The United States Army: A Chronology, 1775 to the Present

385 Pages·2010·4.47 MB·English

by  John C. Fredriksen

THE UNITED
STATES
ARMY
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THE
UNITED
STATES
ARMY
A CHRONOLOGY, 1775 TO THE PRESENT
J C. F
OHN REDRIKSEN
Copyright © 2010 by ABC-CLIO,LLC
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted,
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ISBN:978-1-59884-344-6
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Contents
Introduction,vii
THE CHRONOLOGY, 1775 TO THE PRESENT, 1
Bibliography,341
Index,351
About the Author,376
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Introduction
T
HE U.S.ARMY today evokes imagery relearned,but thereafter those regular forces
of high-tech soldiers striding across retained in the peacetime establishment
the globe, accompanied by huge were abetted by growing professionalism
tanks and sleek helicopter gunships, all and an influx of graduates from the U.S.
demonstrative of the world’s sole remaining Military Academy.
superpower. However, the origins of this This invigorated army,fleshed out by vol-
formidable force completely belie its impos- unteer forces,performed superbly in the war
ing mien,for military establishments cannot with Mexico, 1846–1848, but it remained a
escape the political culture that occasions small,scattered force up through the cusp of
their rise. In 1775 the nascent nation was civil war in 1861. Manpower then rose in
struggling against Great Britain, a military excess of 50,000 men,but it remained totally
superpower of its day, and the Continental dwarfed by the volunteer forces employed,
army raised to oppose them took some which numbered close to one million men.
extremely hard knocks in the course of The military was drastically demobilized
independence.They improved in perform- again and dispatched to battle Indians along
ance with experience,and by war’s end they the plains for many years before war with
approximated the professional soldiery of Spain in 1898 again led to its enlargement.
Europe. Numbers again rose,principally through vol-
The new United States government unteers, and both volunteers and regulars
distrusted standing forces, though, so the fought well in combat,though they remained
Continental army was disbanded,save for a hard-pressed to secure and garrison America’s
handful of companies.The new concept of new empire.
citizen soldiery dominated military thinking The onset of world war in 1914 again
for nearly a century and placed greater found the United States unprepared militar-
emphasis on episodic militias and volun- ily but, by virtue of its sizable population
teers. Despite an Indian war in the Old and burgeoning industrial base, the U.S.
Northwest, 1790–1794, and events in Army expanded to over one million men by
Europe that placed the Americans on a sec- 1918, and provided a decisive manpower
ond collision course with England,the U.S. advantage to the Allies. The ensuing cut-
Army remained neglected and decidedly backs of peace and the Great Depression
second place to more state levies.The folly resulted in other severe contractions,and by
of this practice was painfully underscored in 1941 the military establishment was again
the War of 1812–1815,when the lessons of unprepared for its greatest challenge,World
the Revolutionary War had to be painfully War II. Once again, the U.S. Army could
viii Introduction
draw from a large manpower pool and a very U.S. Army continues to meets its national
advanced technological base,which enabled and global obligations in the war on terror,
it to expand to 11 million rank and file,its and it can rightfully be judged one of the
largest size ever. great military forces in human history.
The U.S.Army bore a large measure of This chronology is an attempt to capture
fighting and gained its share of victory in the great canvass of U.S.Army history in a
this far-flung conflict,and,in contrast to the relatively modest space.To that end, all the
periods following earlier wars, the nation important battles and personages are men-
was saddled by global commitments after tioned to contextualize them to military
1945, necessitating the retention of sizable affairs at the time when they unfolded.
forces and a peacetime draft.The ensuing However,great care is also taken to mention
Cold War confrontations in Korea and notable draft laws, military texts, schools,
Vietnam included their share of triumphs weapons systems, and occasional political
for the U.S.Army, but victory itself proved developments that affected military affairs.
elusive in Asia, and the conflicts were Overall, this book should impart on lay
unpopular for reasons transcending military readers the scope and sweep of Army his-
considerations. After 1975 the Army tory, whereas a more detailed bibliography
reverted back to its original volunteer for- of all the latest scholarship can refer them to
mat, although now abetted by greater greater details. The book also affords
emphasis on the latest and most modern prospective researchers a workable time
military technologies to offset relatively frame, or stepping off point, from which
small numbers.Its major engagements since they can pursue events and individuals that
then, the Gulf War in 1991,Afghanistan in interest them. The author would like to
2001,and Iraq in 2003,clearly demonstrate thank editors Padraic Carlin and Andrew
that the concept of volunteer citizen sol- McCormick for their support and advice in
diery has lost none of its potency on the compiling what I hope will be a useful and
battlefield, even if the nature of America’s relevant addition to any library shelf,public,
enemies have dramatically changed. The or personal.
—John C.Fredriksen
1775
FEBRUARY 20 The war clouds are gath- That night,a column of 700 light troops,
ering with Great Britain. At Concord, grenadiers,and Royal Marines under Lieu-
Massachusetts, the Second Provincial tenant Colonel Francis Smith and Major
Congress reconvenes and enacts positive John Pitcairn is ferried across the Charles
steps for enhancing colonial defense, River and begins marching overland
including establishment of a military toward Concord.The colonists, however,
commissary, recruitment of Stockbridge are alert for such a move,and riders Paul
Indians, rules for military governance, Revere and William Dawes are dispatched
and appealing for reinforcements and to warn the militia.Both riders are caught
supplies from nearby colonies. en route and detained by the British,how-
ever,so it falls upon Dr.Samuel Prescott to
FEBRUARY 26 Governor General Thomas deliver the actual warning.
Gage orders that a cache of colonial
supplies and cannon stored at Salem, APRIL 19 The War for Independence
Massachusetts, be seized by force by the begins in the picturesque village of Con-
64th Foot under Colonel Alexander cord, Massachusetts, when 700 British
Leslie. Leslie lands at Marblehead, troops under Lieutenant Colonel Francis
Massachusetts, and marches inland, but Smith confront a small party of Minute-
his path is blocked by irate civilians and men under Captain Thomas Parker.
militia,who refuse him passage over the Major John Pitcairn warns the rebels to
drawbridge.Leslie is preparing to fire on disperse,and they are in the act of doing
his antagonists when Colonel Timothy so when a musket inexplicably dis-
Pickering arranges for the British to cross charges. The startled British troops fire
and examine the building in question, into the milling militia,killing three and
then depart. The British perform their wounding eight. As the day progresses,
task,then sail back to Boston.The entire large numbers of Americans gather in
affair is derided by colonials as “Leslie’s nearby woods and snipe at the British
Retreat,”and it emboldens them to con- column as it retires back to Boston,
front Imperial authority. killing 72 and wounding 201.
APRIL The Provisional Army is created in APRIL 20–30 In Cambridge, Massachu-
Massachusetts by the extralegal Provincial setts,General Artemas Ward takes charge
Congress.This 30,000-man force com- of the 13,000-man Provincial Army gath-
prises detachments from all six New ering there, assisted by Generals William
England states, and it employs British Heath and John Thomas. They slowly
cannon seized from various forts. Con- envelop Boston from the land side,com-
cord, New Hampshire, is selected as the mencing a long siege.
major entrepot, and detachments begin
drifting in from New Hampshire, Con- APRIL 28 At Castleton,Vermont,Colonel
necticut,and Rhode Island. Ethan Allen and a group of the Green
Mountain Boys gather and begin debat-
APRIL 18 Governor General Thomas Gage ing how to seize British stores and muni-
orders the colonial cache of arms and sup- tions kept at Fort Ticonderoga, New
plies at Concord, Massachusetts, seized. York.