The history of conflict on a global scale is often viewed as one of empires in conflict for territory, meeting on vast fields of battle in a series of decisive one-off conflicts and prolonged, years-long campaigns.
However, this history is- in fact- composed of often overlooked instances in which multiple factions and multiple peoples worked with, and against each other.
While the tales of great battles and legendary conquerors dominate the consciousness of many modern observers, many of the history’s lesser known stories of bloodshed, bravery, selflessness and sacrifice are all-too-often forgotten.
Tonight, History At The OK Corral brings you 15 Little-Known Battles In World History.
0:00-0:56 Introduction
0:57-37:09 British Soldiers vs. Zulu Warriors: The Battle Of Rorke’s Drift
37:10-50:09 Mountain Men vs. Arikara Warriors : The Sandbar Fight
50:10-1:17:15 Comanche Warriors vs. Spanish Soldiers : Cuerno Verde’s Revenge
01:17:16-1:34:33 Comanche Warriors vs. US Army Buffalo Soldiers : The Legend Of Pompey Factor
01:34:34-1:49:24 Russian Trappers vs. Tlingit Warriors : The Battle Of Sitka 1802
01:49:25-02:06:39 Viking Raiders vs. Native American Warriors : Their First Fight
02.06.40-02:29:59 British Sailors vs. Maori Warriors : The Brutal Story Of The Boyd Massacre
02:23:00-2:32:09 Maori vs. Maori : The Musket Wars
02:32:10-2:52:29 Spanish Conquistadors vs Aztec Warriors : The Killing Of Montezuma
02:52:30-3:03:59 Spanish Conquistadors vs Pueblo Warriors : The Acoma Massacre
03:04:00-03:30:54 Sioux Cheyenne & Arapaho Warriors vs. US Army Cavalry : The Battle Of Beecher Island
03:30:55-03:43:29 Mountain Men & Delaware Scouts vs. Blackfoot Warriors: Jim Bridger’s 1834 Raid Of Revenge
03:43:30-3:59:39 British Colonials & Mohawk Warriors vs. French-Canadians & Native Allies : The Bloody Morning Scout
03:59:40-04:14:59 British Colonials & Mohawk Warriors vs French-Canadians & Native Allies : The Battle Of Lake George
04:15:00-4:32:32 Samurai vs. Samurai : Myamoto Musashi & The Boat Oar Fight
welcome to history of the OK Corral don’t forget to click like share this episode with a friend and become a subscriber and now on to tonight’s episode the history of conflict on a global scale is often viewed as one of Empires in Conflict for territory meeting on vast fields of battle in a series of decisive one-off conflicts and prolonged yearslong campaigns however this history is in fact composed of often overlooked instances in which multiple factions and multiple peoples worked with and against each other while the tales of great battles and legendary conquerors dominate the consciousness of many modern observers many of History’s lesser known stories of Bloodshed bravery selflessness and sacrifice are all too often forgotten tonight history the okay caral brings you 15 little-known battles in world history London England 1887 William Jones sits backstage under a large tent surrounded by Lakota Warriors and American Cowboys with the pungent smell of gathered livestock permeating the air every few minutes he glances at a cordon off section of seats as does everyone else in the building the seats are reserved for Queen Victoria she along with visiting dignitaries from throughout Europe will be in the audience for this afternoon’s performance of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show the show presents a recreated look at life in the old west with mock battles dances and demonstrations of Marksmanship and horsemanship however as excited as this London audience is to see the legendary figures they have heard so much about from America it is their Countryman William Jones they are perhaps most excited to see but William a 48-year-old native of Castle precincts brist is tight his body aches from the rheumatism that plagues him he has not slept well and dreads the task before him this is all too understandable as his job for the day will entail recounting quite literally in front of Queen and Country the reasons why he had laid awake on so many nights for the better part of the last decade last night his mind had yet again begun to race every time he finally began to drift off to sleep every few hours he had managed to finally fall into into Slumber only to find himself back in the nightmare the screams the smoke the gunfire the pure Primal Fear it all came flooding back jolting him awake and rendering him progressively more irritable and confused with every passing hour now as Queen Victoria is shown to her seat the torrent of emotions floods back into William’s mind again what is he doing here how had he survived and why had others not how can he convey to these people to the queen for whom he had fought the horrors that he and his comrades had been through that sweltering Day in South Africa the weight of his Victoria Cross feels odd to him tugging down on the breast of his jacket though he is immensely proud of this great honor that he has earned the price he has paid often leaves him wondering what is it all worth as the legendary Frontiersman Buffalo Bill addresses the crowd welcoming them to this most auspicious Affair Jones takes a deep breath and attempts to steady his nerves but in a flash his mind is there again he is back at RS drift it is January 1879 for years the British have eyed the valuable territory of South Africa for both its natural resources and its geographic location diamonds had been discovered in 1867 near the V River sparking an even greater interest in the territory especially amongst the local British officials the ostensible plan put forward by the notable and notorious Lord Carvin is to Institute a white ruling minority that will rule over a native black majority who will provide the workforce to operate British Sugar plantations and diamond mining operations repeatedly Lord karvin and the local civilian Authority a man named Sir Henry Bartle frer have attempted to establish federations between themselves and the Dutch descended boore farmers who have inhabited the area since the 17th century as well as the swazi tribe who came to South Africa in the 15th century however the valuable territory replete with natural resources and grandio Beauty was already under the control of another powerful militaristic Empire the Zulu the Zulu had risen to prominence in the early 19th century sweeping down from the west of Africa under the Revolutionary leadership of Shaka Zulu the legendary chiefton and warlo whereas intertribal conflicts on the African continent prior to shaka’s rise had consisted primarily of small raids and generally inconsequential skirmishes Shaka had formed the Zulu into an enormous war machine that had taken over vast sads of southern Africa under his leadership the Zulu were molded into a warrior Society whose structure and culture more closely resembled the Spartans of ancient Greece than it did any of their African contemporaries by this time in 18 79 the Zulu have seen the passing of their great king Shaka and a subsequent decades long power struggle for control of the tribe Zulu Society focuses almost exclusively on warfare and a young man’s advancement in their society is almost entirely dependent on his Marshal prowess they operate under what is known as the ukubwa system a term which means to be enrolled this hierarchical system organizes young men and young women as well though not as military combatants according to their age sets men of similar age ranges live together in organized Barracks under the command of senior officers they train in tactics techniques strategy and fitness all as a unit the highly organized tactics of the Zulu require not only great numbers of soldiers to execute them but repetitive and consistent drilling focusing on even the most granular aspects of movement communication and combatives Zulu Weaponry consists of weapons that would in many ways seem familiar to a Roman Legionnaire each Zulu Warrior is equipped with a thick cowhide shield emblazened with black and white designs while accounts of zulu Shield stopping bullets are at best highly exaggerated they do provide a notable measure of defensive cover and an offensive option for bracing and pummeling an opponent behind their Shield a Zulu Warrior carries at least one longer spear for throwing as well as stabbing known as an Asaka die often times they carry knobhead clubs known as knob carries made to crash down upon enemy skulls they also carry another Shaka Innovation a shorter spear made for close range stabbing from behind their Shields it is known as an IA named after the sound it makes when withdrawn from an enemy’s body but however revolutionary Shaka may have been in implementing new weaponry and organization it is his strategic and tactical prowess that had had managed to expand his Empire at an unprecedented rate Zulu War formations might too have been well familiar to a Roman legionary fighting in the Wilds of Gaul nearly two Millennia prior where their opponent’s tactics were largely Valiant halfhazard attacks the Zulu are organized in stratified and well- drilled ranks each positioned on the battlefield according to their age and experience each Regiment of Zulu warriors is under the command of an officer in charge to distinguished by specific designs on his shield experienced and decorated soldiers might carry white shields in effect distinguishing them as non-commissioned officers under shaka’s Guidance the Zulu have become masters of adapting a centuries old hunting technique known as the horns of the buffalo in which the main force of Warriors holds the middle ground of a battlefield then fain’s Retreat allowing the enemy to advance as Zulu forces to the left and to the right quickly flank their positions and in C them once caught in this trap destruction is often all but certain using these tactics the Zulu have wrought havoc on all who have opposed them throughout the majority of the 1800s however at times when this tactic is Not Practical or even more Desperate Measures are called for the Zulu are known to put forth unrelenting human waves of head-on charges designed to inflict maximum damage and buy time for retreating forces by 1879 they are the dominant power throughout the entirety of Southeastern Africa and in point of fact as far as most in the British government are concerned this is fine by them by this time in the 19th century Britain is finding itself increasingly overburdened by the enormity of its Empire and is loathed to take on the responsibility of overtaking colonizing and then governing another remote local on the planet that the vast majority of its citizens could not find on a map the British are already already ens snared in the second Anglo Afghan war which will last until 1880 in the latter half of the 19th century alone the British army would fight in such far away locals as Burma Sudan India the Crimea and Egypt to name but a few suffice to say the British government has little to no interest in expanding into yet another territory as it would add more to their burden than it would to their wealth however this is not the opinion of karvin nor sir Bartle FR nor is it in keeping with the intentions of One Frederick austic tesser second Baron chelsford otherwise known as Lord Chelmsford born in 1827 in London England the son of a wealthy lawyer and politician Lord chelsford has served in the British army since 1844 when he had purchased a commission in the rifle Brigade after failing to obtain a position with the Grenadier guards he has served been the Crimean War of 1855 as well as the Indian rebellion of 1857 steadily rising to the rank of Major General in 1877 upon his arrival in South Africa he initially leads campaigns against the Nora tribe these engagements amount a little more than skirmishes and result in the British routing their opponents in relatively short order in chelmsford’s estimation no native population armed with only Spears and shields no matter how numerous or well Tred can compete against the mighty British Army in chelmsford’s view the time for cementing his own legacy and Fortune as well as the Legacy and fortunes of his cohorts and Lord karvin and Sir Henry Bartle FR is at hand a month prior to this muggy rain soaked January on December 11th of 1878 after spending months besieging the politicians in London with correspondents de crying the brutality of zulu in the nearby territories Sir Henry Bartle FR had issued the ULU King King katuo a list of ultimatums that the warrior Monarch found both confusing and unreasonable until this time in the late 1870s the British had largely gotten along peaceably with the Zulu King katuo can see no need for such provocation but upon reviewing the terms which included the disbanding of the entire Zulu military he has found them impossible to agree to ble frer has counted on this and uses keto’s refusal to the term as evidence to his superiors that a Zulu invasion of British territories is imminent and the only way to stop it is to attack the Zulu first on their own lane Lord Chelmsford is appointed to command the operation overseeing all British and Allied Forces these forces consist of 12 regular infantry companies with six companies from the first and second battalions and six from the 24th foot regiment including wagon drivers servants and civilian Personnel chumps forces amount to roughly 7,800 people in comparison to the tens of thousand strong Zulu forces this is a poultry number of combatants to bring into the field but chumford feels assured that it will be more than enough chumford divides his men into three columns and on January 11th 1879 they slogged their way across the Buffalo River at a place called Works drift officially entering the heart of zulu country for his part William Jones serving with the 24th foot regiment sees this excursion as yet another in a long line of relatively tedious assignments he has seen in his nearly two decades of service in the British army he has served in macius Burma and India to name but a few of his appointments but aside from a smattering of Good Conduct medals has accumulated no accolades nor time in combat he had enlisted in Birmingham in 1858 married his wife Elizabeth on the 25th of May 1875 and the couple had a son son named Willie sadly though his wife had died the previous year and Jones had sent his young son back to England to be cared for by his in-laws until his latest term of service with the Army was complete though he is certainly not under the impression that this is an entirely safe Carefree Mission Jones along with most of the men in the 24th foot regiment are expecting to see little in the way of resistance from the zul though strained under the aforementioned burdens of supporting a worldwide Empire the British Army is for all intents and purposes the dominant military power in the world at this point in time they are not only largely experienced and universally well Tred but equipped with some of the most advanced Weaponry on the planet at the time in the way of their service rifles and artillery each British soldier clad in their trademark red coats and white helmets carries the 577/450 caliber Martini Henry rifle with an effective firing range of 400 yard and a rate of fire of up to 12 rounds a minute the breach loading singleshot lever action rifle possessed a mighty recoil and devastating Firepower each soier is also equipped with the pattern 1876 Martini Henry socket bayonet which when it fixed to the end of the martini Henry rifle renders their firearms a comparable stabbing threat to that of the Zulu IA before crossing the Buffalo River Major General chelsford had split the force into three columns the two main columns consist of British troops with column one being the less experienced troops and column three being the more seasoned Soldiers the smaller column number two consists of native African troops and Cavalry though he is a veteran Soldier William Jones finds himself assigned to the First Column with troops who are mostly in their 20s this column is left at RoR strip a local Trading Post and Lutheran Mission under the command of lieutenant John chard of the royal engineers and Lieutenant gonville brumhead of the 24th foot regiment to much beloved but underwhelming officers the rest of the British forces under the command of chelsford proceed roughly 10 mil Inland and make camp at the base of a large isolated Hill known as is sandalan here 1800 troops from the second and third columns make camp in the shadow of the imposing monolith this will be their base in the coming days as patrols are sent out in order to find and engage Zulu forces early on the morning of January 22nd as the dawn breaks clear and the temperatures begin to climb rapidly chumford assembles a contingent of troops and heads out in search of the Zulu and the personal Glory that is sure to be had within a few hours of chelmsford’s departure a scouting Detachment from ilanda Wana crests a nearby Ridge only to stumble upon the entirety of the mighty Zulu Army upon receiving the news that the British have crossed the Buffalo River this Zulu Force estimated to be roughly 20,000 strong has run more than 70 M over harsh African Terrain in scorching temperatures just to get here within Striking Distance of the British Camp however as it is the beginning of a new lunar cycle the Zulu commander in chingu Koza has decided to give his men a day of rest as it is generally considered poor practice to attack on days of what the Zulu refer to as a dead moon but once the Zulu realize they have been spotted their forces are roused for an immediate attack over the succeeding few hours 10 to 15,000 Zulu warriors swarm down upon the British had aand Delan in a Relentless series of head-on attacks by club and spear they kill every single infantry Soldier present in the middle of the attack a solar eclipse takes place casting an eerie p over an already hellish scene in vicious close quarter combat the Zulu and British stab shoot slash and strike one another in a flurry of violence rage and Terror until finally there are no British left a lot 1,800 veteran soldiers who had awoken that day to yet another Yan’s breakfast of tea and biscuits expecting to carry out a day of Bal drudgery now lie strewn across the African plains eviscerated by their Zulu vanquishers who believe that a slain man’s soul will stay trapped in his body if not released through his stomach the Zulu have also taken heavy losses with between 1,000 to 3 3,000 of their Warriors killed and 2,000 wounded in a force of 20,000 these losses will prove hugely consequential moving forward however there are still many Zulu warriors present estimat range from 3,000 to 5,000 who have not gotten to participate at all in the battle as it happened so quickly and with such ferocity these men still spoiling for a fight now turn their attention towards the smaller British encampment at work stripped as their comrades pillaged the British and honor their dead this contingent of zulu embark on yet another exhausting run this time heading for R’s trip a scant few Cavalry men have escaped across the Buffalo River and are headed to ROR strip at top their exhausted mounts having narrowly missed the horrific fates of their comrades as the Zulu Warriors and British survivors make a Mad Dash towards R’s drift all in the camp at RoR drift are blissfully unaware that anything out of the ordinary save for the solar eclipse earlier that day has taken place at 104° F the day is swelteringly hot even for this time of year at just after 3: in the afternoon a group of British troops as well as a Swedish missionary named OT wit are at top the large Hill that overlooks works drift known as Oscar BG Hill they are attempting to get a look at the campsite at as sandana but are unable to see anything of note from such a distance suddenly they spot a small group of riders coming around the hill towards the campsite at r strip the riters race into camp and inform a shocked Lieutenant brumhead of what has just occurred at as sandalan at a guard shack A little over a mile away Lieutenant chard has spotted two more riters who inform him of what has happened and that the Zulus are on their way brumhead chard and the other officers hurriedly convene inside the mission building where a brief but vifer debate is had on whether or not they should attempt to flee or stay in fight at this Zenith of the argument assistant commissary James Langley Dalton a 46-year-old former Sergeant in the 85th fot regiment advises that the British do all they can to fortify the mission building in hospital against attack and that they then stay in fight he reasons that attempting to combat the Zulu from behind even the most meager of defenses gives them a better chance of survival than being caught by the Zulu on the open Plains or in attempting to cross the Buffalo River his rationale is agreed to and the troops are informed of the situation and immediately ordered to begin building barriers with whatever they can find with little time to let the situation sink in William Jones and the remainder of the 140 British troops present along with 11 Colonial troops begin building walls connecting the buildings in order to create an ad hoc for 50 lb boxes of biscuits and 100 lb boxes of cornmeal staple rations for the British army are stacked up upon each other with the urgency and anxiety of of the men building just as rapidly as their fortification soon the mission building and Hospital have been connected by one wall on the south side with another wall building a longer perimeter along the north side with another wall cutting the courtyard in the middle in two this would serve as a fallback position should the Zulu overwhelm the First wall aov vit the Swedish missionary now takes his leap making a dash back to ttin to his family at another Trading Post 30 m away just after 400 p.m. a lieutenant Henderson 100 cavalrymen arrive from is sandana they are asked by Lieutenant Char to ride out towards the oncoming Zulu and do all that they can to slow them down Lieutenant Henderson and his men thoroughly traumatized from the events only hours before at aalana do their best to oblige they ride out but are soon seen hurrying back towards the fort they have spotted the Zulu warriors thousands strong swarming now towards the small haphazard fortifications of work’s drift and they have decided that they can take no more with their nerves sufficiently frazzled the cavalrymen make a Mad Dash past the men now in sconed Behind the Walls at rook’s drift hoping to save their own lives though no recourse is taken on the cavalrymen a group of Native Nal South African soldiers also begins to flee caught up in the confusion a young Corporal named William Anderson second Battalion third Regiment of the Native natal contingent begins to run suddenly the rort of a martini Henry rings out and gun smoke fills the thick heavy Air at the same instant the young Corporal Falls dead only a few dozen yards away from the walls in later examination it is unclear whether Corporal Anderson was indeed abandoning his post or simply confused by The Retreat of those around him either way his death will be the first that the British forces at R’s drift will suffer that day it will certainly however not be the last minutes after Corporal Anderson breathes his last a chilling sound can be heard the haunting rhythmic bellicose chants of the Zulu draw nearer and nearer the 3,000 to 5,000 Glory hungry indignant highly trained and experienced Zulu Warriors from his s Delana have arrived and they have come with the sole intention of wiping out every single British soldier and citizen there securing themselves The Glory they had earlier been denied at first the Zulu pepper the British compound with gunfire from Oscar BG Hill the Zulu are thought to have either acquired muskets from Traders or taken the british’s own Martini Henry’s from the vanquished soldiers at aalana though exactly how the Zulu acquired the firearms and which Firearms they are will become a matter of some contention the results for the men now fighting for their lives at R’s drift are the same as several fall from gunshot wounds as soon as the fire from the hilltop begins to wither around 4:30 p.m. the first Zulu attack sweeps around the south of the compound and makes a direct assault on the low wall in front of the hospital inside of the hospital are several men too sick to be moved as well as the soldiers assigned to protect the building with gunfire through freshly cut gun holes in the mud brick walls among these soldiers is private William Jones He as well as Corporal William Wilson Allen privates Cole Dunbar hitch Horgan John Williams Joseph Williams Alfred hook and Robert Jones have been assigned to defend the hospital and the men within it the hospital building however presents a daunting Prospect to defend as three of its rooms are disconnected from the main room of the building these rooms have only one door leading in and out of the room itself inside of these rooms now struggling to steady his nerves along with the rest of his comrades is William Jones He and the rest of the men inside know that should the Zulu break through the barricade and assault the hospital building directly they will be trapped but there is no time left to address this now as the Zulu attack is on the British receiv received the first attack by firing upon the charging Warriors first at about 600 yard mostly to little effect however the successive volleys as the Zulu advaned nearer and nearer chanting loudly and Swinging their Shields rhythmically are more effective Min Zulu fall fall but the charge carries on until they are within 50 yard of a low barricade then the Zulu fall back to reorganize for another attack within minutes that attack comes and then another again and again the Zulu assault the low wall on the North side with several attacks reaching the wall and resulting in brutal hand-to-hand combat as the Defenders desperately fought to hold their ground from behind their mixhi barriers finally at around 6:00 p.m. lieutenant Shard pulls his men off the north wall as the losses being inflicted are too heavy to continue its defense this saves the majority of his troops but leaves the men in the isolated rooms trapped as their only route of Escape is now blocked by thousands of Zulu warriors bearing down upon them the attacks continue on relentlessly with the greatest ferocity focus on the trapped and vulnerable men in the isolated rooms soon it is clear to the men inside the closet sized room next to The Veranda that the building will be overtaken by the Zulu as privates Horgan and Joseph Williams pull their revolvers and cut down the Zulu breaching the doorway John Williams Digs at the wall separating their room from the Next Room eventually he makes it through to the next room and the men are able to Escape the Room nearest to The Veranda dragging the patients through the hole with them in the Next Room and the next the process is repeated for the better part of an hour as John Williams frantically digs the fight rages is on with the soldiers in each room firing through the doors and windows in Desperate attempts to keep the Zulu at Bay one of the patients is eventually seized by the Zulu dragged out of the door and stabbed to death in front of the hospital another has to be left as he is Too Delirious with fever to be moved through the holes being dug in the walls private Waters a defender in the second room panics as the rest of the British squeeze through into the third room just before the Zulu swarm in waters does however managed to jump into a wardrobe in the room and in their haste to continue their assault into the Next Room the Zulu do not find him William Jones has been desperately defending his assigned position in the room closest to the courtyard and is unaware that the other soldiers have been methodically tunneling their way towards him for nearly an hour he is at first greatly panicked by the unexpected breaching of the wall and then quickly relieved at the sight of fredley faces making their way one by one through the hole but momentary relief brought on by the sight of his comrades is quickly replaced by the sickening smell of smoke the Zulu have Set Fire to the building the only means of Escape now is for the Defenders and patients many of whom are gravely ill or wounded by this point to make a 6-ft drop out of the window of the