. Spirit of the Sky is a romance, but
the backdrop for the romance is the injustice the U.S. government and Army
forced upon the Non-Treaty Nez Perce.
Blurb
for Spirit of the Sky
To save her from oppression, he must save her whole tribe. To give her
his heart, he must desert his career…
When the US Army forces the Nimiipuu from their land, Sa-qan, the eagle
spirit entrusted with watching over her tribe, steps in to save her mortal
niece. Challenging the restrictions of the spirit world, Sa-qan assumes human
form and finds an unexpected ally in a handsome cavalry officer.
Certain she is a captive, Lt. Wade Watts, a Civil War veteran, tries to
help the blonde woman he finds sheltering a Nez Perce child. While her
intelligent eyes reveal she understands his language, she refuses his help. But
when Wade is wounded, it is the beautiful Sa-qan who tends him. Wade wishes to
stop the killing—Sa-qan will do anything to save her people.
Can their differences save her tribe? Or will their love spell the end
of the Nimiipuu?
2 comments:
Very interesting information, and I love the blurb from Spirit of the Sky.
Stephanie, Thanks for stopping in and commenting.
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