The second and final episode of this arc take the story of the new steel navy to the beginning of the Spanish-American War. From the mid-1880s to the 1890s, the necessary infrastructure was put in place to expand the capabilities of the ships joining the fleet. Moreover, there was a shift in ideas on how to use the navy. Rather than focus on coastal defense and commerce raiding, thanks to the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan, there was an interest in building larger ships that could wrestle the c...
Jul 15, 2025•27 min•Season 8Ep. 171
Perhaps one of the most prominent aspects of this period is the rise of the steel navy. After several decades of decline, the navy made a bold move and built a small fleet of steel warships. There was a growing, often fractious, political consensus that the navy needed to move forward. The move toward steel ships triggered the evolution of the American manufacturing base, slowly building the capacity to cast and mold steel, as well as build modern weapons made of the same material. We take the s...
May 30, 2025•24 min•Season 8Ep. 170
In this episode we take a look at Harbor Defense in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the most consistent missions of the US Army since the founding of the republic was defending the nation's harbors. The Civil War demonstrated that the granite of bricks of yore were outclassed by modern weapons. After a period of stagnation in the years after the Civil War, in 1886 Secretary of War Endicott released a plan for modern fortifications. While it took more than a decade to ap...
May 05, 2025•27 min•Season 8Ep. 169
In this episode we will continue and conclude our discussion of Emory Upton. We left off with the beginning of Upton's around the world journey. Upton traveled overseas on a mission to observe the armies of Asia and Europe. It was an important time for Upton. His observations of some of the most modern and, in his mind, backwards armies of the world, allowed him to work out his own notions of how the United States should reform its Army. Inspired by what he saw, Upton wanted a thoroughly profess...
Apr 08, 2025•30 min•Season 8Ep. 168
We are continuing our exploration of professionalization and what kind of Army would emerge through a long period of introspection. In this episode we are going to explore these issues through the eyes of Emory Upton. A protege of William T. Sherman, Upton's experiences in the Civil War would trigger an intense interest in tactics and the shape of the Army in the future. This episode will focus on the formative stage of Upton's career - his experiences at West Point, serving in the Army during t...
Feb 24, 2025•28 min
We are continuing our exploration of reform and revitalization of the US Army in the decades after the end of the Civil War. This is a critical topic that deserves some coverage if you want to understand the army’s performance in the future. One of the trends that emerged in this time period was an acceleration of moving the army toward a more professional organization. Will look at the key ingredients of this movement, in particular with a focus on education. A component of professionalization ...
Feb 02, 2025•23 min•Season 8Ep. 166
In this episode, we will continue our story on the military's response to civil unrest. As we spoke of in the previous episode, we concentrated on how and why the National Guard and the US Army responded to civil disorders. We focused on the 1877 strike and in this episode we will talk about the Pullman strike and other actions as the nineteenth century began to draw down. The Army's response to unrest informed what was emerging as one of the chief responses to change. Have a question, comment, ...
Dec 02, 2024•21 min•Season 8Ep. 165
We are back! Our series on the reform and revitalization of the American military continues with a focus on how the military responded to civil disorder. The rise of the factory system and the industrialization of the United States changed the economic landscape of the nation. Wage earners, feeling powerless at time of rampant profits as well as little in the way of protections during economic downturns, used collective action to put a stop to these abuses. Often, these labor stoppages would inv...
Nov 01, 2024•28 min•Season 8Ep. 164
In this episode we kick off the Progressive Era with a brief overview of the National Guard in the late nineteenth century. The National Guard emerged from the volunteer militia's that dominated the scene from before the Civil War until the decades after. We will delve more into their activities in future episodes, namely responding to civil disturbances. In this episode we will introduce the desire for more federal recognition, while preserving its unique allegiance to the states in which they ...
Aug 19, 2024•23 min•Season 8Ep. 162
We have finished western expansion and the Army's campaigns 'out west'. With this episode we move into reform and revitalization of the Army and Navy until the end of the nineteenth century. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the United States remained insular. Without any external threats, the Army and Navy began to professionalize and think about the future. We will be focusing on a number of topics in this new series: the rise the National Guard, the expansion of officer education and profess...