third room into the courtyard between the hospital and the mission building where the rest of the British forces and Scots seeing that this is the only possible course of action to soldiers at the mission Lance corporal William Allen and private Fred hitch make a Mad Dash across the open exposed Courtyard and assist in lowering the patience and then the soldiers through the window and onto the ground William Jones is one of the last defenders in the hospital resolutely firing upon the Zulu attackers until the barrel of his rifle is so hot he has to wrap it in his red tunic in order to continue shooting as smoke fills the room and the Zulu begin to breach the door Williams finally drops through the window and into the courtyard where he Lance corporal Allen and private hitch make their way across the deadly 50 yards separating the buildings now fully illuminated By the Light of the burning Hospital of the 11 patients in the hospital they have managed to save nine all of the able-bodied Defenders of the hospital even private Waters who has hidden himself away in the wardrobe of the second room are still alive but their fight is not over for the remainer of the night attack after attack pours down upon the troops at the compound the men fight on desperately with each Soldier firing at least 100 rounds their shoulders and ears suffering from the rifle’s mighty Roar and recoil however their accuracy is now aided by the Light of the Flames coming from the hospital roof the Zulu make desperate courageous charge after charge but more and more are cut down by British rifle fire as the night wears on finally just as Dawn breaks the Zulu attacks begin to slow then cease alt together the Zulu Commander present Prince dul lanzi kande has breached the orders of his brother the Zulu King katuo who has approved the attack of the sandana but not this additional attack on rog’s STP as his losses continue to mount the Rogue Zulu Commander begins to fear more and more that he will incur the wrath of his King finally at around 8:00 a.m. the Zulu are seen again this time roughly half a mile away well outside of the range of the British for a short while the Warriors rest in the morning sun and take snuff these Warriors mostly veterans ranging in age from their 30s to their 50s have eaten little to nothing over the course of the last 48 hours they have run what amounts to several marathons back to back only to carry out nearly 24 straight hours of the most ruthless costly combat they have likely ever seen they have lost many man here with an estimated 350 killed and 500 wounded and they too are tired after a brief respit the Zulu rise and then depart a reserved sense of relief overtakes the British they are unsure if more Zulu forces are nearby or whether or not General chelsford and his men are even still alive much less on the way to reinforce them however not long after the Zulu depart a line of Horsemen in ready red coats and white helmets is seen on the horizon at first the survivors at R’s drift cannot believe their eyes it is General chelmsford’s column finally the British can breathe at least a measured sigh of relief 17 of their 141 troops have been killed in the fight along with 15 men wounded an additional fatality is nearly incurred when private Waters comes bounding towards the camp his face smeared black with coal and covered and a large black jacket he had found the jacket in the wardrobe of the abandoned room thrown it over his head and fled through the attacking Zulu into the darkness of the night he had hidden in a ditch until sunlight being repeatedly trampled upon by charging Zulu who did not notice him when he was spotted by the weary worn out Rifleman he was nearly shot several of the Defenders of the hospital of Rook drift have incurred terrible injuries with Henry hook being hit by the glancing blow of a Zulu Spear and now bleeding profusely from a gash in his forehead and John Williams hands being rubbed raw from the incessant frantic digging to a man all will suffer from the wounds they incurred in the fight for the remainder of their lives they along with the other wounded have been tended to by sergeon James Henry who worked fearlessly and tirelessly through the night treating the wounded and dying amidst the gunfire and screams the surgeon and the the soldiers hear the sharp barks and Yips of the surgeon’s loyal Terrier Jack as his master worked Jack did his best throughout the night to alert The Defenders to any Zulu hiding behind the walls of biscuit tins and cornmeal bags in the coming days chelmsford’s troops will scour the surrounding Countryside killing any Zulu they can find General chelsford will spend the next few weeks and months attempting to save his reputation and to exact his revenge on any Zulu he can find in the aftermath of rook’s drift the battle will be held up in the British media as an example of at least some measure of British retribution in the face of their outright Slaughter at a sandalan the Victoria Cross the British Army’s highest award for Valor and combat will be awarded to more British troops in this battle than any battle in British military history in total 11 Victoria crosses are awarded with great honor and ceremony the medals are pinned to the chests of lieutenant John on CH lieutenant gonville brumhead corporal William Wilson Allen private federick hitch private Alfred Henry hook private Robert Jones Private John Williams surgeon major James Henry Reynolds Corporal Christian Ferdinand CH and private William Jones William will leave the Army in 1880 as well most of the survivors of R strip he moves back to Birmingham and attempts to restart his life with the series of menial labor jobs like many of the survivors Jones struggles to readjust to the normalities of day-to-day life in Victorian England he was unable to establish himself in a career and has thus in 1887 signed on with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show as they make their tour through Europe now here in Earl’s Court amidst the clamor and clatter backstage he snaps out of the memory he has relived so many times and steals his resolve for another performance he clears his head as best he can and does his best to forget the pain of his rheumatism another after effect of his time spent in the rain soaked sun-scorched misery of Rook Str his job is to give his account of that terrible day as well as a general retrospective on the Anglo Zulu War each time he does his nostrils fill with the smell of the bodies that had been left to burn in the hospital but he carries on William gives his account for the crowd including the queen as he will do time and again for crowds throughout Europe in the coming months but the funds from these performances will last but a short time and he will continue to struggle financially he will be forced to pawn his Victorious cross in 1910 and is admitted to a workhouse an institution for those unable to care for themselves in Manchester many nights he wakes in a panic and attempts to charge out of the building believing that he is back in R’s drift and that the Zulus are attacking he will pass away on April 15th 1913 and be buried in a Popper’s grave in Philips Park Cemetery in Manchester though he would finally receive a proper gravestone in 2007 after a 4-year public campaign his unfortunate ending Is tragically not at all unique amongst the survivors of rook’s trip the fight that saved their lives and many cases also permanently scarred them physically and psychologically as likely did their Zulu enemies who fought just as hard and suffered greatly but the battle at R’s drift would not only go on to shape the lives of its participants but to shape the public view of the British involvement in Africa the expansion of their territory there as well as the Conquering of the Zulu would quickly come to be seen as an empirical necessity for the British the Anglo Zulu War as it would come to be known will go on to be regarded as one of the most seminal campaigns in British military history history by Midsummer of 1879 the Zulu Empire would be soundly routed by the British after several costly battles but the stories of those battles as well as the countless stories of heroism and brutality on both sides are other stories for other times May 1823 in the territory of what is now South Dakota on the vast expanse of the undulating Prairie that extended to the Horizon in every direction a contingent of mules horses and Men moved wearily next to a river with pensive eyes switching from the water to the surrounding landscape searching for signs of danger they were hundreds of miles from anything resembling a city in a territory that did not belonged to them they were a mix of men from a plethora of backgrounds dressed in Wool shirts S buck skin leggings boots moccasins sarapes raccoon skinned caps flat brimmed hats and belts their common goal put simply was money money by way of accumulating and selling beaver pelts the coveted material that made the popular top hats of the day worn throughout New York Paris and London the means were simple set traps for the Beavers the animals would become and snared in the traps and drown they would collect the beaver pelts and repeat this process until it became hard to find Beaver then they would move on simple but simple does not always equal easy opposing them were the elements from blazing heat to icy cold from snow to dust storms from droughts to flash flooding hostile native tribes like the Blackfoot arika and kamanche kill killed many in gruesome ways for violating their tribal territory bounds among this party of men were some who had go on to become Legends in the animals of mountain man history they were commanded by General William H Ashley and major Andrew Henry and among their ranks were Hugh glass and jedadiah Smith two men whose future exploits would become the stuff of Mountain Man legend Smith was an anomaly amongst an already anomalous lot as he was devout Methodist read the Bible daily refrained from coarse language as well as dalliances with unknown women and strong drink on this day he was approached by Major Henry and directed to ride South to General Ashley’s Fort known apley as Fort Ashley he was to inform General Ashley that the company was in need of more horses and that the Erika tribe would likely be the closest to trade with in Hors flesh jedadiah Smith was still a relative new a fight in the world of fur trapping but was a man on the rise within the ranks of his company as his reputation as a stalworth and trustworthy hand was growing so Smith set out South and was actually met by Ashley coming north at the era village where they sought to buy more horses in terms of business this appeared quite fortuitous for the Trappers the arura a northern PL semi- agricultural tribe known for both their prowess and trade and Warfare whose ey had been stirred by some recent bad dealings with other white Traders were in a less than cordial mood however Ashley and his men had guns and ammunition that the arara knew they could acquire through few if any other sources thus there was a tur and tense piece as often happened in these instances tribes and Trappers were not necessarily antagonistic in fact quite the opposite Fur Company routinely employed native persons as translators trackers and Trappers as well as brokered many trading deals with tribes from New York to Oregon even in the early 19th century in the middle of the Plains no culture existed in a vacuum from the armchair of posterity we are often inclined to view the cultural landscape at the time as a binary US versus them or natives versus Americans Paradigm this was not only not true then but it had not been the case for centuries tribes had war and traded with each other for eons before the arrival of any European and the introduction of the Spanish French English Canadians and Americans did not stop this but only Incorporated them into the complex and ever evolving millu of the new world so some initial dealings were made between the two parties and it was mutually agreed upon that the trading would continue the next day Ashley split his forces into one on land to guard the supplies and two in the two boats which were anchored about 30 yards off the banks of the river Ashley would be in direct command of the boats and jedadiah Smith would be in charge of the force on land nearly all of the mountain men present went about their nightly routine of making dinner cleaning their weapons checking their supplies and preparing for the next day’s travel and trading but when all had bedded down for the night two men from the mountain men’s party snuck into the raro camp with whiskey and trinkets that they hoped to trade for sexual favors from the ero women this would prove to be a fatal mistake but just as the Braves made it to the shore and the sound of sloshing water from their swim Strokes had deaded they were replaced by the Frantic screams of the two mountain men who had snuck into the arika camp these men had indeed found the era women that they were hoping to but they had also found a r of men who were not too happy with the presence of intruders attempting to defile their wives daughters and sisters one had been cut down in the camp and another Edward Rose had escaped and now appeared on the banks of the river making his way as fast as he could for jedadiah Smith’s party he screamed that his partner in Mischief a man named Aaron Stevens was dead and the Erika were now in a collectively combative mood still cloaked in pre-dawn darkness and alerted to both the attempted robbery of Ashley’s boat and the killing of their comrade in the camp by the now presumably enraged Erika the mountain men began to vifer usly debate their options some argued for immediately moving the horses they had a sizable herd by this point to the opposite Shore before Daybreak so that they might be in a better position to flee when the sun came up with at least the river between them and the expected era attack others argued for the retrieval of Steven’s body as these debates carried on Alona Rika appeared on the horizon above the Riverbanks still in the dark he called out that he would try to broker a deal to get them Steven’s body back for the price of one of their best horses the mountain men agreed to this but a short time later the enterprising araro returned to inform them that unfortunately he would not be able to uphold his end of the deal Stevens’s body had been so badly mutilated he said that there was nothing substantive for him to bring back to them this understandably sent a cold chill through the ranks of the party it was decided that they would now have to move the horses as soon as possible as the Sunrise neared with every passing minute remaining calm and cool by all accounts Jed Smith embraced his first real opportunity at leadership and calmly directed the movement of the horses to and then across the river however as the sun began to rise and a large number of horses and men were still Mid River or near the bank waiting for their turn to move the mountain men were greeted with a horrifying sight silhouetted in the new morning sunlight were hundreds of arikara Warriors tapping down shot into their muskets knocking their arrows and taking up offensive positions the full gravity of the situation hit everyone present seemingly instantly and seemingly simultaneously they were stuck with the Enemy having The High Ground and no cover to be found at this point fish in a barrel might not have been an adequate descriptor of the position of the men present in the shore party within moments musket balls Spears and arrows began to rain down on them from above dozens of horses and a few men fell dead in the initial volley with many others Gravely wounded the screams of injured and dying horses and Men filled the air as Ashley and the men in the boats attempted to meet them on the other Shore and make their getaway the boats provided what covering fire they could and the men on Shore took cover behind the bodies of the dead horses from here as chaos rained all around Jed Smith coolly and calmly doled out directions to those in charge charge as he and his men fired and reloaded they made strategic Retreats making their way VIA leap frogging one defensive position at a time to the comparative cover and safety of the boats in all of this Ashley’s boat had run around momentarily on a sand bar the other boat at around this time cut the tie to their anchor and began moving Downstream in an attempt to save at least themselves from this seemingly helpless situation Ashley’s boat was quickly freed and made its way as close to the shore as possible Jed Smith and his men finally reached the banks of the river they dove in and began to frantically swim some were hit by arrows and some by musket balls and they sank under the surface never to be seen again some were swept down the river beyond the extended ores and hands of their comrades also never to be seen again the lucky few who managed to make it to the boats including Jed Smith and Hugh glass hunkered down and returned fire as the boats made their way as fast as possible down the Missouri River and out of the arika musket and arrow range for some of these men this would be enough to end their Mountain Man Adventures those who had decided that they had seen enough of this wild and dangerous life were put on a boat back to St Louis along with their injured and recovering companions no one could blame them and no one did for preferring the Comforts of home to this lonely land where life was short and seemingly cheap however Colonel Ashley Hugh glass and jedadiah Smith were not done Ashley would go on to mount retributive efforts with the US Army and Hugh glass would go on to pin a heart-wrenching letter to the family of John Garder a mountain men who had been killed in the araro fight the following is that letter Dear Sir my painful duty is to tell you of the death of your son who befell at the hands of the Indians 2 June in the early morning he lived a little while after he was shot and asked me to inform you of his sad fate we brought him to the ship where he soon died Mr Smith a young man of our company made a powerful prayer which moved all of us greatly and I am persuaded that John died in peace his body We buried with others near this camp and marked the grave with a log his things we will send to you the Savages are greatly treacherous retr with them as friends but after a great storm of rain and thunder they came at us before light and many were hurt I myself was shot in the leg Master Ashley is bound to stay in these parts till the traitors are rightly punished your obedient servant you glass this letter denotes not only glasses deep of humanity but it’s the first mention of jedadiah Smith’s piety and character from one of his contemporaries jedadiah Smith would mount an expedition along with an unnamed French Canadian Traer to a nearby Fort in hopes of mounting even larger retributive forces to supplement those that Ashley had already mustered after this he would carry on to travel perhaps more country than any other mountain man ever the stories of the EXP of Ashley Glass and Jed Smith are too numerous to summarize in one episode though rest assured we will be delving into their stories again soon but for tonight those are other stories for other times October 1768 Northern New Mexico as Dawn breaks on another autumnal morning the inhabitants of the Spanish Garrison at Oho Cente just north of the Rio Grand wake from another fitful night’s sleep casting watchful eyes to the north though the surrounding area was well known for its Relentless desert heat conditions could vary wildly from freezing cold to thunderstorms to unyielding droughts however regardless of the conditions they awoke to the soldiers present at Oho calente did this every morning for these men who believed themselves courageous soldiers of the Spanish Empire lived in Stark Terror of one thing more than any other here in this harsh loc on the bleeding edge of the Known World they lived in constant fear not of disease nor attack from other European powers nor even attack from most of the local native tribes whom they had either driven out or fully subjugated they lived in fear of the commanche the black clad black painted Horsemen of death who had been wreaking havoc on the western edge of of the frontier for decades now the Spanish had ironically swn the seeds of their own downfall on essentially the same day hernand Cortez had reached the mainland of Central America in the early 1500s for as history would bear out the introduction of the horse to the new world would prove not only a defining moment in history but an essentially unavoidable transference of a technology upon which much of the succeeding history would hinge in the two century since the horse had been introduced to the North American continent the collective population of horses in the new world gradually made their way northward by a trade theft and inborn wander lust during the same time the kamanche had undertaken a mass migration Southward breaking off from their shason forefathers in what is present day Wyoming and making their way down the Eastern side of the Rockies often harassed by tribes local to the areas they passed through however sometime in the mid to early 1600s the ganche had come into contact with the horse and in what amounts to the historical blink of an eye they had gone from bipedal whipping boys to some of the most Adept Cavalry men on the planet their turnaround had been Stark Swift and startlingly violent their longtime foes tribes like the Apache were driven from their homelands in Texas and New Mexico kamanche raids though were not not solely military Endeavors intent on killing their enemies and taking their lands they were the means by which the commanche economy ran The Spoils of Victory be they weapons horses food stuffs or often times captives who were treated as subhuman slaves the commanche were notorious for the brutal treatment they inflicted upon their prisoners while adoption of younger captives was not wholly uncommon the abuse and subjugation of female captives was the norm the commanche viewed the captives that they adopted as fully recognized members of the tribe but viewed those they did not as something altogether less than human and they treated them as such the kamanche dealt in an extensive empire-wide slave trade that rivaled or equaled the transatlantic and Arabic slave trades in their brutality and inh Humanity if not in transcontinental scope while there was certainly a market for powerful wealthy New Mexican ol ol archs to purchase back captives to return to their families there was also a large market for slave labor among the wealthy ranchers and politicians of the territory a resident Spanish Catholic priest at oojo Frey Andreas varo gave the following firsthand account of one of the many trade fairs that were held for the commanche by many of the local New Mexico governors in various locations throughout large SAS of eastern and southern New Mexico quote here in short is gathered everything possible for trade and barter with these Barbarians in exchange for Buffalo hides and what is saddest in exchange for Indian slave men and women small and large and a great multitude of both sexes for they are the gold and silver and richest Treasures of the governors for Io goes on to describe in horrified tones the treatment of the female captives by the command chief quote they corrupt them in sight of innumerable Assemblies of Barbarians and Catholics saying to those who buy them with heeden and Prudence now you can take her now she is good the command sheet no strangers to psychological warfare use the accounts of their raids and treatment of prisoners to stir up Terror and build an aura of invincibility throughout the burgeoning Empire however they also contrasted their propensity for startling levels of violence with a keen sense of diplomacy throughout the decades they had alternately established renounced and reestablished several peace treaties with different townships in the area however the decentralized structure of kamanchi society made any kind of sustainable peace agreement nearly impossible to establish though they were often referred to as a singular Nation the commande did not operate as one unified entity rather several autonomous bands comprised what was known on it whole as the kamanche nation before the 1750s three primary bands comprised the kamanchi the yaras the jupes and the kotas by the 19th century the diaspora of kamanchi bands had expanded significantly by this point many observers of the kamanchi began to refer to them in three distinct groups the northern kamanche the middle kamanche and the southern kamanche the aara or root eaters and the katso or Buffalo eaters occupy the northernmost areas of cantaria in present day Kansas and Colorado the Noone or movers held sway over the Eastern reaches in present day New Mexico located south of them were the owa or those who live Downstream as well as the tanima or liver eaters these groups were known as the middle kameni the panatea or honey eaters occupy the Edwards Plateau to in Central Texas they were the largest band and known as the southern ganche other bands would continue to break off and operate as autonomous but cohesive entities well into the 19th century the quati or Antelope eaters moved out of the PLS of the Yano estado in Texas in the 19th centuries by the 19th century they were known as the Western kamanchi these ever evolving int tribal Dynamics made attaining a tribal wide consensus on on anything from peace treaties to trading agreements a nearly impossible task the Spanish had come to these northernmost outreaches of their self-proclaimed Empire in the 16th century bringing with them cattle sheep agriculture Catholicism firearms and horses they had swept North after conquering the Aztecs either subjugating or eliminating the native tribes they had encountered on their deliberate decisive push into the territories of the New World by 1768 tows and Santa Fe had been established trading spots for centuries they were also subject to the constantly alternating and occasionally simultaneous commanche practices of trading with and making raids upon the local ranches and outposts 3 months before this October morning a band of 400 commi believed to have been kotka had made their way into tows roughly 40 Mi east of Cente under the opes of Desiring peaceful trade with the local Merchants this was not altogether uncommon though it must have been an unnerving experience for even the most inveterate Traders and to’s residents on this day though the commi had not only been Peaceable they had been downright amiable smiles and charity were the order of the day as residents traded and Bartered conversed and competed in horse races and games of chance but in the command joviality lie their maillian genius though they had no knowledge of the cynical 16th century Italian political philosopher it is safe to assume that the commanches would likely have appreciated his work if they did for they viewed themselves as rightful rulers of a seemingly endless domain ones who did not have the luxury of indulging in moral scrupulosity when they had an Empire to run this trading contingent had certainly come to TOS to trade and acquire Goods but they were also a distraction for on that same morning a group of 100 kateka Warriors had swept down upon the Spanish at Oho Caliente despite their best attempts on that day though the kamanche attack had failed the Spanish soldiers well-armed and well Tred had managed to respond in time to the kamanche attack killing and injuring a number of kamanche Warriors within the first few volleys like virtually all native tribes on the North and South American continent the command Marshall tradition did not include sacrificing the lives of their Warriors to make territorial gains the remaining Warriors retreated across the nearby River With A number being lost to Drowning one or two of the writers were sent as Messengers to alert their brethren in towels while the remainder fled to the open expanses of the Prairie to the north when they were informed of the loss of their fellow tribesmen the commande there also rapidly exited the territory rejoining their Brethren from the