From the category archives:

Events

Tule River War 1856

February 21, 2012

Company A, 1st Dragoons participated in the so-called Tule River War, occurring in 1856 between settlers of Four Creeks (Visalia) California and the Yokuts tribe. Here is an article from the San Francisco Bulletin describing the war. Fort Miller, May 18th, 1856.[1] We have had some excitement about the Four Creek Indian War.  You may [...]

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Quake That Shook The Army’s Adobe

July 19, 2010

The army established Fort Tejon, California, in 1854. In January of 1857, the post was struck by a series of powerful earthquakes. These quakes were, possibly, the worst earthquakes to take place in California in the past 200 years. Inspector General Edward Mansfield noted in his 1859 inspection report that the post, built almost entirely [...]

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Lt. David Bell’s Letter

December 2, 2007

Lt. David Bell, of the 2d Dragoons had engaged in several skirmishes with the Utes and Jicarilla Apaches. When he heard of the attempts to cover up Lt. John Davidson’s defeat at Cieneguilla in 1854, Bell could not contain himself  and wrote the following letter to a West Point classmate condemning Davidson’s action. In 1855, [...]

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Get a Look at the Mighty Pacific: Thomas Swords Dragoon Quartermaster

August 31, 2007

Get a look at the mighty Pacific: Lt. Col. Thomas Swords in Antebellum San Francisco By William Gorenfeld (c) October 9, 2007 In 1825, Thomas Swords, a nineteen-year-old student at Columbia College, New York, gained entry into the United States Military Academy. Upon graduation in 1829, the Army placed him with the 4th Infantry and [...]

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LOVE’S DEFEAT (Coon Creeks 1847)

June 2, 2005

LOVE’S DEFEAT: The Battle of the Coon Creeks By Will Gorenfeld and George Stammerjohan ed December 8, 2003 First Lieutenant John Love, commanding Company B, 1st United States Dragoons, felt he was in a rut that winter of 1846-47. The year before, as a 2d Lieutenant, he was on recruiting duty in Dayton, Ohio. Hearing [...]

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Clash at the Coon Creeks: Lt. John Love’s Report of 27 June, 1847

February 8, 2005

Camp on the “Arkansas,” June 27, 1847. Sir: I have the honor to report, that company “B,” 1st dragoons, marched from Fort Leavenworth on the 7th instant, to join the army in New Mexico, escorting some three hundred and fifty thousand dollars– government funds. On our arrival at “Pawnee Fork,” (about three hundred miles from [...]

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