Jun 18, 2024•16 min•Season 8Ep. 162
In our last episode on the frontier army, it seems appropriate to highlight the African-Americans who served in the west - the Buffalo soldiers. Two infantry and cavalry regiments were set aside for African-American soldiers. They flocked to the colors to serve. Taking part in many of the campaigns in the west, they cemented their reputation. The officers who led these regiments were white. In the decades after the end of the Civil War, several men of color were admitted into the US military aca...
May 29, 2024•28 min•Season 7Ep. 161
This episode follows up with the previous. After focusing on what it was like to serve in the west after the Civil War, we close the circle with this episode where we focus on the campagin trail and combat. Rather than fighting standing armies as had occured in the Civil War, the 'wars' more often than not, these brushes with violence could be called skrimishes rather than set piece battles. Regardless of the size of the battles, combat was a very personal and, in many cases, terrifying experien...
Apr 26, 2024•21 min•Season 7Ep. 160
In this episode, we take a closer look at the life of officers and enlisted men on the frontier. We explore the motivations for joining and the challenges of serving. The post Civil War Army served in over 200 posts spread through the west. They had to endure tedium, hardships, and occassionally the terror of serving in a battle. This episode will provide a broad overview of life on the frontier. Have a question, comment, concern, or compliment? Contact us at americawarpodcast@gmail.com . You ca...
Mar 27, 2024•28 min•Season 7Ep. 159
As we draw down the arc of episodes related to post-Civil War Indian Wars, in this episode we will concentrate on subduing Geronimo. Geronimo bedeviled the US Army as he left the reservation three separate times. For the last two campaigns, General George Crook successfully cornered the proud warrior and compelled him to return to the reservation. Unfortunately, Crook was not happy the second time Geronimo went on the campaign trail and he was sent into exile in Florida. The native peoples who h...
Feb 29, 2024•21 min•Season 7Ep. 158
In the episode we move from the Lakota and Sioux to the border region. Long before the United States controlled what we know today as the Southwest, Spanish and then Mexican authorities had to contend with Navajo and Apache raids. Once the Americans established themselves, the pressures of colonization would trigger Army intervention, and basically very little in the way of accommodation, triggering further raids and army reprisals. The episode will focus first on the Navajo and their attempts t...
Jan 26, 2024•24 min•Season 7Ep. 157
I wanted to ask you all a question and wish you a happy and safe holiday season. If you would like to respond to the query, you can either respond through the podcast's facebook page or drop me a line through the podcasts email at americawarpodcast@gmail.com. Thank you for listening to this podcast for all of these years. I really appreciate the support. Please be safe and enjoy the time with your families!
Dec 25, 2023•6 min•Season 7Ep. 156
The death of George Armstrong Custer and the destruction of the Seventh Cavalry is a touchstone for the Indian Wars. It is the one event that in many people's mind, is the touchstone for the post-Civil War conflicts with Native Armericans. We will focus on that in this episode of the podcast. The campaign to hem in the Sioux to their reservations was to be facilitated by a multi-prong advance. Rather than seeing success, the Army was blunted on the Little Big Horn and the Rosebud. The defeat had...
Dec 21, 2023•24 min•Season 7Ep. 156
We are moving to the center of the country with this episode. Before the beginning of the Civil War through the decade of the 1870s, the Army was busy in the center of the country. This episode will serve as bridge between the end of the Civil War and the Sioux and Lakota Wars of the 1870s. As settlement stretched west, there were clashes between native peoples and the Army. In a familiar story, dissatisfaction with treaties and the ongoing conquest of native lands, forced the hand of many Tribe...
Nov 23, 2023•22 min•Season 7Ep. 155
This is our last episode concerning the Nez Perce War of 1877. In the aftermath of Big Hole, the Nez Perce continued east, traveling through the newly established Yellowstone National Park. As it became clear that they were not welcome in Crow Country, the Nez Perce decided to head north to Canada and sanctuary. After exiting Yellowstone, the Nez Perce swung north, clashing with the Army at Canyon Creek. After crossing the Missouri River, they found a site known as Snake Creek or Bear Paw to res...
Oct 28, 2023•28 min
We continue our narrative on the Nez Perce War, concentrating on what happened at Big Hole Montana. After successfully eluding the army in Montana, they camped in the Big Hole valley, thinking they were safe. They were not. Colonel John Gibbon was in pursuit. In what could best described as a massacre in the making, Gibbon attacked the Nez Perce encampment early in the morning of August 9, 1877. As Gibbon's men fired into the tipis, killing women and children, the Nez Perce rallied, pushing Gibb...