raiding party in the North but not before killing five Spanish settlers and one taleno native once reunited with the raiding party the undoubtedly engaged in the traditional kamanche mourning practices self- mortification which might take place anywhere on a spectrum from cutting one’s hair short to lopping off digits as well as the killing of the slain Warriors horses and the dispensation of his family and property amongst the rest of the tribe however once the physical and emotional wounds caused by the losses of loved ones healed the next order of business was as is all too common in The Human Experience Revenge that had been 4 months ago 4 months of Ms just like this in which the Spanish soldiers would wake from a fitful night’s sleep check their weapons and make ready for their day every morning they had wondered if that morning might be the morning that they would see the dreaded silhouettes of commanches riding at them at full bore returning to exact their pound of Flesh for the wrongs done to them 4 weeks before this day a small party of 24 young commane Raiders had made an ill-advised attempt at attacking the well-armed Presidio with all but one of them being killed the lone Kandi Survivor was taken captive by the Spanish from him they learned of a new leader who was on the rise amongst the kamanche The Prisoner described a catota war chief whose exploits had ging him great Renown and support within his band he seemed to know no fear and it was believed that he had derived great medicine or puuha from his distinctive buffalo horn headdress accounts of the headdress vary with descriptions of both a two-horned version with a buffalo horn on either side or a single horn version with a singular horn placed turned up and on the forehead in either account though the horns were painted green this garnered him the name quo Verde from the Spanish meaning greenhorn in his work kamanchi political history and ethnohistorical perspective 1708 to 1875 Anthropologist Thomas Kavanaugh described the chief thusly he had a guard of armed men pages to help in mounting and dismounting a sun shade of Buffalo hide as well as two confidants to carry out his orders one of whom was among those killed at o Cente the young kamanche Warrior being held prisoner warned the Spanish time and again that his party’s failure to return would lead to the tribe’s assumption that the young raiding party who had gone out to raid Oho Cente had been killed when they reached this conclusion qu Verde would Marshal his forces and be on his way South toward this small prido in the middle of nowhere the day was fast approaching he cautioned them that qu would come to oh Cente to take his revenge finally the day arrived though there are no formal firsthand accounts from that morning the routine would have been the same as all the others breakfasts of tortillas and beans mixed with local chilies would likely be prepared in traditional horno outdoor ovens that had been adapted by the Spanish from the local indigenous peoples such as the peblo Navajo and Apache they may have attended a mass that morning with the priest of the precidio the inclusion of Catholic priests on all Frontier Endeavors was considered mandatory by the Catholic Spanish Kingdom they would then begin checking over and Dawning the tools of their trade though their predecessors men such as Francisco pisaro ju Pon de Leon and heran Cortez had Dawn elaborate heavy metal armor these men were clad in lighter more flexible and comparably more breathable leather armor better suited to the harsh desert environs they were known as sodaro Zera or leather jackets Soldiers the jackets were constructed of multiple layers of deer hide that had been stitched together to form a sort of 18th century Kevlar vest Frey Juan crespy a Spanish priest who served in many pidos throughout the West during this time gives the following description of the at the time state of the art armor quote the qua which gave them their name was a leather jacket like a coat without sleeves proof against the Indians arrows except at very close range for additional armor they had Shields and shaps the shields carried off the left arm were made of two Plies of Bull’s hide and would turn either Arrow or spear the leather shafts or aprons fashioned to the pommel of the saddle protected legs and thighs from the brush and Cactus spines end quote the soos were armed with an escopeta or carbine a pair of singleshot pistols a bow a sword and a lance as an added defensive measure their soldado might choose between two types of shields the first being the larger bullhide Shield known as an Adara for use in establishing a more stationary defensive position the second being a small round metal shield known as a rodella for use in close quarters combat the sados recruited heavily from the myo population those of mixed Spanish and Indigenous Heritage as well as from the natives who had had come to convert to Christianity and from freed slaves most of the officers though were full-blooded Spaniards who had been born in the new world they were known as Creos for both officers and enlisted men service in the sados presented several enticing benefits regular pay access to Medical Care and the possibility of being granted portions of land upon completing their term of service recruitment was usually a local Affair as this was a much more pragmatic measure than recruiting from abroad and taking the time to acclimate troops to the harsh localities to which they would be stationed thus while again the written record for the precidio at Oho Cente in 1768 is less than substantial it is a safe assumption that the vast majority of the sados present that day had been born and raised in and around the surrounding territories but no matter how acclimated they were to the weather nor even how accustomed their nerves were to the rigors of combat what they saw that morning silhouetted against the Rising Sun as they were alerted by their centuries and crowded to the precidio ad Doby walls to procure a better view must have sent a collective chill down their spines the breath of both man and Beast hung in the cool morning air as the heavy breathing of the Warriors and their mouths created a Mist through which their lines seemed to crash as they moved forward where minutes before there had been an empty Horizon now appeared 500 commanche Warriors painted black and with minimal adornments bearing down on the precidio at full speed commane tactics similar to other light Cavalry superpowers like the Huns and Mongols did not approach entr trenched positions via linear head-on attacks instead Warriors would ride in tight concentric circles that rotated as they moved towards their target as they approached the rider nearest the Target would loose their Arrow before their Circ path took them to cover at the back of the circle also affording them time to reload before finding themselves near its the target again this created in effect a giant human Gatling gun that enabled the kamanche to dwarf the rate of fire presented by the Spanish with their muzzle loing carbin the Comanche used short bows again much like their Mongol and hun predecessors half a world away that held a draw weight well over 100 lb this was mitigated by the fact that they were not made to be brought to full draw with the hand holding the arrow brought below the Archer’s eye but drawn back only a few inches and released in more of a chute from the hip fashion like the soldados they too carried large leather shields these when angled properly could and often did deflect musket balls also like their Sado opponents They Carried long lances some being documented as up to 14 ft long these were designed to thrust in into Buffalo from a reasonably safe distance but could be just as effectively wielded against human targets some amongst the comme carried carbin of their own acquired through trading or Raid but at this time they were far less common amongst native tribes due to their unreliability and frequent need of Maintenance that few if any natives were able to provide want of gunsmithing Services was so prevalent in fact that it would be worked into many treaties with the United States and Mex Mexican governments as a necessary term of agreement even the relatively well-trained and well equipped sados could at best hope to get off two to four rounds a minute from their car beans however with the added advantage of their organization tactics and substantial cover provided by the pridal walls this would be a hardfought fight for both parties as the soldados took up their positions and studied their arms waiting for their officer’s command to fire they surveyed the battlefield that lay before them in the barren henter lands of today’s New Mexico even in the early mornings fleeting illumination one figure amongst the seemingly demonic horde barreling at them stood out amongst the rest he was not an exceptionally large man but his demeanor and Body Language indicated that he was clearly in command of this band of Warriors and the greenh horned headdress that he wore beneath which his eyes burned intently and angrily indicated that this was quo ver as the arrows began to rain down and the commanche war party Advanced upon them in several of their cyclonic attack formations the soldados loosened their initial volley at the command of their officer everyone inside the precidio was well aware of the stakes at hand should they be overrun those among them who were not killed outright would suffer torturous deaths at the hands of the commi again and again the sados repeated the actions of firing and reloading their carbin their well-trained digits struggling with the numbing effects of the morning chill the den of gunfire Commander exhortations war cries and the Lamentations of the wounded and dying filled the air along with the acurate aroma of gunm smoke meanwhile qude continued his Relentless press towards the precidio urging his warriors on and darting from formation to formation loosing arrows all the while while reports of his treatment amongst his people as a little King were likely to have been exaggerated by his enemies seeking to paint him as a hottie war chief queno Verde was indeed a fierce Warrior one who had earned the respect of his people through the only means available to any young kamanche man prowess on the battlefield qu lde had not only survived in this harsh Spartan esque world he had thrived in it his wife was happy and wellfed his young son was fast becoming the apparent rightful heir to his father’s Legacy and the Warriors who had followed him on this raid all 500 of them trusted him implicitly with their lives queno Verde likely did view himself as less of a king but more of a distinguished member of a collective Empire that had been built by the commanche and was inherently Theirs to uphold defend and expand these Spanish like the Apache Navajo and youth they had also wared with over the years were not of his people and thus had no right on his land and for the crime of killing dozens of their young Warriors over the past year he intended that these Interlopers pay with their lives qu’s blood ran hot his blood soaking the cap of his Buffalo hide headdress and as he came nearer and nearer the pridal walls he could almost feel the will of the Spanish breaking then from an unknown Sado a shot rang out quo was struck in the chest by a Spanish bullet and fell from his horse for a brief instant a shocked silence seemed to fall over the whole of the battlefield then almost as suddenly a collective howl went up amongst the Warriors as all present turned and Retreat to the commanche the killing of a war chief meant the medicine behind the raid had gone bad seeing qude fall was evidence that his raid no longer had Divine favor and that a retreat must be made but but while the commanche code of conduct made no Provisions for the sacrificing of Warriors to obtain positions solely for the position’s sake they were renowned even in 1768 for their willingness to put themselves In Harm’s Way in order to recover the bodies of their slain Warriors if at all possible in this instance coro’s compatriots were able to make off with his lifeless body headress still intact they disappeared over the horizon and the Spanish aware of the common tactic of false Retreats baiting pursuers into ambushes saw fit to Encon themselves even more firmly within the walls of the prido as the soldados used the time to refortify their positions to send word to TOS for any available reinforcements the commanche made their way North again onto the open Plains of today’s Colorado when they arrived back at their Camp carrying the body of the slain Corel Verde a collective whale rose up amongst the entirety of those present as the loss of such a great Warchief was so keenly felt what was worse it had come at the hands of the newest most hubristic Intruders into their empire the leather clad and carbine wielding Spanish qu’s horses a commanche chief of his status would likely have at least a few hundred were all killed by hand being sent with him to the afterworld to continue serving their Master as was their obligation quel Widow was taken care of by the families of his Warriors cor verde’s son would also take up his obligation one of Revenge his father had named him Tabo nant meaning dangerous man and while this was certainly apt history would see him assume the mantle of his father in avenging his death in a few short years the sados would again shudder at the sight of a mighty green torned Warrior rushing down upon them with Fury Untold unsure at first whether or not the mighty warrior had been killed at all or maybe even returned from the dead they would begin to refer to him under the same moniker as they had his father he would be known as quo and it would be he who history would recall as such as his Legend would spread farther and wider than even his legendary fathers Tales all over the Spanish settlements in what is now New Mexico Colorado and Texas told of the brutality and violence wrought by the Warchief against whose very existence implied support for the killing of his beloved father the Spanish would pursue him in vain for years until a legendary figure of their own a man named Juan Batista deanza came to the territory in 1776 he had led an expedition to Alta California and helped found what is today San Francisco upon his return to the territory he was made aware of the Havoc being Unleashed by quo Verde and his Raiders and made it his mission to track them down it would be years later before they would finally meet on the plains of Colorado in the intervening time he would lead Expeditions over thousands of miles cor node would continue his quest for Revenge via years of horrifically violent Warfare and the kamanche as a whole would be devastated by the deadliest enemy any native tribe could encounter small pox the intervening decade would see the commanche devastated the Spanish Empire reformed and the fate of Nations changed forever but those like countless other stories from kamanche and Spanish history are other stories for other times Eagle Pass Texas April 25th 1875 private Pompei Factor wipes the sweat from his eyes clearing his vision of the nearly apocalyptic sight before him sweeping down upon his position are dozens of incensed kamandi Warriors all intent not only on killing Pompei factor and his three fellow soldiers but hoping to accomplish this grizzly task via the long drawn out tortures they have become famous for across the frontier factor and his mates are well aware that the coming minutes will spell either their Doom or their salvation and that the former scenario is far more likely pompe Factor Sergeant John Barnes and Trumpeter Isaac Payne all members of a mixed race black and seminal contingent of Scouts attached to the famed Buffalo Soldiers are locked in a desperate battle with an exponentially larger attacking force of commanche Warriors despite the cultural and ethnic milu present on the battlefield the US Army has 10 years after the completion of the Civil War still not changed their requirement that the officers in command of these units be white thus in command on this day is lieutenant John lapam Bullis however at this very moment regardless of their personal backgrounds or the greater ramifications of racial Prejudice in United States federal policy all four men are concerned solely with the immediate threat of the commanche Warriors now bearing down upon them they are all experienced soldiers Lieutenant Bolis is a respected veteran of the Civil War and not only have all of these men spent the preceding year fighting the vicious Red River campaign but these three Scouts pompe Factor John Barnes and Isaac Payne have grown up in lives radically different even from their compatriots serving in what history has come to know as the Buffalo Soldiers following the abolition of slavery and the conclusion of the Civil War the US Army had formed four regiments of black soldiers mostly being former slaves and wasted no time time improving and then repeatedly utilizing the skill and daring of these regiments and their campaigns against the plains tribes that had reignited with America’s post-war Revival of enthusiasm for westward expansion and settlement though the origins of the term Buffalo Soldier are in fact highly contentious the prevailing theory is that the hair of the soldiers was unlike anything the plains tribes were familiar with they liken the hair of the black Cavalry and infantry men as similar to that of the hair of their buffalo robes and thus the name stuck however one counterveiling Theory one likely just as meritorious as it can be corroborated with quarter Masters records holds that the troopers were one of the few units outfitted with Buffalo hide Colts to combat the open Plains Winter Chill the army supply of wool coats had waned in 1866 and the locally sourced and supplied Buffalo coats presented a viable affordable and very effective solution to the Army supply chain conundrums thus often times when a soldier from one of the newly formed regiments was seen for the very first time by a Plains Warrior he would be sporting one of the heavy fulllength Buffalo coats regardless of the origins of their name the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers even 9 years after their Inception is one of notable gallantry and exceptional courage in combat many if not most of these men in these regiments see their service as an opportunity to prove their Merit and worth in a country that though it had granted them their freedom is still deeply divided amongst itself and in many instances open ly hostile towards them they also see it as a chance at Adventure to see lands they have never seen before and to combat a legendary enemy that most had only heard of however this is not the case for their cohorts and what are known as The seino Negro Scouts though they are indeed of shared racial background with their fellow Buffalo Soldiers they are in fact part of a rich and storied Heritage of escaped slaves who had dissimilated into various tribes in the American Southeast most prominent among these the mighty seminal themselves a tribe who owned and traded slaves though they also often fought Southern slavers seeking to recapture their escaped slaves they also combed the US government’s attempts to take over their own homelands and wared incessantly with their hated enemies the creek in the wake of what would become known as the Trail of Tears the seminol along with many other Eastern tribes were forcibly relocated to what is today the state of Oklahoma this resulted not only in inhumane treatment from the United States government but in a whole new danger in attacks from tribes native to the area most notably the CA and the kamanche after years enduring the misery of their newly imposed local a sizable number of mixed race seminal weary of racial tensions and poor treatment from virtually all sides in their new homes migrated to Northern Mexico at the invitation of the Mexican Government though Mexico had abolished slavery in 1837 and could guarantee at least in some measure a reprieve from the antibellum tensions of America in the 1850s s their motives were also arguably less than wholly pristine much as they had with the Texans nearly two decades earlier the Mexican Government intended to use the settlers On the Border as fodder of sorts for the kamanche CA and Apache raids that had long terrorized the Mexican settlements to the north regardless though they were no doubt aware of these oaces at least to some degree large numbers of seminol and what were known as seminal Negroes moved South into the mountainous rough Hune Borderlands that comprise northern Mexico here for nearly two decades they survived and even thrived in an entirely new and notoriously unforgiving environment while under relatively constant attack from Kaa kamanche and Apache Raiders Pompei Factor had been born in 1849 the son of an escaped slave and a mother who had belonged to the baloy tribe his family too had grown tired of the constant turmoil of the antibellum South and elected to move to Northern Mexico though most were staunched Baptists many pompe fact included were Jesuit educated and well read following the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 and the abolition of slavery many mixed race seminal ventured back north of the Rio Grand and many had enlisted as Scouts for the US Army in order to assist in tracking down their old foes in the kamanche and the Apache though they are required to furnish their own horses and expense for which they are reimbursed and they are subject to the orders of army officers the Scouts of which Pompei Factor John Barnes and Isa pain our members are far more adherent to seminal practices and traditions than they are even to the practices of their enslaved predecessors and American cultural peers though most wear the blue jacketed uniform of their Buffalo Soldier cohorts the mixed race seminal Scouts also sport the accont of their native forefathers in the forms of leggings moccasins necklaces and in some cases even headdresses they are held in awe even by the toughen and already legendary Buffalo Soldiers as unmatched trash ERS and Fighters capable of traveling unheard of distances on half rations and doing so repeatedly day after day until ultimately tracking down their enemy and emerging Victorious during the previous year’s Red River War they had been used to great effect by General ryal sidel McKenzie as he had pursued quana Parker and those amongst the commanche in north Texas who refused to acquest to being confined to reservations in Oklahoma they had all served with distinction including Lieutenant Bullis who had furthered his record of accord with several instances of personal bravery and selflessness that had solidified his deep affection for and bond with his men his relationship with his men is described as more familial than militaristic it was said that every time a scout had a new child the lieutenant would visit their Camp acting in the place of a presiding Chief and examine the baby exclaiming that the child would indeed go on to grow strong and brave this familial bond is a requirement for men who work in such small teams in such remote places under such dangerous conditions the typical job of the scouts seiz them in conditions such as the ones they have found themselves in today on the posos River on a far more frequent basis than any of their comrades and the conventional forces Lieutenant Bullis Sergeant Barnes private Pompei factor and private Isaac Payne had all been in Hot Pursuit of this raiding party with the intention of catching them during the timec consuming job of getting their stolen mounts across the Southward flowing posos to the Western Bank and disappearing into the vast expanses of the surrounding landscape the soldiers had all dismounted and snuck to within roughly 75 yards of where the commanche were pushing their horses across the river all experienced Fighters and Keen to take the offensive they had begun firing upon the kamanche keeping up a relatively steady Onslaught for nearly 45 minutes during this initial combat the scouts managed to kill three kamanche and wound at least one at first due to the rate of fire and sheer ferocity of the attack the kamansi believed there to be a much larger Force attacking them the scouts are armed with 45 caliber Sharps carbin as are the vast majority of Troopers assigned to serve with the Buffalo Soldiers these rifles represent a new wave of Battlefield technology that has drastically changed the Dynamics of combat in the West in a little over a decade since its implementation combatants of 10 or 20 years prior were limited to single shot muskets and rifles whose cumbers some loading processes and maintenance requirements rendered them a liability against foes and mounted Warriors capable of firing several arrows inside a minute’s time though the Advent of the Colt revolver had indeed been a massive jump forward for the American forces in combating the pl’s tribes it is only in relatively recent times when the average Soldier and Scout could count on being equipped with both long gun and sidearms that were capable of comparatively rapid rates of fire however as is the course throughout so much of History this techn ology does not exist in a vacuum for nearly as long as they adversaries the Warriors of the tribes on the open Plains have been acquiring revolvers and repeating rifles of their own in this case here on the posos river this party of comman are armed with several Winchester lever action rifles once they are able to discern that the force attacking them is not a sizable contingent of infantrymen but a small force of four Scouts they begin to lay down a withering field of fire with their own weapons in one of these exchanges roughly 30 minutes into the fight Sergeant Barn’s rifle stock is Shattered by a commanche bullet in short order the kamanche mount an offensive charge this charge is the one now bearing down upon pompe factor and the other Scouts the nearly instantaneous decision is made to retreat to their horses Mount up and ride for their lives now that the tide of battle has turned so decidedly this is Common Place in combat on the Texas Frontier as either side saw little Meritt in last stands that few if any of their countrymen would ever even hear about now Factor barns pain and Bullis all reach their mounts staked over a hill only a few yards away but out of sight Factor Barns and pain quickly Mount up and in a matter of mere seconds are riding north towards the relative safety of their larger conventional forces’s Brethren Lieutenant bulls’ horse however refuses to allow Bullis into the saddle somewhere in the chaos of the fight thus far Bullis has also incurred a gunshot wound to his right lower leg though it is a flesh wound it renders him significantly Less Mobile than his men the horse driven into a frenzy by the chaos of the battle now spins in tight circles and nips at the Cavalry officer who can only make repeated and increasingly desperate attempts to Encon himself in the saddle and retreat with every revolution of the wild-eyed horse and every passing second Factor Barns and pain get further away from from their beloved officer in Lieutenant Bolis and the attacking kamanche draw near within moments the men agree that they cannot and will not leave Lieutenant Bullis to die at the hands of the commanche all three men wield their horses around and charge headlong towards an attacking force that outnumbers them roughly 8 to one the men reached Lieutenant Bullis only moments before they are surrounded by dozens of charging kamanche Warriors whipping around them as though they are a swarm of wasps this chaotic scene only serves to further frighten Lieutenant bu’s whirling and wide-eyed horse who again and again rebuffs the officer’s efforts to get one of his boots into the stups and hoists himself into the saddle as Lieutenant Bullis continues his efforts in vain Bor Barnes and Isaac empty their rifles into the oncoming Warriors almost immediately after his first shot barnes’s rifle is shot again the stock completely shattered and the firing mechanism rendered warped and useless the fight quickly devolves into a hand-to-hand struggle with Factor Barns and pain clubbing and stabbing any Warrior who rode within striking range as they do their best to dodge incoming arrows and form a loose three-man perimeter around the still struggling Lieutenant now the men are again pinned down as Barnes makes his way to the Lieutenant’s position while factor and Pain fight off the remaining attackers before the commane retreat to her group and charge them again for the better part of 2 hours the four men fight off charge after charge from the incensed and incessant kamanche Warriors who only become more and more intent on killing their adversaries as more of their comrades fall finally sensing an abatement in the action that might be long enough to grant them an escape the men make a Mad Dash North with Lieutenant bullish sharing a horse with Sergeant Barnes leaving the errant crazed horse behind and heading towards Fort Clark nearly 60 Mi away for the better part of a night and a day the men make their way to the Fort alternating between carrying Lieutenant bullet behind them as as they continue to scan the countryside around them in search of more commanche asants finally all four men miraculously arrive at Fort Clark Lieutenant Bullis credits them repeatedly and publicly with quote saving my hair almost immediately upon their arrival at Fort Clark Lieutenant Bullis files the necessary paperwork recommending all three enlisted Scouts for the Medal of Honor the United States military’s highest award for bravery on May 28th 1875 private Pompei Factor private Isaac Payne and Sergeant John Barnes are each awarded the Medal of Honor making them three of 18 total men who served with the Buffalo Soldiers who would earn such a distinction while there is no record as to the personal thoughts of the men upon being awarded their medals the events of Pompei Factor’s life that followed would go on to speak volumes in posterity scarcely two years after being awarded this country’s highest award for bravery Pompei factor and several other former soldiers would decide that their service had still unfortunately not garnered them the livelihoods and respect that they had hoped for in 1877 fellow Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor winner Adam Payne would be shot down by Sheriff Clarence wendu at a local party in bracketville Texas without warning the sheriff had simply walked up behind Payne and shot him with a single Blast from a shotgun that came from such a close range that pay’s clothes caught fire after his close friend was laid in the Texas Ground factor and a number of other disillusioned veterans made the move back to Mexico for the next few years Factor would eventually however Venture North again and again volunteer his services in assisting the US Army in 1880 unfortunately his military career would also be marred with institutional mistreatment as when Factor applied for his pension as an elderly man in the 1920s he was informed that the Army was unable to find his service record eventually his Medal of Honor itself was accepted as sufficient record and a small stipend was granted however Pape Factor would spend the remainder of his life working as a farm laborer living in a small shack in bracketville Texas and eventually passing away on March 28th 1928 at the age of 79 though the record of his gallantry and commendations certainly placed Pompei factor in rarified air amongst military servicemen his experience outside the Army and treatment at the hands of his own countrymen and government is regrettably hardly unique however while the dark and unfortunate realities which shaped their experiences are all to important not to forget it is also just as important to recall the heroism and selflessness of men such as John Barnes Isaac Payne and Pompei Factor who gave their all in fighting for their family friends and countrymen so too is it imperative to recall the unconquerable nature of the Native Warriors still fighting for their way of life despite the increasingly obvious inevitability of their fate however the countless Tales from all sides of of great service sacrifice violence and Vengeance are for tonight other stories for other times South East year Alaska and what is today Sitka Alaska June 27th 1802 as the Relentless Summer Sun beat down upon them a group of Russian fur Trappers Sailors laborers and Native alute Hunters went about their daily tasks some busied themselves cleaning Furs others cooking meals gathering firewood and any number of other menial tasks their Frontier existence might require of them they had settled here 3 years earlier having come from their native Russia in search of otter and beaver pelts many hailed from Siberia from the native tribes of that austere and unforgiving land they had sailed across the bearing straet landed and been attacked by the native tribes been forced to take to Sea and head further south until they came to this area on Alaska’s Panhandle here they constructed a large Fort complete with living quarters Livery Stables a large two-story main hall with a basement and Veranda on all sides a cook housee a warehouse for all supplies and a blacksmith shop their Commander a man named Alexander andreevich baronoff had labored intensely on not just the fort’s construction but on fostering and developing alliances with the tribes on Whose territories they were constructing their empire but one tribe in particular proved incessantly Troublesome to the Russians the kinget were a feared and fearsome hunter gatherer tribe that had risen to prominence via centuries of raiding and warfare up and down the Alaskan Panhandle they struck enlightning fast unabashedly violent mini raids that had terrorized their neighbors for Generations they had been w intermittent havoc on the Outpost which baronov had named new Archangel St Michael since it had been constructed the kinget had fought long and hard to take this land and to keep it and they did not take kindly to Interlopers not only intruding but depleting their area of game otter and beaver and though they had exacted some toll on the Russians already on this day the cling it would strike their greatest blow yet at about 1:00 in the afternoon as a young Russian named ambrosian platin returned from checking his cattle that were grazing near one of the inlet streams he heard a loud commotion back at the fort he rushed back over the ridge separating the stream from the bay and saw what must have been a blood chilling sight roughly 60 cling of canoes were coming around the point of the bay heading straight for the settlement these were large Spruce War canoes carved with ornate designs and carrying dozens of bear and wolf skin clad cling it Warriors their faces painted black all around the eyes to give them a fierce ghastly appearance even in the midday Sun they were armed with Spears bows arrows and a considerable amount of firearms many of which had been acquired via trade whether indirectly or directly with the Russian Merchants the Warriors paddled deafly in the turbulent Bay Waters that gave the Russian ormen many difficulties and when they landed they de bur like a pack of wolves they had named themselves after the wolf Clan these were experienced Warriors who had conducted countless raids like this but on this day this target was particularly valuable not only because of the captives that could be taken and either ransomed or used as slaves but for the supplies and weapons that were there and last but not least for the larger message it would send to these Intruders from the West who had come to deal with their enemies steal their land and empty their streams the king it intended to send a message so brutal that it would be carried back to the chief of these foreigners and he would finally decide to end his subject’s foray into their land unfortunately for ambrosian plotnikov he was a poor Russian peasant in many ways as much a victim of Russian imperialism as those whose territory he had encroached on he was a poor laborer who had either desperately fled a terrible situation at home or been forced into work as a laborer for the expeditionary party due to his low social status he could exercise no effect on geopolitical policy nor could he hope to combat several dozen War canoes full of clinged Warriors all the young Russian could do now was hope to save his own life initially he made a dash for the shared living quarters of the workers but to his frustration and Terror found it locked in empty with no time to investigate or take in the totality of the situation plotnikov made a Mad Dash for the Stables where he had made a habit of keeping a gun as cling it Warriors began to swarm The Village their animal-shaped heads giving the illusion of wolves Ravens and Kodiak bears rushing about the camp in a whirlwind slaughterhouse intent on exacting revenge on these unrepentent Intruders plotnikov reached the stables and grabbed his weapon he began to move about the Stables fortifying positions under windows in an attempt to construct some kind of ad hoc defensive position when he discovered a mother and child hiding in the far corner of the stable clearly terrified plotnikov told the woman to flee to the nearby woods and hide and that he would stay in the stables and cover her Retreat she did as he suggested and fled to the comparative darkness and concealment of the thick boreal forest that surrounded the settlement on three sides meanwhile plotnikov used what fleeting moments he had to fortify his position and lock down the doors in short time the cling it Warriors had made their way through the settlement and four of them had turned their eye around the Stables attempting to gain access by demanding the door be opened then simply bashing it in They seized plotnikov by his heavy coat and took his gun however as they were tussling plotnikov managed to slip out of his coat and made a Mad Dash for the wood his pursuers quickly terminated their Chase seeing the Bounty of supplies in the Stables as more enticing than one additional Russian after hiding for a few hours in the woods all the while being tormented by the incessant screams of both his compatriots and the cling it plotnikov made a tentative return trip towards the settlement in hopes of gauging the Damage Done and trying to link up with other survivors what he saw as he hid behind a ridgel line near the camp likely scarred the Young man for the rest of his days out through the windows and carrying them to the canoes which had been brought for the purpose of taking them away I saw one of our men jump through a window of one of the burning buildings only to be picked up on the fighting knives of the Savages and thrown back into the fire I also saw them cut off another man’s head and throw the headless body into the Flames however plotnikov was soon spotted by two cling it Warriors who chased after him in their animal headdresses and Predator Furs and what must have been a petrifying Pursuit for the Russian plotnikov managed to again hide in the forest for a few hours then made a second attempt by this time the screams had Abad and the maab scene that greeted the young laborer that day was one of a nightmare except in this case it was all too real the buildings were still on fire the ground littered with dismembered bodies and assorted Sundries that the cling it had either dropped or seen unfit to carry away plotnikov noticed some of the cattle he had been watering earlier that very afternoon Milling about and noticed that several had cling it knives stuck in various spots about their bodies he attempted to make his way to them in hopes of at least providing them with some relief when he was spotted again and again pursued Into the Woods by the remnants of the kinget raiding party after his narrowest Escape yet plot took shelter under a large tree and spent a shiftless terrifying night alone in the dark trying to keep his breathing quiet and listening as intently as his weary ears could for the footfalls of more cling it Warriors the next morning he heard the Roar of a group of muskets firing again he fled this time up the mountain on his way he met up with three other survivors another young mother her child and an old man who had managed to escape despite being quite ill this group managed to stay together in the Alaskan Woods hidden from sight as best they could for eight straight days and nights every day plotnikov would venture down towards the St Michael settlement in hopes of finding some kind of rescue effort that had been sent by concerned parties back at the capital of Kodiak he thought they would eventually become concerned at their lack of goods and correspondents coming out of the easterly settlement flush with a mix of panic and joy plotnikov dashed out of the dense forest and onto the rocky strip of beach that stretched out in the bay in an effort to hail his presumed rescue party but again plotnikov was spotted by two kinget who had remained in the area and was again compelled to escape into the forest to his surprise the ship was actually an English vessel that had made its way from England to Boston down and around South America and up the Pacific Coastline in their pursuit of beaver and Otter fers nonetheless plotnikov was exceedingly grateful to them for saving he and his Brethren from a plight that had been long feared to be terminal he returned with a small guard to his party that had been left in the woods only to find that in his absence another Survivor had managed to find the mother child and old man this man a fellow Workman named baturan was taken with the rest of the party to the relative safety of the ship the next day plotnikov and baturan implored the the captain to make a trip back into the settlement to both assess the damages and to bury their dead the captain granted their request again with a small contingent of armed guards what greeted them was a truly horrifying sight The Headless bodies of men they had lived and worked with crossed oceans with and braved dangers with celebrated Christmases and feast JS with now lie strewn about the ground like so much refu they were given been as dignified a bual and funeral as could be managed by the devoutly Orthodox Russian contingents and then the men made their way back to the ship that sat waiting in the bay the ship remained in the harbor three additional days getting ready to travel back to Kodiak should no more survivors be found on the third day however a group of cling canoes pulled up next to the ship assuming they were an English vessel full of Englishmen whose intentions were not to stay but to trade for Furs the kinget Chiefs asked if they had seen any Russians in a cryptic attempt to ensure the English had not been informed as to what was happening at the settlement the captain lied and said they had not and invited the chief on board to trade the chief and his cohort including his wife climbed on board the English vessel and they were all summarily placed in irons the remainder of the cling it still in the water were all informed that their Chief would not be returned until all all Russian captives had been returned to the English furthermore he informed the kinget that if they did not do this he would hang their Chief from the yard arm of his ship at this time two more English vessels pulled up into the bay all three captains of all three vessels joined forces in resolutely demanding the return of all hostages in response dozens more cling at War canoes appeared in a defiant display meant to show that they too meant business should any harm be done to their Chief and Kinsmen however not wanting to see their chief dead at the hands of British Sailors the cling it brought forth two women and four children they insisted that these captives were all that they had but the British captains all agreed that they were lying and so in typical Marshal Maritime fashion the British officers ordered open fire upon the cling canoes in one rius three- ship folly hundreds of cling it fell dead wounded or found their newly perforated canoes sinking into the frigid Bay Waters terrified of further reprisal the kinget brought forth the remainder of the captives and quickly made their way North to the cover of the inlets and forests the British vels sailed to Kodiak where their traumatized Russian passengers disembarked their individual faiths including that of ambrosian plotnikov being largely lost to history however the Russian Empire would not suffer such an affront without exacting their retribution plans to exact their revenge on the king it were already in the works before the British Rescuers had even B them farewell the kinget were all too kingly aware that they had not seen the last of the Russian Intruders and did not take the threat lightly they constructed a fort at the inlet of the river strategically located to spot and intercept any attacks from Russian ships one Young Warrior among them catleon burned for revenge on the Russians he even kept on him a blacksmith’s Hammer stolen from the forge at the St Michael settlement he vowed to one day drench its Iron Head in Russian blood 2 years later in 1804 Catan had risen to the rank of Chief one day late in the fall he was alerted to the sighting of Russian ships on the horizon one can only imagine how he snugly ripped his cherished Hammer elated and maybe even a little relieved that his chance had now arrived the Battle of Sitka in 1804 would prove to be a pivotal climactic battle in this struggle between martial powers and their efforts to control the often inhospitable but perpetually invaluable Alaskan Coastline and to be sure that episode is coming soon but for tonight that’s another story for another time Northeastern Canada around the year 1 AD a group of 30 Viking warriors pulled their boat onto the rocky Shoreline of what is today known as St Lawrence Bay they have come from Greenland sailing under the leadership of thorald Ericson thorald is a warrior of great stature with a legendary Legacy thorvald’s father Eric the Red had been the first Europe to establish a permanent settlement in Greenland while under Exile from Iceland for the murder of a neighbor he named his son Thor vaal after his own father a famously hot-headed Chieftain who had been banished from Norway after committing a murder himself Thor bald’s brother Leif Ericson had visited these lands the year prior with his own band of Warriors spending the winter hunkered down somewhere on the St Laurence Bay Leif had returned to Greenland that spring with great bounties of the lumber that grew plentifully in the area as well as wild grapes the grape vines that bore these fruit also gave birth to Le Ericson’s name for the place Vinland as they made their way South heading down the coastline Leif named the areas he saw after their most notable attributes though the locations can only be approximated through available historical sources the northernmost of these is heland or flatland near today’s baffan Island further south Le found the Central Forest belt of laby Canada he named this Markland meaning forestland further south still was Vinland Le penchant for naming lands was something of a family tradition as his father had given Greenland its name though the land is in fact largely not green as it lies just inside the Arctic Circle Eric thought naming it Greenland would make it more enticing for prospective settlers now eager to do some naming of his own thorald Ericson has repeated his brother ‘s Journey as he and his men Beach their boats and find their footing on the rocky shores a collective feeling of excitement and apprehension takes hold of them the air is cold and crisp but other than the crashing of the Waves the Vikings are met with an icy Eerie silence during his winter sojourn in this area thorvald’s brother leaf and his contingent of men had not encountered any native tribes but as there had been in nearly every place the Vikings had been before they were were confident that native peoples of some kind inhabited the area the Vikings themselves had originated in Scandinavia in the present– day countries of Norway Sweden and Denmark in point of fact the term Viking when used to describe a specific people is a bit of a misnomer they referred to themselves as Norsemen and would see Viking as a specific facet of their culture they lived as farmers and herdsmen subsisting off of a diet of game meat dense breads cheeses yogurt salmon and their ubiquitous honey based intoxicant Meade their existences were meager simple and difficult they lived in small villages composed of family bands in headed by hereditary Chieftain however in the late 9th century ad they had begun to intermittently strike out from their lives in their villages in order to raid nearby coastal towns as time went on the Range in which they conducted their raids expanded they raided the monasteries and seaside Villages of England Scotland and Ireland they raed East into Russia and as far south as Northern Africa a viking raid often entailed Lightning Fast attacks that swept down upon their victims taking anything they could of value and killing anyone who posed any serious resistance these Goods might be in the form of food stuffs alcohol livestock precious metals often in the form of religious relics and human beings to be sold into slavery raids were conducted under the leadership of War Chieftain whose military might depended not only on their own martial prowess but their ability to recruit and sustain forces of fighting men Ascension in Viking Society required a warrior to go forth and reap the rewards of pillage and plunder thus the popular image drawn to mind for most in the 21st century is that of a pagan Nordic madman intent on wreaking death and destru ction everywhere he went the truth as is usually the case is far more complex Vikings were not only preeminent Raiders but incredibly Salient businessmen who established and maintained trade routes that covered thousands of miles and lasted hundreds of years it was trade in fact that drove the Vikings to settle such inhospitable places as Greenland Iceland and Eastern Canada here vast herds of walrus far larger than any Norsemen had seen on their home Shores in northern Europe provided large supplies of not only meat and blubber but highly prized Ivory it would in fact not be until the 14th century when European powers began hunting elephants for Ivory and exporting their highly prized tusks back to Europe that the Viking trade in Ivory would finally wne and while many Norsemen hailed pagan gods such as Odin and Thor this had begun to change starting in the 8th and 9th century and Christian missionaries had begun to visit their homelands while thorvald’s father had remained a stge follower of the old Pagan ways his sons thorald and Leif actually converted to Christianity by the year 1050 most Vikings would in fact be Christians however fervent their conversions though the Vikings did not view Christianity and violent seafaring as mutually exclusive Endeavors raiding especially against non-christians carried on unabated long after the bulk of feared and fearsome Norsemen had adopted their new Faith finding themselves in new lands as yet Untouched by any Christians or Vikings save for his own brother thorald and his men make their initial incursion into the forboding territory they are all heavily armed and armored with Spears axes swords Shields helmets and chain mail they moved down the shoreline and into the trees outing for natural resources and any native inhabitants those native inhabitants are likely the people known as the two the ancestors of the modern day Inuit people they too are relatively recent arrivals to this area having come Eastward from the Alaskan Coastline over the course of the last few centuries though not a particularly warlike tribe they are an extremely hearty and stalwart people more than willing to defend themselves and their homelands the Vikings have spotted them from the ships and given them the name sings which atmology have proclaimed as meaning anything from Little Men to barbarians to skin wearers due to the animal hide clothing they wore the Vikings have not though had any contact with them as of yet now as thorald and his men round a bend on the coastline the inevitable Collision of Worlds is at long last realized they come upon a trio of overturned canoes which chroniclers of the event will later referred to as Skin boats beached on a stretch of the rocky Beach beneath each overturned canoe lie three tulle men nine in total all lost in Blissful Slumber and the shade and shelter provided by their overturned crafts thorald and his men set upon them at once killing eight of the men as they attempt to flee one tul man manages to slip away escaping into the dense forests before meeting the same fate as his comrades beneath the swords and axes of the Viking horde seemingly unconcerned with the loan needed they had failed to kill thorald and his men begin to rans sack through the belongings of the two they are flush with the thrill of what they see to be a righteous Victory and eager to take stock of what goods these newly found people have to offer the Vikings make their camp for the night on the beach happy to indulge themselves in a night of rry after so many long days and nights of hard travel and such unforgiving environs only yards from the body of the eight tul men whom they have just killed the Vikings toast each other as conquerors and Warriors The Spoils of this new land are readily apparent to them and they view themselves as so martially Superior that the threat of Retribution is if not Unthinkable certainly of little concern to them before long thorald and his men thoroughly exhausted from their travels and with their blood lust temporarily satiated were all sound asleep on the beach but as they dream of great deeds and promising Futures the lone tul man who had escaped the Vikings Ambush is running full speed through the thickets and Meadows across streams and over Hills back toward his home Village as he runs he can scarcely make out the trees rocks and bushes he must navigate through as his eyes are blurred with tears of grief and anguish finally he makes it back to the tulle Village the tulle people live in bands of 10 to 20 families situated on or near the coastline they live in semi Subterranean Dugout style homes in the winter and animal skinn tents during the warmer months as the man runs into Camp the alarm is sounded from Lodge to Lodge eight of their young men are dead at the hands of these strange murderous Invaders at first a mood of surreality prevails over the camp the news brought in by this Lone Survivor seems almost unbelievable then as though some great dam has first a torrent of emotion sweeps over the village as great cries and Lamentations Rise Up from the women the men scramble to organize a retributive raid the tool subsist in this harsh environment by hunting Caribou seals walrus and most predominantly the boohead whale with an average length of 49 to 59 ft a massive triangular shaped skull made to bash through thick arctic ice and a body weight of 60 to 80 tons a sing single bowad whale could sustain a village for months this though required both the weaponry and manpower to accomplish killing such a formidable animal the tool have developed Stout bone tipped harpoons to hunt the whales as well as powerful bows and thick heavy set arrows made to cut down the hulking Caribou in addition to being skilled fearsome Hunters they are also incredibly Adept at piloting their canoes through these icy waters and navigating the circuitous coastlines of their home Homeland though they are not as warlike nor ambitious as the Vikings the tool are a hardened people who live difficult lives and as they’re about to prove they are more than capable of exacting revenge on any Intruders to their lands who have come to kill their loved ones now the entire Village is a buzz dozens of Tulie men crowding into their hunting canoes while more begin to follow the path cut by the young man who had escaped the Vikings initial Ambush though their usual Pastime is in their intent on this day is at least in practice little different they are venturing out from their village with the intent to kill they travel overnight rowing and running with all the focus and ferocity they can muster meanwhile on the same Beach head on which they had slain the sleeping tul men the Vikings