Sep 23, 2023•23 min
We continue the Nez Perce War with this episode. After the various missteps and mistakes by General Howard, the Army struck the Nez Perce again at the Battle of the Clearwater. While it could be seen as a victory, the Nez Perce escaped, leaving their household goods behind. A council among the Nez Perce leaders resulted in a reluctant decision to head east, over the Lolo Trail, to their friends in western Montana. Hoping that they would escape the war, they went east. Howard, belatedly, followed...
Aug 30, 2023•22 min
We are continuing our story of the Nez Perce War of 1877. In this episode, we will concentrate on the start of hostilities. With emotions running high, Joseph and his band left the Wallowa's of northeast Oregon for the now reduced Nez Perce reservation. When they gathered at a place called Tolo Lake, emotions got the better of three young men who murdered some ranchers along the Salmon River. The army responded and the first battle of the war, at Whitebird, began in June of 1877. General Howard,...
Jul 31, 2023•27 min
With this episode, we continue the story of the Nez Perce War of 1877. With the onset of the colonization of the Pacific Northwest, tensions gradually rose between the Tribes of the Northwest and these newcomers. Once the border between British Canada and the United States was agreed to, the U.S. quickly organized the Pacific Northwest. Isaac Stevens was appointed territorial governor and Indian agent. He met with the Nez Perce in the summer of 1853 to negotiate a Treaty. When anti-treaty factio...
Jul 17, 2023•27 min
As we move to the Pacific Northwest from California, it is time to consider the Nez Perce War of 1877. The conflict captured the public's imagination, much like the Modoc War, of a Tribe wanting to establish a home, but not allowed. To understand the full measure of the Nez Perce War, this episode and the next will focus on the roots of the Nez Perce culture and homeland as well as the challenges to their sovereignty. Fur traders gave them manufactured goods. Missionaries brought Christianity to...
Jul 01, 2023•21 min
Once a year I post a short episode on the state of the podcast. It is an overview of where we are and where we are going. No someone who enjoys history? Tell them about this podcast! We could use some more listeners. Have a question, comment, concern, or compliment? Contact us at americawarpodcast@gmail.com . You can also leave comments and your questions on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/americaatwarpodcast/ . Thanks for listening!...
Jun 09, 2023•7 min
In this episode we will be concluding our series on the Modoc War of 1872-73. With the Modoc on the run, they retreated to a stronghold on the toe of a lava field, providing a bastion to protect their families from the U.S. Army. It took time to gather soldiers and supplies and did not attack until January 1873. It failed. In an attempt to break the impasse, negotiations led by General Canby were met with violence, coming to a sudden conclusion with the assassination of the general. A second att...
May 31, 2023•24 min
This is part two of a three episode arc on the Modoc War of 1872-73. With an increasing number of Euro-Americans settlers coming into the Klamath Basin astride the Oregon/California border after the end of the Civil War, tensions rose. Modoc's feared a loss of access to their homeland and it became an issue with both parties. It put increasing pressure on the Lost River band of the Modoc Tribe to remove themselves to the Klamath Reservation. Governed by two different agreements, one approved by ...
May 10, 2023•24 min
We are moving into our season on the wars of the western frontier. We are starting on the Pacific coast with the Modoc War of 1872-73, California's only large post Civil War conflict with a native people. This episode sets up the events of the war. The Modoc homeland, in the far reaches of Northern California in the Klamath Basin, was under pressure with waves of immigration that occured in the aftermath of the Civil War. Tensions between settlers and Modoc gradually rose through the 1850s and 1...
Apr 12, 2023•25 min
We are now moving beyond the Civil War and examining the armies role in the western United States. In the decades after the Civil War came to an end, the regular army was sent west. After 1865, with the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the Homestead Act, settlement of the west accelerated. Unfortunately, as the western states began to wholesale colonization, it brought them into conflict with the native peoples who lived in the areas west of the Mississippi River. As this series m...
Mar 11, 2023•31 min
The period from the end of the Civil War until 1877 was known as Reconstruction. As the name suggests, it was the country's attempt to reconstruct and, perhaps, transform the South. The hope was to not only stitch the country back together again, but provide the freedmen a step up, to integrate the formerly enslaved population back into society. Tensions between Congress and the President led to an uneven and imperfect process. The Army was the only institution that could provide stability, but ...
Feb 10, 2023•23 min