themselves now lie in Slumber it is not until the morning sun begins to Peak Over the Horizon that thorald is awakened but before he can wipe the sleep from his eyes a cry goes up from one of the Vikings who stands near the water looking out towards the bay awake thorald thou and all thy company thou wouldst save thy life and board thy ship with all thy men and sail with all speed from the land thoral and his men spend a collective suspended moment staring out at the water now filled with oncoming canoes full of irate natives quickly though thoral orders the boat put to water and all the Vikings to pile on board and for a shield wall The Shield wall is a classic Viking tactic in use since their earliest days in the forests of Norway and Sweden this involves the Warriors forming a solid line with their Shields interlocking and covering not only themselves but the men beside them as the boat is pushed away from Shore the Vikings hurriedly take their positions in the defensive formation and not a moment too soon as the last man locks his shield into place arrows begin to impact all around them with the incessant a tatat of a machine gun for what seems like an eternity the projectiles fill the air along with the aggrieved angry cries of The Men Who fire them thorald meanwhile continuously exhorts his men to hold their formation though they have been caught off guard each one of these experienced Warriors is now ready to weather the attack within minutes the Vikings boat as well as their Shields are so replete with arrows that they resemble a giant waterborne porcupine each carefully crafted Arrow carrying with it the promise of an early demise should it find its Mark finally after an extended though unspecified period the natives estimate themselves to be satisfied with their retribution the message they feel has been made clear any intrusion into their lands or assault upon their people will be met with Resolute violence as they sail away the Vikings breathe a collective sigh of relief especially Thor vault as he has successfully LED his men through a potentially fatal situation he calls out to his men checking to see if all on board are indeed unharmed miraculously none of the men have been hit with the thousands of arrows projecting from their Shields their boat and floating in the water around them this seems an impossibility then perhaps upon his deep sigh of relief thoral senses the sharp stabbing pain of something deep within his chest feels something poking him underneath his right arm lifting his arm to examine the cause he is horrified a native arrow is buried deeply into his armpit a particularly destructive wound it is likely that his lungs have been punctured as well as other vital organs damaged death for the young Viking is now all but certain as the color drains from his face he begins to collapse first to his knees then he is laid on his back by by his men I have been wounded in my armpit he says an arrow flew in between the gun whale and the shield below my arm here is the shaft and it will bring me to my end though soon to meet his end thoral manages to convey his last directives to these men whom he had traveled so far with and now would travel no more I counsel you now to retrace your way with the utmost speed but me you shall convey on that Headland which seemed to me to offer so pleasant a Dwelling Place thus it may be fulfilled that the truth sprang to my lips when I express the wish to abide there for a time you shall bury me there and place a cross at my head and another at my feet and call it crossness forever after this the Vikings did though the precise location is not known it is recorded that thorald Erikson was indeed buried in the cold hard ground there on that far Shore with one cross at his head and another at his feet though he would not live to see it thorald would finally get to name a place of his own perhaps in his last moments has brought him some measure of comfort his men now leaderless and far from their homes Retreat back to the camp where thorvald’s brother Leif had weathered the previous winter they too would hunker down here until they could make their way back to Greenland and Report their unfortunate loss as well as profer boundless possibilities for what the newly discovered lands might offer the fight for those lands though would be far from Over the Vikings would soon again see the shores of the Canadian Coastline and their interactions with the native inhabitants of those areas would prove both profitable and often times incredibly violent though the records can be sparse there are other recorded encounters between the bellicose business-minded Norsemen and the proud native peoples and while the tales of intrepid and intrusive VI King Warriors clashing with indignant and rightfully infuriated native Warriors might not be plentiful they are certainly palpable but for now those accounts as well as the countless other Tales of History’s Greatest shootouts and showdowns are other stories for other times wooa Bay New Zealand December 1809 on the decks of the HMS Boyd a 394 ton Brigantine sailing under the flag of the mighty British Empire the son of a Maui Chief eyes the shorelines that he has waited too long to see his name is Tiara he is a proud Maui a member of the powerful and fearsome people who have ruled over the mainland of New Zealand since their arrival sometime between 1320 and 1350 they had originated in the Isles of East Polynesia and made their way to New Zealand by a Decades of expeditious canoe travel moving further and further west on weeks or months long Journeys the Maui had first seen European contact when the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman had reached their Shores in 1642 he had been promptly chased out of the Bay by Maui War canoes blowing War trumpets that he noted to sound like the war bugles of the Moors tasmin would name the bay murderer Bay and never return it would be 127 years until the Englishman Captain James Cook arrived in Poverty Bay during October of 1769 Tara has spent the last year on board British vessels on an exchange trip of sorts that saw him travel thousands of miles throughout the South Pacific he had found his way onto the Boyd as it had departed New South Wales headed to New Zealand with 70 passengers on board the HMS Boyd had traveled from England to bring a group of convicts to the penal colony in New South Wales with the admit of Admiral Arthur Phillips established of the colony where prisoners were set to work in manual labor provided a free Workforce to build Britain’s ever expanding Empire the boy had left New South Wales in October of 1809 with the intention of bringing back a profitable load of cowy lumber from the giant cowy trees that grew on the Northern parts of New Zealand’s northernmost Islands Tara had intended the trip to be relatively uneventful he thought he would simply hitch a ride with the HMS Boyd Back to the Island of New Zealand but this was still a formidable journey of well over 1,000 MI and almost from the time they had left Porton Australia he and the captain of the HMS Boyd a man named John Thompson had been considerably at odds the reason for this varies with different accounts One account relays that Tara had been unwilling to assist in the duties of the ship expected of all crew and passengers according to this version he saw such menial tasks as beneath his dignity as the son of a mai Chieftain another account states that the young man was framed by the disgruntled chef of the Boyd who had thrown some silverware overboard and then blamed Tara for its disappearance either way the punishment doled out by Captain Thompson had been both Swift and harsh at the Captain’s orders Tara was tied to a cap standand deprived of food and whipped with a cat of nin Tales though the captain was technically within his rights under British Naval law to enforce discipline and Justice by any means necessary subjecting the son of a mauy chief to such treatment without consideration of the larger sociopolitical ramifications would prove to be a very poor decision before the whipping was finished and the young man was untied from the cap standand he had already made a vow within himself to exact his revenge on not only the captain but virtually the entire crew they would pay dearly he decided for their insolence he had however initially feigned remorse and reform in the intervening few weeks since this day in December and being subject to the torments of the c n Tales t Sara had not only obeyed the captain’s orders dutifully but had managed to gain his trust and convince him that a detour to wooa Bay would net him far more of the valuable cowy Timber he had come to New Zealand to procure in agreeing to do so Captain Thompson had sealed the fates of all on board now as the boy pulls into the picturesque Waters of wangara bay Tara feels a sense relation as he is not only so close to seeing friends and family again but to exacting retri ution for his mistreatment now as the Boyd sits anchored not far from the shoreline in wangara Bay Captain Thompson and the crew take in their surroundings with equal parts awe and apprehension for the vast majority on board the sights of the harbor with its vibrant green tree lines and chilly teal Waters contrasted strikingly with the volcanic plugs that jutted out from amongst its Scenic Hills are unlike anything they have seen before as they take in the Grandeur of his homeland Tara seizes his opportunity he dives into the Waters of the bay and as the saltwater stings the cut still healing on his back from Thompson’s punishment swims with all his might until he reaches the shoreline shortly after reaching Shore the young malry disappears into the dense Treeline Thompson and the crew are now left to wait unsure of whether to cut their losses and head south meaning they would have made this sizable DeTour for nothing were to wait in hopes that Tiara whom they all now consider to be an ally would return with his people in order to make good on his promises of lumber and riches for 3 days they sit anchored in the waters of the harbor then just as All Aboard have become exasperated with waiting and preparations to sail away are being made a crewman alerts Captain Thompson a mauy canoe is making its way towards the vessel professing overtures of peace and goodwill the malry on board pull their canoe next to the boy and through gestures and sign language they convey to Captain and Thompson that they are the party sent to lead himself and a small group to the best trees in the area which lay at the KO River on the north side of the bay Captain Thompson eager to lay eyes on the Bounty he hoped to harvest before heading back south agrees to follow the mauy in one of the Boyd’s rowboats accompanied by his chief officer as well as three other men the party sets off from the relative safety of the boy excitedly following the mauy in the expectation of their first glimpse of the giant cowy trees they had heard so much about they will never see their Shipmates again as soon as the party is out of sight of the boid ostensibly heading up the Koo River Captain Thompson his chief officer and the three men accompanying them are promptly bludgeoned to death at the hands of the Maui the Maui then beached Their Own Canoe and stripped the dead Englishmen of their clothing and weapons the bodies of the men are taken back to the Maui village where they are promptly butchered into pieces to be roasted or simply consumed raw the Maui Warriors now wait until Nightfall when several of them Dawn the clothing of the Dead Englishmen and under cover of dark and disguise make their way back to the boy as they do this several other mauy canoes amass just out of sight of the boy’s Lookouts ready to strike once the signal is given the mauy disguised as the captain and small crew are able to climb aboard and swiftly kill the Lookouts who greeted them in the darkness thinking them to be their comrades until their final fleeting moments seeing the initial attack on the sailors above board on the British vessel the remaining mauy War canoe swarm the ship and within minutes the vast majority of the crew and passengers on board the boid LIE cold in death strewn about the ship the mauy take five prisoners passenger Anne Morley and her baby Thomas Davis a second mate whose name is unfortunately unrecorded and the 2-year-old Elizabeth Bron meanwhile five more people have managed to hide high up in the rigging of the ship avoiding Slaughter below and hiding for their lives as the mauy canoes depart back to their Village the survivors cling to the masts and ropes praying not to be seen there they remain for the rest of the night until the next morning they spot another mauy canoe coming towards the ship at first they are terrified however this canoe carries a Chie in from a neighboring band of Maui this Chief an imposing man named tahi has come with several members of his band to trade with the Wanga Rowans however the Curious sight of the Brigantine draws the interest of himself and his cohorts and they make their way to the ship and climb aboard they are startled to find the five survivors who themselves are startled to find that Chief tipah and his men are willing to help them terrified that the wongo and Maui would return at any moment the survivors quickly agree to Scurry aboard the canoe and sneak away to shore before being noticed however just as they are able to reach the shore and attempt to find places to hide they are horrified to see two wongan canoes full of Warriors paddling at them at full speed unable or unwilling to provide further assistance Chief tahi only sits and watches as his Maui compatriots fall upon the fleeing party with merciless disdain all but one of the boy’s passengers on the beach are cut down within moments the remaining passenger spared for reason unknown is dragged back to the village where he sees the charred remains of his countrymen and joins the ranks of his unfortunate companions as Prisoners the Maui canoes then once again coales in front of the boid towing the large vessel through sheer might and muscle to the nearby Mud Flats on Motu or Red Island here they can loot its valuable content at their Leisure for several days the Maui rans sack the holes of the boy sacks of flower are cut open and spread out in heaps upon the mud with barrels of salt pork and bottles of wine meeting similar Fates tragedy strikes however when the Maly uncover the cach of muskets lead balls and gunpowder kept aboard the hulking vessel unfamiliar with their proper usage a mauie named poopo creates a spark by releasing the hammer on one of the muskets this starts a small fire that within seconds ignites the kegs of the gunpowder causing an explosion that kills poo and nine Other M including Tara’s father instantaneously the fire then spreads to the reserves of whale oil which causes the hole of the ship that had not already been destroyed by the explosion to go up in Flames over the next several hours the boid is consumed by fire and reduced to a skeleton it is subsequently declared tapoo or prohibited and none of the Maui Venture near it again the three adult survivors of the attack on the void were then put to work as slaves made to carry out menial tasks and perform heavy labor at the whim and will of their captors the two men Thomas Davis and the unnamed first mate bear the brunt of the toil and abuse until one day the first mate collapses while making fishing hooks he is promptly done in by Ma War clubs butchered and eaten the young mother Anne morle and her baby are left unharmed as is the 2-year-old Elizabeth however they are given little to know food nor shelter or clothing for for 3 weeks the terrified survivors of the boy spend every waking moment unsure if it might be their last meanwhile word begins to trickle from Maui Village to Maui Village and news of what has happened to the boy eventually reaches the European settlements further south the news reaches the Bay of islands where a whaling ship named the City of Edinburgh has come to Port the ship is captained by enterprising Scotsman Alexander Barry Captain Barry organizes a rescue party with the intention of returning the captives Alive by any means necessary for days the City of Edinburgh tears northward up the New Zealand Coastline pulling into any conspicuous bays in search of Maui Villages they are not long in finding their first Village which they quickly set upon and capture several members of for the heavily armed and highly aggressive party this is a relatively quick task however this band of Maui are the Southern neighbors of the wongar Rowans the same band who had sought to help the Survivor escape with no way of knowing this Captain Barry and his cohorts see them as necessary collateral in accomplishing their task at hand the next day the City of Edinburgh makes its way into woa Bay the crew soon spot the hulking burned out remains of the boid scuttled in the mud flats they follow the KO River and sweep down upon the woan mauy capturing a number of them before retreating to the relative safety of their ship here with a sufficient number of hostages now secured Captain Barry begins his hard-edged negotiations for the return of the survivors he informs the captured Maui that he will kill them to a man and destroy their Village should his countrymen not be returned this strong armed tactic works as the mauy are wholly unwilling to lose the lives of their own in order to hold on to a few prisoners who could provide little and required much all four remaining members of the attack on the boy Anne borley her infant daughter Thomas Davis and the toddler Elizabeth Bren are brought on board the City of Edinburgh though all are emaciated and traumatized they are otherwise unharmed but Captain Barry is not yet satisfied with the terms of release and informs the Mau on board that they will be brought back to New South Wales to stand trial for their crimes should they not return the Boyd’s journals and logs this request too is expeditiously met in a final though fleeting attempt at an extra measure of Retribution Captain Barry insists the Chiefs that he is releasing be stripped of their rank in any political or military power this demand is agreed to though even Barry knows it is highly unlikely it will actually be met in practice the City of Edinburgh departs wangara Bay never to return however the plight of the survivors is not yet over the ship makes its way to South America stopping in val preo Chile for repairs and eventually traveling to Lima Peru here the Young mother Anne borley passes away and her daughter is placed in a Spanish home the toddler Elizabeth Bren is also adopted by a wealthy Spanish couple who had been unable to have their own children Thomas Davis goes to work for Captain Barry ultimately meeting his demise drowning while exploring the shol Haven River with Captain Barry in 1822 back in New Zealand the reverberations from the December 1809 Massacre were still being felt the following spring in March of 1810 Sailors from the whaling ships Atlanta Diana experiment perseverance Speck and New Zealander attack the island of Motu Apo in woa Bay however the village they attack is Again part of the same band that had attempted to help the survivors Chief tahi who had personally attempted to rescue the survivors was wounded in the chest to neck during this attack after fighting off the attack of the sailors tahi organizes the war Warriors he has remaining and recruits others from local bands to assist in attacking the wangara on or around April 28th of 1810 this group makes their attack on the wangara village the attack is ultimately repulsed and tahi is killed on the battlefield the victim of a well-placed spear thrust though it had begun in 1807 the intertribal conflicts that would come to be known as the musket Wars would intensify after the Boyd Massacre as the residual effects of European contact would not only stoke the political Flames between feuding Maui bands but Supply them with the means to ensure their enemies destruction from 1807 until 1837 as many as 3,000 battles are fought between Maui bands this conflict would see up to 40,000 Maui killed and 30,000 placed into slavery or forced out of their native lands but the countless stories of the musket Wars as well as the European expansion into both New Zealand and Australia with its innumerable Tales of tragedy and Triumph are for tonight other stories for other times Northern New Zealand 1807 as the Chilly Winds of the Pacific whip down upon them a large band of Maui Warriors stops to make Camp after a long night’s March they are members of an ewi or tribal band of the Maui known as the naoui their force is roughly 500 Warriors in total full of veterans spoiling for a fight they are on the war path and have been on the move all night in an attempt to position themselves within Striking Distance of their target their target is an encampment of their hated Rivals the neighboring naua the years prior have been marred by incessant intertribal Warfare seeing thousands of malie perish at the hands of Warriors from rival tribes battles could be V F in both scope and bloodshed with rival armies numbering into the thousands rival Chiefs would invest great amounts of time and capital into recruiting neighboring bands to attack a mutual rival though there is no historical consensus on the exact Genesis of this conflict between the napi and the naua it is thought among many to have started over one side being shorted of their allotment in the annual fish Harvest if true such a frony would indeed Merit a military response wants at least in the minds of many Maui at the time the conditions in Northern New Zealand are both unforgiving and unyielding and the failure to stock up on Provisions when they are available can spell certain death for the unprepared fighting between bands has been particularly brutal as of late as retaliation begets retaliation in an ongoing and ever growing blood Feud but this group of Warriors stopping to eat their simple meals of dried fish and sweet potatoes have a new weapon that they hope will make a decisive difference in conquering their enemies though New Zealand had had some measure of contact with Europeans since Dutchman Abel tasmin had sailed into their Waters in 1642 recent dealings with European Merchant ships have resulted in the napoi acquiring the most technologically advanced Weaponry used to date in Maui Warfare the musket Maui Weaponry typically consisted of War clubs Spears and shields with these weapons in hand a Maui Warrior is capable of wreaking un remittent damage in close combat combat however the musket a new introduction to the north of New Zealand is capable of inflicting not only physical but psychological damage on a scale yet unseen by the Maui this contingent of napi Warriors is led by a revered Warchief named POA POA is a descendant of a line of chiefs likely the eldest son of his father as Mana or power is generally inherited passed on from father to son he has spent much of the preceeding few months recr recing Warriors from smaller camps fostering a collective sense of resentment and unrest amongst those bands and Chieftain who felt their treatment at the hands of the NATA Tua had been unreasonable or outright unjust he has driven his band of 500 Warriors hard all night heading south from their homelands until reaching the mouth of moram manui goalie now as the sun’s morning Rays begin to Peak Over the Horizon the Warriors enjoy their breakfast in stoic silence each deeply enjoying the brief breast bit from the incessant demands of mauy warfare as they eat and make quiet exhausted conversation with each other it seems to all that despite their being immersed in the intensity of pre-combat fervor the morning itself will prove to be quite Scenic and even enjoyable for a brief moment The Confident Army replete with a sizable force and notable technological advantage seems to breathe a collective sigh of relief a brief veil of Silence then seems to fall over the camp so fleeting that the napoi scarcely seemed to notice the Oddity of a complete total silence in the trees and Tall Grass that surrounds them then with the fury of a seismic wave crashing into the nearby Beach the world all around the napi seems to explode suddenly what had seemingly been Placid Blades of Tall Grass only moments earlier erupts into a hail strum of innumerable Maui Warriors hailing from the napi’s intended target the Nati Wata the Nati Wata have received warnings from their Scouts in the area of the oncoming napi war party and decided the only way to combat the sizable Force advancing upon them is to employ a surprise attack though the Mali are indeed highly organized Warriors capable of not only carrying out lengthy complex tactical Maneuvers and are perhaps the most Adept purveyors of Siege Warfare on the planet at the time they are also Masters in the art of planning and executing ambushes under the command of their Chiefs muru panga tuare and Teo they had hidden amidst the foliage in Mora manui Gully knowing that that was the most viable campsite for a force of 500 Warriors from miles around as the sweet potatoes and fish they had been enjoying moments earlier are now flung to the ground the napoi Scramble for their weapons in the chaos of the ensuing melee those armed with the muskets they had hoped would wreak such Havoc Now find them to be of little use the napi are in fact hardly proficient in the maintenance or use of the muskets many misfire and many more send their single shots sailing harmlessly into the dirt or over the heads of their intended targets as most of the lead balls whiz harmlessly through the air and the sickening ping of their misfires resounds through the camp natia Tu or Warriors flood in among the 500 strong invading Force clubbing slashing and stabbing as they go as the den of the initial volley from the muskets Fades into the dawn air it is replaced with the repeated sickening thuds of Maui War clubs meeting flesh and Bone war cries abound as do the Lamentations of the Wounded No Quarter is given and none expected as the battle unfolds in brutal fashion as the fight goes on the napi are pushed further and further out onto the beach though caught off guard by both the Ambush and the relative failure of their new weapons the napi fight fiercely as do the naua one account relates how the natua chief Tao is speared through the cheek by an attacker rather than Retreat Tao pulls the attacker still holding his weapon closer to him and dispatches him with his war club finally the napi chief Paya is felled by yet another Mighty Blow from the war club of too seeing the death of their leader the remaining force of anywhere from 200 to 350 surviving napoi scatter fleeing for their lives northward of the beach the Nawa atua give immediate Chase cutting down the slower among the retreating napi with Reckless abandon until they are called to a halt by their Chief too he orders a line drawn in the sand and that none of his Warriors should pursue the napi Beyond it the root cause behind this display of Mercy shows the inexorable closeness in both proximity and bloodline between even the most bitter Rivals of the Maui Chief T Oho has relatives and not to mention trading connections with the napi and despite their insolence and aggression he does not wish to damage their relations any further however this charity does not extend to the roughly 150 to 300 dead napi Warriors now strewn about the beach seemingly as though washed up by a storm these unfortunate slain will suffer the fate of the vanquished in Maui tradition dozens are sarily butchered and consumed by the naua until the Warriors have consumed their fill both spiritually and temporally then their remains are left where they have fallen for weeks to come the naua will witness large flocks of Seagulls congregating on the beach from their Village a few miles away this maab event will give birth to the Mal name for this battle teai aturo or the seagull Feast though it is merely a continuation of an ongoing feud and in fact much smaller in scale than many previous engagement between the two fa actions the seagull’s feast marks a seminal point in Maui history the beginning of what will come to be known as the Maui musket Wars these brutal Wars will carry on over a period of three decades from 1807 until 1837 and will see as many as 3,000 separate engagements between rival Maui bands the musket Wars will result in the deaths of between 20,000 and 40,000 Maui and the loss of countless more to the throw of slavery as prisoners of War but for tonight the stories of these battles as well as the countless Tales of Heartache horror and heroism that abound within the 30-year history of the musket Wars are other stories for other times southern Mexico June 24th 1520 less than 30 years after Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the New World a group of Spanish conquistadors led by hernand Cortez marches into an urban Metropolis that is bigger than anything they had ever seen in Europe there are markets neighborhoods idless crops massive pyramids with thousands of nearly vertical steps that seem to ascend into the clouds and a zoo complete with an extensive collection of jungle snakes birds and a pair of Bison all of which are the first of their kind the bards had ever seen on most days the markets bustle the crops are worked and citizens and slaves alike go about their daily tasks as they would in any City throughout the world but on this day as Cortez and his contingent plaw wearily through the ston lined streets the entirety of this Metropolis seems cloaked in an eerie silence and Stillness this is not the first time these men have been here on November 8th of the previous year the 34-year-old corz an accomplished Soldier and Conquistador had led his force of nearly 1200 Spanish conquistadors crossbow men arousers Cavalry and Indigenous allies into the city all to Great ceremony the ruling Monarch onuma II had made a great show of showering the Spaniards in magnam minity and presence viewed by his people as a sort of hybrid god king monuma had intended to awe the Spanish with great demonstrations of his power and opulence his hope had been that Cortez and his cohorts would be cowed by the enormity and scope of this Great Society take their gifts of gold and trinkets and return to their King in order to inform him of the futility of any further attempts at Conquest unfortunately for himself and his people montazuma had wildly underestimated the Spanish thirst for land and riches he had to be sure heard plenty about these Ironclad Invaders who for months now had been trudging their way Inland after sailing to the yakatan peninsula from Cuba the Aztec had ruled the vast majority of Southern and Central Mexico for Centuries by this point after a rise to power that had come by a much Warfare Bloodshed and Conquest they had begun as a Wandering tribe of mercenaries who had constructed their Mighty City known as Tino chlan upon the swampy edges of a vast Lake through Decades of dogged construction expansion and warfare they had risen from poverty to prominence they held their Rivals and Neighbors in states of Perpetual apprehension by a constant Waring and raiding upon them the Aztec viewed themselves as a chosen people whose Gods had given them much and thus expected much in return the Aztec worldview and Society was based largely on their religious practices and those practices were steeped in blood though they are Ardent polytheists it is their sacrifices to their patrion God Hilo pole God of sun and War without sufficient blood sacrifice the Aztecs believed their crops would fail and their families would fall victim to pestilence and disease thus the Warfare they made upon neighboring tribes was conducted not with the express intent of killing but of taking prisoners these prisoners would become gristle in the mill of industrial sacrifice upon which Aztec society depended they would be bound and taken back to Tino Chon where they would be kept in cages like livestock then when they were needed for their ultimate ends each prisoner would be extracted one by one and taken to meet their fate though ritualistic sacrifice was not a daily occurrence it is safe to say that it occurred in some capacity on more days than not throughout a calendar year on these days at top the largest pyramid structures in the Western Hemisphere men women and children would be ceremonially adorned in paint and costume then forcibly walked up the seep stairs and bent face up over a large Rock their arms and legs would then be held down by four priests themselves adorned in Gold turquoise and Feathers the high priest would then take an obsidian knife and plunge it into the victim’s torso the priest would extract the victim’s vital organs and throw them onto a skillet sizzling nearby in order to discern the intentions of the Gods through the rising smoke and Vapors the Aztec believed that the more the victims were terrified and made to weep and wail the more efficacious the sacrifice would be this maob merciless scene would take place with such regularity that it necessitated a near constant state of warfare against neighboring tribes in order to provide a sufficient number of sacrificial victims this need for sacrificial victims drove the rapid expansion of the Aztec Empire and crafted them into a formidable milit military economic and political force in Rapid succession they were unrivaled in their wealth and territory real estate and gold this rise to power had of course come at the expense of the surrounding tribes and fostered great resentment towards the Aztecs among their Rivals it was these neighboring tribes already weakened under the Yoke of Aztec rule that had either thus far been trampled underfoot or submitted to terms as Cortez and his men swept Inland from the coast on a quest for Glory gold and they believed God among Cortez’s ranks of grizzled soldiers and hardened crossbowmen were a number of Catholic priests the Spanish their politics being as indivisible from their theology as the Aztecs considered the presence of Catholic priests to be a prerequisite on any campaign in the name of King and Country thus the Spanish viewed their expansion of territory and acquisition of riches as fundamentally Inseparable from the expansion of their Faith the conversion of new souls to Christianity whether by coercion or by force was seen as a preeminent matter in any successful campaign these newly conquered converts had in many cases beseeched Cortez and the Spanish to continue Westward where they would not only find great fortune in gold and treasures but great numbers of souls to convert Cortez saw this as an impassible opportunity to Garner great riches for himself and his men as well as Curry great favor with not only the king of Spain but the pope thus every gift of gold and jewels that monuma bestowed upon Cortez and his men only served to steal their resolve to take this great Metropolis over in the name of their King their country and their go and so rather than taking their leave from the enormous bustling city of Tino chitlan with gifts in hand and heads bowed in awe Cortez and his men placed monuma under arrest for weeks the ostensibly infallible god king had existed under a tacit house arrest relaying messages and directives to his people and subordinates even wandering around the city but clearly no longer in charge even before the arrival of the Spanish the internal workings of the Aztec hierarchy had been fraught with deceit Scandal nepotism and greed many of those serving under monuma felt that the ruler was not only unfit to serve his people but actively leading them into disaster increasingly Montezuma’s own subjects began to disdain and mistrust him and a p of social and political unrest settled over the city of tinos chitlan in early May of 1520 International conflict called Cortez back to the coast to deal with an attempted usurpation by his rival panfilo dear viz Cortez left his close friend Pedro de Alvarado in charge of overseeing monuma and the City of tinos chitlan on May 20th 1520 after hearing rumors of a plot to attack the Spanish during the Festival of tux coddle Alvarado ordered what he claimed to be a preemptive attack on the Aztec thousands of unarmed civilians were cut down by Spanish swords and arrows and several members of the Aztec Royal Court were put to death at the direct order of Alvarado following the attack and executions the Aztec had relentlessly attacked the Spanish who were forced to barricade themselves inside Mona’s Royal head quarters the Palace of wcot now over a month later Cortez and his men make their way through the Stark Silence of the city streets unmolested they arrived to find the palace in disrepair after incessant attacks and their comrades mentally and physically exhausted they are greeted as saviors by their comrades who have all but resigned themselves to death trapped here in the middle of the city with limited ammunition and vastly outnumbered but the joviality and relief of the moment are quickly overshadowed by Cortez’s rage towards his temporary replacement Alvarado he berates Alvarado for his cowardice and shortsightedness alvorado insists that had he not attacked the Aztecs first the entire Spanish contingent left behind by Cortez would have been wiped out but Cortez has received word while on his return trip from montazuma himself via a letter snuck out of the city that the Aztecs had in fact gained permission from Alvarado before making their typical preparations for their Festival had he solely intended to th their attack suspending the festival preparations would have been a far more obvious and less costly option instead Alvarado had attacked and in the process damaged the trust of not only the Aztec but of the other surrounding tribes who were now rightfully dubious as to the sincerity of the Spaniards now Cortez knows a hornet’s nest has been irreversibly stirred and he and his men will have to deal with the immediate consequences he is furious with Alvarado proclaiming that I wish to God monuma had escaped and I had never had to listen to this story Cortez exercises no corporal punishment on Alvarado only demoting him from second in command and replacing him with the more level-headed Gonzalo desand ofal though the size of his Force had dissuaded an initial attack from the Aztec they are now essentially trapped inside the city their food is running low and with the Aztec markets closed and the people hostile and unwilling to barter or trade the prospect of running out of food and portable water is becoming more and more plausible by the minute as the totality of his predicament becomes more and more apparent Cortez’s anger boils over towards monuma as well he suspects the Aztec ruler of colluding with his rival narvas and secret correspondence promising him great riches and power should he assist in ridding tenos chitan of his Troublesome countrymen monuma who has spent the majority of his time Shack L and desponded inside the palace walls as the citizens who once revered him now intermittently attack his Palace and hurl insults at his overseers is elated to see Cortez return through interpreters he asks to meet with Cortez this further enrages the already riled Conquistador meet with me why the dog will not even keep the markets open Cortez exclaims monuma explains pitifully that he no longer wields the power he once did the god emperor that had ruled over Cho shitan and the whole of the Aztec world has since Cortez’s arrival Fallen to the internal disputes and external minations of his people but Cortez however aware he might be of the validity of Montezuma’s claims refuses to listen he insists that if monuma does not hold the necessary sway over his people he should choose an underling whom he believes does and that man will be sent out from the palace to convince his fellow Aztecs to reopen the marketplaces mon Zuma chooses his brother quit lahak who is also being held prisoner in the palace Cortez in a decision he will later regret bitterly agrees and sends kit lauak out to Plate the festering conflict however instead quit lauak sends word forth that the time to attack the Spanish is now when they are weakened tired hungry and trapped he meets with the remaining political Elite who had not been arrested or killed in Alvarado’s attack and an emergency council is held officially nullifying Mont Zuma’s power as ruler instead quit lauak is installed as the new ruler the morning after releasing quit lauak Cortez sends out a loone messenger headed for the coast with an emergency dispatch calling for reinforcements it is assumed that with the streets empty he will pass out of the city with ease and be on his way to call for assistance however in less than 30 minutes the messenger rushes back through the gates of the palace bearing fresh wounds from Aztec’s slings and arrows and insisting that the city is crawling with amassing forces readying to attack the palace Cortez’s guards stationed at Port holes around the palace’s walls soon confirm the messengers chilling report to their horror a veritable cloud of aztech Warriors is now sweeping their way through the streets in full War regalia with shields obsidian clubs and Feathers gleaming brightly in the harsh Mexican Summer Sun the more seasoned conquistadors among the men begin to deliberately prepare for what many assume will be their last fight many of the less experienced men who had been left behind under the command of Alvarado and endured the weeks of intermittent attacks and nightly torment and taunts from the Aztecs are now at their veritable Breaking Point hernand Cortez seems completely preoccupied in his own rage toward towards his subordinate commanders and towards monuma he believes the ineptitude of Alvarado coupled with the corruption of montazuma and his cohorts are to blame for his current predicament and he is irate montazuma the man who had once been treated as a Divine being anywhere he strolled throughout his kingdom now sits dejectedly in a dingy corner of a back room his wrists and ankles once covered in the finest jewelry now ache and chafe under the confines of his iron shackles as his former subjects now amass in front of his once opulent Palisade montazuma hangs his head in equal parts Despair and resignation he tells his captors that he no longer desires to live and that they too will perish here under the war clubs and arrows of his Aztec countrymen he has accepted his fate he says and so must they Cortez’s rage already white hot is only stoked further upon hearing Mona’s pitiable calls to surrender to their fate he barges into the room in which montazuma is being held and storms up to the Aztec ruler their FA is only inches apart through gritted teeth Cortez demands monuma walk out onto the exposed Palace wall and Order his people to stand down they must Cortez still believes listen to their deified ruler but monuma insists again that he no longer holds any consequential power amongst his people he is in fact now a figure of great derision amongst the population of Tino chitlan should the Warriors now swarming outside catch sight of him they will surely kill him monuma insists but Cortez will hear none of it he orders two Spaniards to take monuma forcibly to the top of the wall facing the throngs of Aztec warriors readying to make their attack on the palace the two conquistadors pull monuma to his feet and March him out to the top of the wall as they advanced to the exposed position arrows stones and Spears filled the air and they are only spared death by covering themselves with their heavy Shields still arguing that this tactic was all but suicidal monuma is dragged the final few steps to the top of the wall and ordered once again to address his people accounts vary on what happens next with one version attesting to the Fallen King’s attempts at overtures of peace to his people the other states that the disgrace ruler was not even given a chance to speak in either case monuma is in short order met with a hail of arrows and stones at least three of which strike him in the head and chest the Spaniards hurridly reclosed their ad hoc Shield wall around his body and drag him back to the relative cover of a palace room as monuma Now lies mortally wounded slipping in and out of Consciousness Cortez determines in traditional Conquistador fashion to take the offensive and orders Diego de ordz and a few hundred men to charge out of the gates and take the fight to the Aztecs Cortez hopes the Firepower of the Spanish muskets and crossbows will drive off the attack of the Aztec but this idea too falls under a hail of stones and arrows and de oraz and his surviving men soon rush back into the palace defeated and crestfall de oraz has been badly wounded in three places and while he was out Cortez to has taken a grievous wound to his left hand from an Aztec war club roughly 80 other Spaniards also lay injured in various spots throughout the palace compound Cortez left hand dangling uselessly at his side orders a Relentless series of volleys from the muskets cannons crossbowmen and archers into the Aztec hordes at the palace gate again and again shots are poured in the attacking Aztec seemingly to no effect soon flame tipped arrows begin to fall into the palace igniting any wooden structures within and engulfing the compound in Smoke And Flames Cortez and his men hurriedly worked to put out the Flames heaping dirt and mud upon them as they simultaneously shoot into the attacking crowd of Aztecs and hack at those attempting to Crest the walls for the better part of a week the battle rages on at night cloaked in darkness Aztec priests hurl curses from their gods upon the Spanish eraing the Conquistadors and their IND ous allies as cowards and taunting that they would soon sacrifice them and feast upon their bodies on the 29th of June monuma finally succumbs to his wounds the great Chief who had descended from such a stored lineage who had overseen an Empire to rival the greatest rulers of the world and who had believed himself Divine Now lies cold in death the Aztec world has been irreparably changed and the beginning of their end has now officially arrived whether the citizens of tinos chitlan and the Warriors reing down Hellfire upon the Spanish inside the palace compound know it or not their way of life is now effectively over within a year’s time their city will fall to the mighty Spanish Empire their gods will be outlawed their temples destroyed and vast swads of their population will fall to mysterious diseases brought over by these Alien Invaders however even as the Fallen King lies in permanent Repose hernand Cortez and the men under his command are still trapped inside the ruins of this once opulent Testament to their enemy Grandeur the story of their escape as well as the subsequent takeover and pillaging of the once Mighty Metropolis is one of the most brutal jarring accounts of history in what Europeans would come to know as the new world but the tale of Cortez’s ultimate escape and revenge as as well as that of the Aztec maab fall into destitution and despair are for tonight other stories for other times January 24th 1599 aoma Pueblo New Mexico 26-year-old Spanish conquistador vincenta alivar stares angrily into the pre-dawn darkness mentally rehearsing the plan he and his officers have agreed to they will make a head-on charge it has been decided their Cannon will be put to use and before the sun sets on another chilly Winters day des alavar feels assured that Victory will belong to himself and his men they have been en sconed here at the base of this Mesa and the sparse expanses of this unforgiving desert for 2 days laying Siege to the natives within the adobe brick walls but despite their formidable advantage in both Firepower and Personnel they have been as of yet unable to overtake their intended objective their presence here is the inevitable result of Two Worlds colliding while they are ultimately only the martial enforcement of policies dictated by a king and influenced by a pope thousands of miles away the actions they are about to take will ultimately have reverberations felt throughout both the new and old worlds however while geopolitics indeed plays a role in the attack these soldiers of Spain are about to undertake they are here today primarily for the sake of their own personal Vengeance and retribution in little more than a century since Christopher Columbus’s Landing in the Caribbean Spain’s Relentless incursion in the Americas has been rivaled only by the British the French and the Dutch following hernand Cortez’s overthrow of the Aztecs in 1519 the Spanish spread North and Westward has been startlingly Swift and strikingly violent the Spanish had founded New Spain encompassing the vast majority of what today comprises both Central and North Americas in 1521 for much of the latter half of the 16th century the Spanish had concentrated significant amounts of their efforts on settling the area the Spanish and the aoma people had first come into contact around the year 1540 and for decades had lived in essentially peaceful coexistence however in the preceding few years the Spanish attempts at subjugating the peblo peoples of what is today Central and Northern New Mexico have become both more concentrated and more con assistant the Spanish governor Don onate had spent considerable time and resources on settling the region and bringing the native inhabitants to bear as subjects of both the Spanish crown and simultaneously the Catholic church in 1595 onate was granted permission from King Philip II to colonize Santa Fe Deo Mexico the present day state of New Mexico this led to his involvement in devising a plan to overthrow the aoma chieftain and Conquer their Pueblo by force with the full weight of the Spanish Crown’s oversight now upon them onate feels the aoma can no longer be allowed to run unfettered about the Spanish territory as unbaptized disobedient citizens however in 1598 his plans for a violent overthrow had leaked to the aoma who were rightfully incensed and understandably terrified among many aoma it was still believed that the Spanish were with their steel armor and cacophonous Firearms impervious to harm also adding to the Spanish era of invincibility is their exclusive access to a technology no natives on the American continent possess the horse since Landing in the new world horses and horsemanship have been closely guarded aspects of European technology that it was believed must never be allowed to fall into native hands this perception of the Spanish as well as the spanish’s well-known track record of harshly dealing with their opposition had led many among the aoma to advocate for a conciliatory approach to dealing with the Spanish well aware of the aom’s willingness to acques Don onate had sent his nephew pente Des aladar’s Brother Juan to negotiate a peace agreement with the aoma this was seen as a plum assignment and a way to pad the budding young Juan’s record as a diplomat and military leader on December 4th 1598 W deard dear had marched up the steep slopes of the Mesa with 16 conquistadors under his command and resolutely demanded food their Tre had been tiresome and they were indeed in great need of sustenance but their presumption and aggression had quickly led to a violent altercation with the Acoma The Conquistadors had allegedly assaulted some of the aoma women actions which led to the death of Wanda alavar and 11 of the 16 soldiers under his charge upon receiving the news of his nephew’s demise at the hands of the aoma Don onate had flown into a rage promising revenge against them it was onate who had ordered Vincente de alavar to lead the Expedition avenging his brother’s death Vincente and his men had arrived at the aoma Pueblo on January 21st of 1599 and the battle had begun in Earnest on the following morning the formidable walls surrounding the peblo had for 2 days held the attempts of the Spanish to infiltrate them at Bay repeated incursions had been made with the hope of a headlong charge being avoided as well as avoiding the arduous task of hauling their field Cannon up the Steep Rocky slopes in order to reach the walls now just before the sun’s Rays pierce the eastern skyine and cented as alavar gives his force of roughly 70 men the order to advance huddled inside their homes quetting their children and stealing their own nerves the aoma can hear the clattering of the armored Spaniards advancing up the slopes with their artillery and toe though they have witnessed the Spanish fire upon them in the preceding few days with their arubus they yakoma have yet to face the full brunt of the Spanish cannons though far shorter than their Maritime counterparts the field cannons carried by the Spanish on this day provide a powerful tactical as well as a psychological advantage the walls of the Adobe though expertly constructed and remarkably durable are no match for cannonballs the deafening Roar of the Cannons also provides a factor of shock and awe that are of comparable if not equal value in attacking an enemy as a yet unfamiliar with their capabilities just as the morning sun has risen high enough to illuminate the strange actions of the Spaniards as they make ready to fire the aoma look on in equal parts curiosity and horror moments later the command to fire the first volley is given and the Placid sounds of the desert morning are instantly drowned out in a roar of cannon fire of the estimated 6,000 aoma inhabitants roughly 2,000 are full-fledged Warriors now readying themselves for a third successive day of resisting the Spanish Onslaught as they watch the damage being steadily inflicted upon the outer walls of the pleo they come to the chilling realization that soon the only barrier between the cannon fire and their families will be themselves the Spanish Onslaught continues as the Wailing and Lamentations of the women and children filled the air as cannonballs continued to plow under the thick walls the complications for the defending a coma begin to compound soon in addition to the emerging Gap in the defensive wall the smell of acurate smoke permeates the air the dried straw mixed into the Adobe has begun to smolder with the incessant heat of the cannonballs assaulting it soon the fire is growing rapidly as are the panicked cries of the men women and children now all trapped within the confines of the peblo finally after hours of bombardment vented dis Vadar gives a final command for the Conquistadors to draw their swords and storm the peblo within minutes the several dozen heavily armed and highly trained soldiers pour past the barriers of the walls and into the city streets of the peblo for hours a bitter vicious battle rages in which the Spanish cut down even the most tacid opposition be they Warriors women or children by late afternoon the aoma Pueblo’s Peaceable confines have turned turned into a smoke stwn blood soaked scene from a nightmare roughly 500 aoma Warriors lie dead most having died courageously and vicious hand-to-hand combat defending their loved ones additionally roughly 300 women and children have fallen to Spanish swords in arubus fire now as the afternoon sun begins to wne vented is alavar still seething over the death of his brother orders 500 of the aoma villagers placed in Chains amidst the Weeping of children and mothers who would never see each other again the Spanish summarily marched to capture Tacoma off to the San Juan Pueblo where Governor Don onate Waits with an abiding Fury upon his arrival Vincent de alavar is made the object of On’s praise and the prisoners are made the target of his merciless rage initially the seizing onate ordered that every male over the age of 25 should have their right foot cut off and subsequently enslaved for 20 years the same period of enslavement was to befall any male prisoner between the ages of 12 and 25 and any female prisoners over the age of 12 ultimately 24 of the captured Warriors would suffer the totality of their sentences the rest would be dispersed throughout the Jesuit mission system that had already been established even here on the furthest outreaches of the Spanish Frontier many of the younger women would ultimately be sent to convents in Mexico City to serve out lives as nuns two of the male prisoners had their hands amputated and were sent out amongst the neighboring tribes as walking warning signs not to contest the newly declared authority of the Spanish Crown it would be King Philip II himself however who would issue a personal order banishing Don onate from the entirety of the New Mexico territory for good even with the ostensible might of one of Europe’s most powerful Empires backing them it was readily apparent to the king that such needlessly violent retributive actions would only ultimately cause the Spanish more problems in their attempts to advance their empire and grow their economy onate would eventually retire to Spain where he would work as the head of all mining inspectors until his death in 1626 Don onate presents an incredibly controversial and consequential figure in the story of the Spanish in the new world he is vilified by many revered by some and often heralded as the last of the Conquistadors the end of his story is however far from the end of the story of the Spanish incursion into what is today North Central and South America the actions taken by Don onate would have consequences that reverberated for decades ultimately culminating in the largest Native Revolt in North American history the tales of Bloodshed coexistence survival and heroism are too numerous to cover in a single episode and so for tonight they are other stories for other [Music] times September 16th 1868 Eastern Colorado as the late Summer Sun sinks into the Horizon a group of Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors sit in a loose circle around a cooking fire enjoying an evening meal among them is a 45-year-old Cheyenne Warrior named Roman nose he is a decades long veteran of countless battles against settlers and soldiers from the United States as well as raids against rival tribes in the illustrious career he has compiled Roman NOS has accured many honors and a reputation amongst his people his allies and his enemies as a formidable tactician and a vicious fighter since the devastating Sand Creek Massacre of November 29th 18 1964 in which dozens or possibly hundreds of his fellow Cheyenne men women and children were mowed down without Mercy at the command of Colonel John chivington Roman noos had extracted his proverbial pound of Flesh from the encroaching white settlers with a myopic Fury he had been born into a band of the Northern Cheyenne around the year 1823 son of a prominent Warrior named lone bear and a beautiful and highly regarded mother named black Buffalo woman though as a child he had gone by the name Moses caneta nunah or bat he had acquired the name wokini or hooknose from his notable physical features a name which the Americans would interpret as Roman nose he had fought at the Battle of Julesburg in Wyoming in 1865 and wrought Terror and trapid upon travelers all along the segment of the Oregon Trail that stretched to the Northern Plains he had visited fort lned in April of the previous year during which Isaac coats US general Winston Scott Hancock’s surgeon observed Roman nose in an argument with the general noting that of all the Chiefs he is one of the fittest specimens physically of his race he is quite 6 feet in height finally formed with a large body and muscular limbs his appearance was decidedly military and on this occasion particularly so since he wore the uniform of a general in the Army a seven- shooting Spencer carbine hung at the side of his saddle four large Navy revolvers stuck in his belt and a bow already strung with arrows were grasp in his left hand thus armed and mounted on a fine horse he was a good representative of the god of war and his manner showed plainly that he did not care if we talked or fought though he holds no formal position of leadership within the Cheyenne Roman NOS has built his stature within the tribe and their allies through countless battles raids and buffalo hunts all throughout his travels and fighting Roman noos had fought fearlessly partly due to his own personal resolve and disposition and partly due to his belief that his War Bonnet possessed a protective magic over him that afforded him protection from the white man’s weapons he had received the War Bonnet as a gift from the Lakota Warrior white bull who assured him no harm would come to him while he wore the headdress so long as he did not violate his medicine by consuming any food prepared with the white man’s metal utensils known amongst his people as a deeply spirit ual man Roman NOS abided by these directives fastidiously in addition to following the prescription of white bull Roman NOS would partake in days long fast from food and water often arriving late to battles due to his extensive prayer routine still though despite his trademark tardiness Roman nose has and especially the last few months been the terror of the United States government marauding about his High Plains Homeland wreaking havoc and killing soldiers and settlers wherever he can the preceding summer months have been busy hot and bloody but now for a brief moment as he sits here with his fellow Warriors enjoying a warm piece of fry bread freshly made by a sue woman serving as cook for the camp all seems well at least momentarily then with all the disruption of a rifle’s rort the cry comes out from returning Scouts that a contingent of white soldiers has been spotted nearby and that an attack must be made as soon as possible as he has so many times before Roman NOS halts his meal and makes ready for the attack that will take place the next day just as he is making his way back to his lodge one of his Warrior cohorts rushes up to him Eyes Wide in panic the warrior informs Roman nose that the Sue woman who served them their dinner not knowing of Roman nose’s prohibition against eating food prepared with metal utensils had used a metal SP spoon to serve up their dinner this action though unintentional now has resounding consequences Roman NOS now believes his medicine the great protection offered by his War Bonnet has been compromised the Cheyenne medicine man’s ceremony for ostensibly restoring the power to the headdress will take days a luxury the mighty warrior does not now have as the night drags on Roman nose contemplates his next move the millstone of Fate weighing heavy on his mind only 12 Mi away on the Dry Fork of the Republican River on the South Bank of what is known as Delaware Creek 27-year-old first lieutenant Frederick Henry Beer Works alongside his men preparing their camp for the night they are a unique contingent of both US Army soldiers and civilian frontiersmen a combined force of 50 in number assembled for the express purpose of pursuing and combating the Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors who have been so unyielding in their attacks in the previous few weeks commanding them is Major General George Alexander forsight of the 9th Cavalry who had begun his career in 1861 as a lieutenant in the 8th Illinois Cavalry fory saw action in the shanoa valley campaign of 1864 served as Aid du camp for Major General Philip Sheridan and had been awarded a brevit promotion to Colonel on October 19th of 1864 for his actions during the third battle of Winchester and the Battle of cedar cek Creek earlier in this year he had been charged with assembling this motly band whose ages ranged from their late teens to their early 60s beer serves as second in command for this group himself a veteran of the Civil War acting as first lieutenant of the 16th main volunteers from 1862 to 1864 he had fought at the Battle of Brooks station the battle of fredicksburg the battle of Chancellorsville as well as the Battle of Gettysburg he had been severely wounded twice at both Fredericksburg on December 13th 1862 as well as Gettysburg on July 1st of 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg he had also received a citation for Valor after refusing to surrender the regimental colors to the attacking Confederate forces he was born in New Orleans in June of 1841 and graduated from Bodwin College in Maine before volunteering for the Union Army his family is one of prominent American stock with his uncle Henry Ward beer being perhaps the most prominent Methodist preacher in America at the time his aunt Harriet beer Stow is perhaps the most famous writer in America having authored the seminal fictional work in abolitionism at the time Uncle Tom’s Cabin which had served as a major media flasho and the galvanization of the country on the issue of slavery his family is known as some of the most prominent and influential abolitionists in the whole of the Northeast but they are also Americans with a strident Fidelity to their newly resolved Union and possessing no small amount of fervor for the Fulfillment of the notion of manifest destiny the country fresh out of conflict within itself now seems 3 years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln unapologetically obsessed with their own reconstruction and expansion both reconstruction and expansion though have thus far come at Great cost in the South unrest continues to run rampant with the seeds of long held resentments being swed far and wide in the west the ongoing war between the United States government and the manager of tribes that range from Mexico to Canada has once again become red hot after four years of a comparative lull and heavy fighting though conflict on the bleeding edge of the frontier had indeed raged throughout the entirety of the American Civil War it was only after 1865 that the federal government could Marshall the might of their full resources in the fight against the plains tribes the Mir existence of this 50-man Force though now unfurling their bed rolls and picketing their horses down for the night is evidence of the US Army’s assessment of the situation on the high plains as a desperate one one that calls for desperate measures if the attacks made by Warriors who often times have personal ties to those massacred by shavington and Company at Sand Creek are to ever be abated on the morning of September 10th this Detachment had left Fort Wallace located in present day Kansas following the trail of what they initially believed to be a force of 25 native Warriors who had attacked a work detail roughly 13 mi from the fort the trail however soon began to show signs of a far larger force of native Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors in the vicinity this Prospect though was an enticing one for many in the party as the largest problem for many units fighting on the open PLS was not as much in combating the native Warriors in battle but in actually finding them in the first place the vast majority of the time pursuing soldiers and citizens alike saw their attackers or their Quarry depending on the situation Disappear With Spectre likee ease into the seemingly endless flat grasslands now as men begin to doze off and others take their turn standing watch The Night Drags on under the Splendor of the northern plain Sky many amongst them have lost friends and loved ones to the attacks of the Sue Cheyenne and arapo and now burned for Revenge that they hope is finally all too close at hand however even the most fervent pursuer amongst them would likely be shocked and perhaps slightly horrified to know that a massive Camp of Sue Cheyenne and arapo hundreds or perhaps thousands strong lies only a dozen miles away from their force of 50 men but when the sun breaches the Eastern Horizon on the morning of the 17th the rude awakening for this small force is at hand both literally and figurativ silhouetted by the rise in Sun lining the ridgetops around them are hundreds of Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors resending in their war paint and letting loose war cries that jar awake those who have not yet been alerted by the men on watch as first lieutenant beer wipes the sleep from his eyes and take stock of the situation at hand his mind seems nearly unable to reconcile the bizarre sight before him not only are hundreds of warriors on the hilltops above them but also are the wives and Children of the Warriors looking on and exhorting their husbands and fathers to Glory overseeing them from a distance his Roman NOS though not a formal chief his leadership on the battlefield has been a pivotal element of the native warrior successes in the preceding years now as he watches on Roman nose fights a growing sense of self-consciousness as some among his people trait curious glances and hushed Whispers as their best warrior only watches the battle about to take place the word has gone out amongst the assembled Sue Cheyenne and Arapaho that no Warrior should make any rash moves their prey is cornered and to the eyes of the Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors present they are helpless but as young men are often want to do a group of eight teenage Warriors make a fool hearty attempt at stampeding the soldiers horses some of the 50 Americans fire upon them with their Spencer repeating carbin a new technology that allows rapid reload loading as opposed to the muzzle loading rifles and muskets of only a few years prior though none of the Young Warriors are killed in their attempt the first shots of the fight have now been fired and now a torrent of violence is Unleashed as rapid charges are made upon the small camp with war cries filling the air mixing with the sounds of commands in English and the cheering of the Sue Cheyenne and arapo women and children in their respective languages as the attacks persist first lieutenant beer kulie and K fires upon the charging Warriors while encouraging his men to take accurate shots and remain courageous despite their obvious numerical disadvantage first in command major general forsight orders the men to retreat across the shallow Waters of the river to a small desolate Island located Midstream between the North and South Banks fory and beer assist their 48 men in forming a barricade with the very horses they had led across the river tying the animals off to bushes and taking cover behind them almost as as soon as the men are able to take their positions behind their unfortunate means of cover another series of attacks ensues again swarming down upon them seemingly from all directions one after another the hor is tied off to the bushes are felled by arrows and bullets from the Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors as the men continue to take fire more and more among them recognized the rius crack of the rifles carried by the native Warriors the chilling realization falls upon the men now in sconed upon this Barren strip of Earth in the middle of a sparse High plane stream that they are being fired upon with Henry and Spencer repeating rifles some of these weapons have been procured by The Warriors from both prior victories such as the utter Massacre rought upon the Cavalry and the Federman Massacre of a year and a half prior some of the repeating rifles though a technology that had been a singular means of advantage for the US Cavalry over the plains tribes had been provided by the United States government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs under the pretense that they would only be used for hunting despite the vehement assertions to the contrary from countless correspondents pinned by army officers in the field to their superiors in Washington DC besieging them to stop this clearly conflicting practice no such effort has been made by this summer of 1868 now as their horses are being killed by bullets funded by their own government the men on the island situation is rapidly becoming more and more dire foresight and beer agree that the only course of ction left is to kill the remaining horses and order the men to dig in more substantial breast Works behind the animals bodies as things are the men are far too exposed and their small force can now only hope to hunker down and hold their position as the iron stink of blood and viscera permeate the air the men dig in in Desperate intermittent fits stopping only to fire on a sailing bands of attacking Warriors who incessantly pester them with attacks some of the Warriors take a more surreptitious route of attack back sneaking into the thick grass that lines the Riverbanks and sniping at the men now effectively trapped on the island as the fight drags on the mighty Roman nose continues to watch from a distance initially he had thought that his participation in the fight today May indeed prove unnecessary With the Enemy trapped and assumed to be at the mercy of antiquated Weaponry he had hoped this might be a chance for some of the younger Warriors to make their own marks in their initial four Rays into combat but as the afternoon sun burns bright and hotter and more and more Young Warriors fall to the Americans repeating rifles Roman nose becomes more and more burdened by his own internal dialogue keeping guilt upon himself then an old Cheyenne woman observing this revered Warrior not participating in the fight begins to mercilessly chastise him she brow beats him with accusations of laziness and worse cowardness charging that the lives of Young Warriors lost today will be due to his reticence to act finally Roman nose can tick no more I will die he says in a low resigned tone but I will go despite the gravity of the situation Roman nose fastidiously paints his face and torso checks his weapons says his prayers and finally Dawns his Legendary War Bonnet the War Bonnet itself speaks to the bizarre and desperate nature of the fate of these two groups brought together here today in combat in one of the most most auster environments on the continent the following is a description of the Bonnet itself made Years Later by the warrior who had constructed it white bul As Told by George P grenell instead of having two Buffalo horns attached at the headband one on each side it had but one rising over the center of the forehead it had a very long tail that touched the ground even when Roman nose was mounted this tail was made of a strip of young Buffalo hide and had eagle all along its length first four red feathers then four black ones then four red feathers again and so on 40 feathers in all for8 years Roman nose has participated in fight after fight in full confidence that the medicine from his headpiece will protect him from harm now believing its powers compromised and that it will serve merely as an ornament in his own demise he pulls the War Bonnet down upon his head and rides out with a small group of fellow Warriors to make an attack on the island again as they had countless times before he and his fellow Warriors steal their nerves in the last seconds before urging their war horses forward at full speed towards the small island the attack comes on with the Americans at the island holding their fire until the Mighty Warriors are only 50 yards away before unleashing a volley of fire from their repeating rifles followed in Rapid succession by another and another in the melee Roman knows is grievously wounded by a bullet to his torso after a short fight the force Retreats over the hilltops and back to the Village here the mighty Roman nose is pulled from his horse his condition rapidly declining due to organ damage and loss of blood he is taken inside of one of The Lodges where medicine is applied to his wound but his condition continues to rapidly deteriorate by Sunrise the legendary Cheyenne Warrior who had fought so long for so hard without incurring so much as a scratch lies cold in death inside one of the Buffalo hide Lodges of the village whales and Lamentations ReSound as the loss of such a great warrior and treasured friend is one felt as palpably here on the Great Plains as it is anywhere in the long and brutal course of history meanwhile back on the island major general foresy Now lies prostrate grievously wounded himself by a bullet lodged in his thigh dangerously close to his femoral Ary he props himself up on one elbow giving directions and doing his best to address his own wounds suddenly another charge comes on again the succeeding minutes are filled with a den of gunfire and war cries until again the Warriors Retreat and all on the island Falls silent suddenly to Major General Force height and the men’s Eternal shock and horror first lieutenant beer weily stands up seemingly in some kind of battle induced super he then Falls Falls to one knee and begins to drag himself towards foresight beer cries out I have my death wound General I am shot in the side and dying fory desperately scrambles towards his friend no beer no he manages to cry out as the young first lieutenant Falls yes good night beer manages his stoically Mumble before his eyes close and the soldier who had survived the horrors of so many battles utters his words my poor mother foresight and the men Now find themselves in a State of Shock and nearing despair as they lie prone several of them injured and now with a total of four of their forces including beeer Sergeant JH Moors George W Culver and William Wilson also lying dead on the small island in this shallow stream their proximity to death in both time and space has severely unnerved every man present whether military or civilian as the sun sets and a long worrisome night unfolds foresy considers his options in the middle of the night the men huddle behind the swelling and stinking carcasses of their horses and divise a plan they cannot stay here it is obvious to all however with all of their mounts now serving as defensive breast Works their only means of Escape will be on foot in the middle of the high plains with hundreds of War Warriors swarming the area this is tantamount to Suicide still it is their only hope ory beseeches the men that someone will have to make the trik to Fort Wallace to request assistance a 19-year-old named Simpson Jack Stillwell and a veteran fench Canadian Trapper named Pierre Avalanche Trudeau a man thought to be in his 60s but said to look much older volunteered to make the 70 mile Journey Southeast knowing that being caught will mean a certain hor death the men depart Before Sunrise walking backwards across the stream in hopes of deterring the Native Warriors who will eventually surely pursue them they vanish into the night and soon the sun rises on another day of hard fighting throughout the next two days the intermittent charges from the Sue Cheyenne and arapo warriors continue now made even more frequently on foot with the Warriors sneaking as close to the island as possible before springing their attack the fighting is a hard business and as the hours drag on it is believed that the two men sent to Garner reinforcements have likely been caught and killed in their efforts after two more nights Major General foresight is now faced with two pressing dilemmas one the men he has sent out are now likely dead and the only solution is to send another two men in hopes of completing a similar distance Trek to a stage coach stop due south of their present location here they can wait for the next stage coach to Fort Wallace Scouts John J Donovan and Allison J pyly volunteer for the task and soon slip across the stream and Over the Horizon themselves into the dead of night and Dreadful uncertainty the next problem to be addressed is the bullet lodged in Major General foresight’s thigh rectile is pressing precariously against his formal artery and the wound is rapidly becoming vulnerable to infection however with the head surgeon having already been killed foresight is unable to convince any of his men to try their hand at the rudimentary Frontier surgery required to remove the bullet from his leg this being the case fory does so himself miraculously managing to safely remove the bullet and bandage his injured leg with only a knife as his instrument though he is successful in removing the bullet the fever and ensuing infection leave many in for sit’s command believing that he will soon join his friend beer in death Meanwhile by some other Miracle both rescue parties sent out that have still while and Trudeau as well as that of Donovan and pilly made their way to Fort Wallace arriving only hours apart reinforcements are marshaled and on the 25th of September a full 8 days after killing their horses and digging in behind their corpses the surviving men left trapped on the island are greeted with the sight of eventual Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant Colonel Lewis H Carpenter and his 10th Cavalry Regiment of the Fain Buffalo Soldiers comprised of newly freed slaves who have volunteered to serve in the dangerous world of the US Army’s Cavalry Carpenter and the Buffalo Soldiers themselves are greeted with the sight of 50 dead and rotting horses as well as five dead and rotting bodies of their fellow Americans as well as the unyielding stench of a week’s worth of death and decomposition in combination with a huge swarm of black flies the Sue Cheyenne and arapo having seen the fight at least on the whole as merely another engagement despite its magc cost have now grown tired of making charges on the doomed Island and have in the words of author Terry Mort in his work Cheyenne summer made their egress much in the fashion of an audience exiting a theater after a long performance five full days later on September 30th the rescue Force as well as the men who had been trapped on the island forever now known as foresight Scouts make their way back into the relative safety of the confines of Fort Wallace Major General forsight will go on to survive his wounds which included another gunshot wound to his torso and a grazing wound to his head and he will go on to a long career in the US Army ultimately Walter Armstrong one of the scouts wounded during the fight will die of his wounds in hospital he will be buried at Fort Wallace while his Fallen cohorts in Culver Farley Wilson the surgeon Dr Moors and first lieutenant beer would all be buried on the island where they fell though the course of the river has changed throughout the years rendering the original sight of his grave unknowable the island itself is today known as Beer’s Island the final resting place of Roman NOS is as well lost to the march of history after the battle his body was placed at top a funeral p and left to be consumed by the animals and elements as was the tradition of the Cheyenne upon learning about the fight at Beer’s Island another famous Frontier figure General George Armstrong kuster remarked that it was the greatest battle on the plains the consequences of the battles of Beer’s Island would have reverberations that would be felt throughout the next bloody decade of conflict on the plains between the United States Army and tribes like the Sue Cheyenne arapo kowa Blackfoot and kamanchi but the stories of those battles like the bloody tale of kuster’s final fight at the Little Big Horn or the tragic massacre at Wounded KN are for tonight other stories for other times Montana 1834 in the middle of the night a camp of fur Trappers and Native guides bustles with activity under the flicker of their campfires light the native Delaware Warriors who serve as Scouts for the Trappers do red and black war paint on their faces in intentionally frightening pattern under the same light their cohorts in the mountain men who make up the majority of this trapping party clean their rifles and check their supplies though this group of men is not a military outfit all among them are preparing for battle the Blackfoot the reigning and rightful rulers of this territory have killed one of the Trappers own a beloved Man known only to posterity as Mr Howell the evening prior Howell had been out checking traps with another member of the party when they had been attacked by the Blackfoot while His companion had escaped Howell had been mortally wounded and suffered an ugly agonizing demise and plain view of all of his friends and comrades now the blood of the Trappers and Native Scouts runs hot for vengeance as the Delaware Scouts carry out their ritual War dance the mountain men confer with each other in hushed angry tones about the Revenge they intend to exact upon the Blackfoot the Blackfoot so named by the Traders from the Hudson Bay Company who noticed that after trekking Eastward to the Great Bay over grasslands that had been recently scorched by wildfires the tribal members deer skinned leggings and moccasins were stained black with Prairie soot had long been the primary adversary in this area for not only the Trappers but many of their weaker neighbors who often bore the brunt of Blackfoot raiding and warfare in this austere unforgiving landscape the Blackfoot have staked their CL claim and it is well known amongst all that trespassers of any kind are not tolerated on their lands but however serious the consequences the tide of fur Trappers making their way North along the many rivers and tributaries that crisscrossed the country had been steadily increasing over the decade though their initial dealings with the Lewis and Clark expedition had indeed been largely peaceful the continued incursion of Trappers had been met with a consistent stream of hostilities from the mighty Blackfoot while Trappers often traveled in parties numbering in the dozens nearly all of whom would be heavily armed the litany list of Trappers and mountain men who had lost their lives for trespassing was ever growing and well known amongst all those who ventured out on the wild expanses of the Northern Plains every man amongst the trapping party now readying themselves for combat had known this danger as had their dead comrade howl but this does little to wet the Trappers and Native Scouts appetite for vengeance and the name of their comrade although they are largely a mly crew of what most in the large cities back East would consider unfit for civilized society they are not without leadership nor order but in this harsh world where decisions made in seconds can have consequences that spell life or certain death Allegiance and obedience are not offered in difference to office or pedigree here a man’s reputation and skills make him worthy of leadership and few men on the whole of the frontier are more skilled experienced or wellknown than the man who now leads this party of men bent on Revenge he is a tall well-built rangy limed man with a penchant for jokes and Good Humor paired with an uncanny neck for survival and a hellacious bent for combat his name is Jim Bridger at this time in 1836 he is 32 years old but he is already a longtime veteran of the frontier and a legend amongst his fellow mountain men born James Felix Bridger on March 17th 1804 in Richmond Virginia Bridger had been orphaned at the age of 13 and made his way to St Louis to work as an apprentice for a newspaper printer however after reading one of the papers advertisements posted by General William Henry Ashley calling for 100 men to ascend the River Missouri to its source there to be employed for one two or 3 years the 18-year-old Bridger had joined up along with several other men such as Thomas Fitzpatrick William sublet Dave Jackson James kimman Hugh glass and jedadiah Smith all of whom would go on to become legendary mountain men in their own right the group would go on to be known as Ashley’s 100 and in the ensuing decade and a half since that advertisement’s publication Bridger and his cohorts had gone on to explore vast expanses of the American frontier that had only yet been seen by its native peoples during this time Bridger had survived countless clashes and run-ins with a number of tribes on the American Plains but it was the Blackfoot whom he feared most and who most drew his quenchless eye now as he makes his final preparations and mounts his horse Bridger is silent amidst the Cyclone of activity that surrounds him there is no need nor tolerance for rousing speeches nor exhortations amongst this crowd as Bridger well knows and thus his instructions are tur the Blackfoot are nearby they are to catch them off guard and kill as many warriors as possible until they are able to drive the Blackfoot out of this vicinity then and only then will their Vengeance be complete silently the party now moves out with their Delaware Scouts leading the way however skilled and reputable any of the mountain men may be their skills and tracking are largely incomparable to their native guides who had been schooled in its practice since childhood now under cover of the night the Meaney and tight lipped contingent makes its way across the sparse landscape myopically intent on exacting their proverbial pound of Flesh from their hated rifles as the chill of the night winds envelop them the men do their best to steady their nerves and temper their anger lest a tactical mistake be made in this critical hour finally the Blackfoot Camp is in sight but the blackoot but centuries have alerted their comrades and the Blackfoot are now securely ensconced in a Grove of Cottonwood and willow trees on the bank of a small river which runs behind them just before coming into rifle range of the Blackfoot the contingent of Trappers and Scouts comes to a halt Bridger and the other Trappers huddled to discuss their next course of action against this unexpectedly entrenched enemy position however as the mountain men confer the Delaware Scouts see no need for what they believe to be baseless precautions the Delaware with tomahawk in one hand and rifle in the other make an immediate headlong charge towards the Blackfoot position they swarm into the thicket holding the Blackfoot with such ferocity that the Blackfoot are compelled to retreat thinking that a far larger Force has fallen upon them as the Delaware hack and shoot down any Blackfoot that they can the remainder of the Blackfoot Force quickly swims Midway across the river to a small island from their positions the still bewildered Trappers can see the blackoot swimming across the river holding their rifles above their heads so as not to water log them now this band of warrior Kings on the Northern Plains are pitiably trapped on an island with little cover and little possibility for escape the Trappers and Delaware Scouts now take their time and ease into firing positions least exposed to the warriors on the island the mood has now changed from one of Uncertain for boing to a level of conv triviality often reserved for picnics and parties the following account from fur trapper and participant in the battle Isaac P Rose describes the scene as follows in his Memoir four years in the Rockies it may appear strange to our readers yet it is nevertheless true that the feeling experienced by the Trappers when about to make a raid on a band of hostile Indians resembles those of our country friends when going to visit a circus it is relaxation from their usual employment and a good time for fun Frolic and Adventure is expected every Trapper had selected a tree or clump of bushes within Fair rifle range of their enemies and whenever a blackoot exposed any part of his person a ball from one of the Trappers rifles would send the unfortunate native back to the happy hunting grounds this fight may be considered regular target practice one of the Indians would hoist a breach cloth above the logs and in one minute it would be cut down by a bullet from one of the white men’s rifles followed by shouts and yells from the Trapper who witnessed the shot and again a Trapper would place his wolf skin cap on his ram rod and raise it above his place of concealment and it would soon be perforated by an Indian bullet in this way the fight went on for several hours but with little advantage to either party despite the Mortal consequences the mood is light even when one of the Trappers own suffers a minor injury a man named Mark heed manages to incur a scrape on his upper arm from a bullet the man wellknown amongst his fellow Trappers for his distinct nasally draw cries out in shock and pain I’ve been shot the Trappers further down the firing light from him cannot make out his words and ask those in between themselves and heed what the man has said he says he shot an Indian yells oneor the indignant tone of heed himself then cuts through correcting no I didn’t either I said I was shot myself the Trappers instantaneously fall into an uproarious laughter realizing that the wound is not serious and that their friend is not injured enough to encumber his personality however for the Blackfoot and for the Delaware Scouts there is no laughter to be had the Animus between the two tribes has run long and deep over Decades of conflict and the Delaware are intent on taking the fight to their hated enemy as the firing carries on further down the line alone Delaware Warrior swims his horse across the river to the foot of the island inhabited by the Blackfoot from here he creeps to within 50 yards of the Blackfoot position as they remain preoccupied with firing upon the Trappers across the river the Delaware warrior in an astonishing display of Reckless vain Glory quickly climbs a cottonwood tree and takes up a position overlooking the Blackfoot from here he begins to Pepper them with accurate sniper fire dispatching three Blackfoot Warriors and three successive shots however after the third Warrior Falls the Blackfoot are able to ascertain the Delaware ‘s position now bark and tree limbs explode all around the Delaware Warrior as he climbs down and Retreats back to the foot of the island swimming his horse back across the river to the Renown and praise of his comrades for hours more through the afternoon and into the early evening the fight drags on with intermittent shots being taken but no significant damage being done to either party finally both sides are forced to make camp and break for the night as Darkness renders their targets in carable the Trappers and Delaware Scouts make camp near the river and Rise early the next morning intent on resuming their fight with the Blackfoot however upon cresting the ridge that separates their Camp from the previous day’s Firing Line the Trappers and Scouts find the Island deserted the Blackfoot having absconded onto the prairie in the night for now life can return to the Trapper’s normal routine of trekking up and down streams setting and checking traps and completing Camp chores Jim Bridger will go on to lead this contingent to a successful Hall this season earning a worthy profit for each of the men in his charge however this fight with the Blackfoot will be but one of only the initial foray into combat with the mighty warrior tribe that the Trappers will experience during this trapping season before making their way to the yearly Rendevous in Wyoming to sell their Furs though they have no intentions of settling Upon This land they are still trespassers ones who the black will offer No Quarter to so long as they Traverse their territories but the many tales of fights and feroci between the mountain men their native allies and the Blackfoot are for tonight other stories for other times July 9th 1755 just after crossing the mananga Hala General Brock’s forces of 1300 men traveled into a waiting Ambush by a force of 900 French Canadian and Native Warriors in a battle tantamount to an hours long bloodbath General brck along with 900 of his men would end up as casualties that day over half of which would not survive the retreat to Philadelphia the bradoock Expeditions a multi-pronged strategy to drive back New France from the Ohio country and other British colonial interests faded away just as soon as it had begun the British Empire and her colonies were in crisis if they couldn’t Rally from the depths of this defeat and mount a successful offensive campaign lar swwa of North America would be forever lost to the French while the prospect of losing an Imperial War to the French was on the minds of the ruling class in London the now undefended back country brought more pressing concerns to the settlers of Western Pennsylvania and the shann andoa Valley of Virginia the lack of a colonial Force embolden hostile native tribes to raid pillage and plunder settlements in the Ohio Valley Valley and Beyond with settlers running back across the Blue Ridge Mountain to establish towns governor dinwoody of Virginia sought to take action before the end of July 35 settlers from Virginia had already been reported killed George Washington who had by all accounts performed most admirably during the Battle of mananga Hala even after incurring four bullet holes through his uniform by the end of the fight was left unharmed dwy offered Washington full command of the Virginia Military with a commission to enlist and train men to operate as a security apparatus against native Raiders Pennsylvania where the vast majority of the Ohio country in question was located could not formulate an effective strategy as quickly with ongoing attacks on Settlers taking place the Quakers raised 1,000 pounds to be put towards buying weapons for the frontier people but it would be a meager attempt to quell the confrontations before the disaster on the manonga Hala had even occurred on June 2nd a New England regiment had sailed to the Bay of fundi Nova Scotia as a function of the bradic expedition’s Northern campaigns on June 16th a large shell Cannon shot from the new englanders struck Fort busu killing six French officers inside the French surrendered the fort at once this would be the first offensive victory in colonial Britain in this young war and it happened with a surprising degree of ease What followed would have long-term ramifications for the native Acadian population who had lived in aarian life and gone about practicing their Catholic faith that they had adopted from the French the acadians were the been stripped of their land and some 11,500 of them were displaced shipped to the British colonies down the coast and some relocated to Europe they would also be stripped of their right to practice their faith and many would act as an Insurgent Force funneling arms and intelligence to their French Brethren throughout the conflict William Johnson a native of Ireland who had moved to New York at a young age to manage an estate that had been purchased by his uncle was tasked with directing one of the northern campaigns of Brock’s plan he would head directly north in a August of 1755 on the Crown Point Expedition he would rename Lon sakon as Lake George Johnson would begin construction on Fort William Henry at the southern end of the lake to be used as a staging area against the French the French had built Fort St Frederick near Lake Champlain just north of Lake George this would set the states for another empirical clash in just a matter of weeks meanwhile in Albany William Shirley was to Head West through Pennsylvania to Fort OWI go with his force of over a thousand men Shirley was the sitting governor of Massachusetts Bay and his involvement had been planned as a critical part of the bradic Expeditions he was to travel North to Fort Niagara and lay Siege to it but along the Route he had learned of Brock’s demise and the disastrous results of the manonga Hala making matters far worse for Shirley was that his son had been serving under bradic and had been killed in action at manonga Hala shot through the head Johnson and sh had bitter feelings towards one another Johnson had sent a letter to London that Shirley was not fit for command citing that he was emotional and Reckless Ric’s orders gave Shirley only a vague command over Johnson and he would have difficulty getting Johnson to execute his orders both men’s campaigns would be completely without logistical support from the regular army leaving their provincial forces to fend for themselves Shirley learned that the plans for the entire strategy implemented by bradock were found among the battlefield dead by the French Fort Niagara would be well aware of the reason Shirley and his men were traveling west Shirley was caught between a proverbial rock in a hard place as to further complicate his circumstances 50 Mi to the north there were a contingent of native and French forces at Fort Frac if Shirley were to carry on with his plans for Niagara the French and natives could swoop down and take hold of Fort oigo trapping Shirley and his men in between themselves and Niagara and cutting them off from all supply lines and reinforcements Shirley held a council of war with his officers of Fort iggo and determined it best to forego the Niagara campaign he left 700 Gravely undersupplied men to hold the fort throughout the winter then he headed east to New York City there Shirley would take over his new role as commanderin-chief for the deceased bradic and begin working on raising money and War planning for the upcoming spring campaigns French Allied native forces would take Fort iGo the following spring before the snow even had a chance to melt August 16th saw the arrival of dasca at Fort St Frederick they had marched from Montreal in three columns and after establishing his headquarters at Crown Point he took inventory of the men 550 men within the fort along with 1,000 regulars 1,400 Canadians and 600 natives making their camp near the structure dcow would take issue with the natives who had joined his Force writing I encountered nothing but difficulties from the Indians never was I able to obtain a faithful Scout at one time they refused to make any Headway at another time seeming to disobey me they set forth and returned within days without bringing me any intelligence he would instead rely on the Canadians for Intel and on August 27th word came to him thate 3,000 Englishmen were camped at Fort Lyman where they were constructing a fort that was pretty well Advanced the presence of Johnson’s Army was not entirely a surprise to him as Having learned of Brock’s plans he had anticipated Johnson would March North from Albany what did not expect however were the sheer numbers of the force under Johnson’s command on September 1st as the French army contingent moved out diasa was adamant that where Johnson planning to attack it would happen on the battlefield before they could arrive at Crown Point just 3 Days Later dcow received Intel from a scouting party of abanaki they had captured a member of New York’s first regiment during his interrogation he was extremely forthright with Johnson’s plans he would tell his captors that Johnson had moved 3,000 provincials and Mohawk Warriors to Lake George and left 500 men back at the Fort to finish its construction and serve as its defense this intelligence brought decow to take decisive action he gathered 1500 of his men roughly half of whom were French Canadian and the other half native Warriors most of whom were either abanaki or niping they sailed down Lake Champlain then after landing at South Bay the French Commander took great caution with his Overland movement as the men avoided Wood Creek Road which would be patrolled with Colonial British Scouts and instead opted to cut their own path through the woods hacking away trees and brush as they charted their path ahead in concealed Fashion After 2 days they had completed a March of over 30 Mi a journey that had in its own right been no easy task the plan was for them to scatter and deliver a brutal surprise attack against the British Colonials from all sides through the night they Advanced and darkened columns but when the columns became lost in the woods and a wrong direction was taken by the Quan waga native who was guiding them a distraught dascal called off the planned assault a French General proposed advancing the attack during a council of War he had called while still in the woods yet this time he was rebuked by many of the natives offering up a variety of reasons for their change of heart a further agitated gasow could not convince them and he knew any offensive without their assistance would be futile as their options were assessed it was decided that they would forgo attacking fort Lyman and would instead stage an assault on Johnson’s Camp directly meanwhile Johnson had spent the afternoon discussing the size of the new fortification with his officers but the topic at hand quickly changed when a group of Mohawk Scouts returned to Camp with some startling news the scouts had uncovered tracks leading away from the shoreline at South Bay the Warriors made their way to the Wood Creek Road but were surprised to find no sign of the men returning back to South Bay to investigate further They Came Upon three crudely made roads that led through the woods it became apparent that dascar was moving his forces on Fort Lyman yet without the Mohawks actually seeing them their size could not be accurately assessed Johnson sent a dispatch to Joseph Blanchard at Fort Lyman warning him of the impending attack the writer a New York Wagoner named Jacob Adams dashed off getting within a couple miles of the fort when he found himself in the midst of the French Camp Adams was instructed to Halt and Dismount his horse he ignored these calls and carried on attempting to break through the French opened fire and after Adams was knocked from his Steed the dispatch was found on his person a group of mohawks who had heard the events returned later that evening to Johnson’s camp with their account of what had taken place quote gunfire and then a man called upon heaven for Mercy they judged the man to be Adams now the clandestine chess mats between Johnson and dcow would finally come to a head Johnson called another Council of War early the next morning September member 8th and it was decided to send out a single column of 1200 men composed of Nathan Whiting and the second Connecticut Ephraim Williams and the third Massachusetts along with the front of the column being led by 170 Mohawk Warriors under the highly revered Mohawk Valley Chief King hendrik they were to March South to relieve Fort Lyman the events that follow would come to be known as the bloody morning Scout leaving at around 8 that morning the single column would March 5 to 6 men wide along the road for half mile before coming to a halt to allow the trailing Connecticut men to catch up during this break Chief hendrik would famously turn to Williams and state in a blunt and matter of fact tone quote I smell Indians the warrior then rode back to the head of the column and the March carried on several miles ahead at roughly 10: that morning a scouting party reported to Baron deasa that they had located the colonial and Native column traveling toward Fort lime diow then gave the orders to his men to move out with the Canadians on the right the French regulars in the center and St Pierre and the natives under his command on the left dasa’s plan was to form an envelopment for the Colonials to walk into he gave strict instructions to his flanking commanders not to allow any fire upon the men until he gave the orders out of concern that they would let loose early and their enemy would Retreat before his forces were able to inflict the decisive blow the primary concern for dasca was his native Warriors his dissatisfaction with their intelligence reports as well as his inability to convince him to follow his orders to attack the fort gave him doubt about how the morning’s events would transpire now with his men in place as dasa’s Army waited in absolute silence for the coming Envoy no one was to move until the Colonials were within musket fire of the French grenadiers located front and center of the road at 10:30 that morning the fevered anticipation would finally cease as the discharge of a single musket firing cried out through the Silence of a hushed morning while it’s still debated who delivered this opening shot the next moment saw a flood of gunfire Unleashed from all parties dasca would refer to this as quote the moment of treachery Doling the blame upon his native Warriors for firing early nevertheless the battle was now underway the onset of the Clash painted an eerily similar picture to manonga Hala with the Ford column of mohawks being ruthlessly cut down and the Massachusetts Regiment behind them very little better furthering the chaos and disorder of the Mohawks was the shocking death of their beloved Chief Henrik this sent many of the Native Warriors under his command retreating back up the road through the Massachusetts Regiment many of whom broke ranks and joined the natives in their Retreat those who stayed showed an unshakable resolve returning fire as best they could amidst the storm of musket balls and shouts but they were rewarded for their courage only by being cut down in droves Colonel Williams attemped to Rally his men waving his sword above his head and barking out orders he rode to the top of a boulder ordering them to hold their position when just as quickly as the words could pass through his lips a musket ball sliced through his skull dropping him stoned dead at once his body was hidden under heavy brush by his men to save it from mutilation but the effect of his loss was catastrophic multitudes of men broke ranks and began fleeing back towards Johnson’s Camp Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Whiting and the second Connecticut were all that remain but charging forward into Das asca’s snare would be futile The quick-thinking Whiting ordered the retreating Mohawks and Massachusetts within earshot as well as the 500 men of his regiment to form in lines on the edges of the road taking cover under stone or brush as the terrain saw fit and Stave off the pursuing enemy in a fighting Retreat given the desperate circumstances and the relatively novice Level Training of many of the provincials the move would be executed in a surprisingly Flawless manner for the better part of the next hour the Colonials fought on and simultaneously dashed their way back towards their Camp the tables had been turned and due to the overzealous chase by the Franco Allied Forces the pursuing forces would be cut down in great numbers as they pressed after their retreating foe many of the Native warriors fighting on the side of the French fled into the woods upon the realization of the Counterattack taking place Lieutenant Colonel Seth pomoy who seconded the strategy of the fighting retreat spoke of the cunning withdrawal we killed great numbers of them they were seen to drop like pigeons Shader de sampier the commander of the French Canadian and Native forces was among those slain in the engagement causing much dismay and further straining the already fraught relations gasow held with his native Warriors just before noon whiting’s maneuver had the in just within a mile of Johnson’s Camp when at last the provincials turned and set upon an allout Sprint for survival towards the encampment Nathan Whiting had saved more than just the lives of many of his men that day he also saved Britain from a sequel to the disaster on the manonga Hala and it is likely that he preserved New York from having New France March upon Albany upon the arrival of the surviving men back to Camp General Johnson immediately called for every defensive measure to be taken but the crude defenses his army had been able to construct around his Camp would do little to quell the oncoming French Onslaught Johnson ordered cannons and artillery to be brought forward and aimed towards the road and wagons to be overturned as makeshift breastworks he then instructed his men to steal themselves for what would be a horrifically violent culmination to the Battle of Lake George but the many tales of bravery and Butchery that compile The Saga of the French and Indian War are for tonight other stories for other times New York September 8th 1755 a game of tactical Espionage between Major General William Johnson and French Commander Baron decow comes to a head during the bloody morning Scout just Inland from the shores of Lake George New York a contingent of French Canadians and their native allies lay in Ambush for the single column of 1200 provincial troops and Mohawks heading to reinforce Fort Lyman in a hooked shaped trap along the Wood Creek Road one of the Franco Allied natives discharged his weapon early before the approaching column could be fully ens snared into the Ambush allowing the provincials the opportunity to Stage a fighting Retreat while still incurring heavy casualties the 170 Mohawk Warriors leading the British Continental column would receive the worst of the attack with dozens of their men as well as their beloved leader Chief hendrik cut down during the affair after all hell had broken loose that morning for the British Colonials and their Mohawk allies the Steely resolve of Colonel naan Whiting proved a decisive Factor as he took charge after the consecutive deaths of Chief hendrik and Massachusetts Colonel Williams the quick-thinking colonel from the Constitution State bringing up the rear of the column instructed his men to find cover along the Wood Creek Road opening a path for the retreating Massachusetts and Mohawks the French Canadians would have the heavy casualties they had just inflicted upon the Colonials returned in kind as they were slain in large numbers during the overzealous Pursuit as the provincials and Mohawks made their Dash back to Camp Major General Johnson commanded his forces to prepare for a follow-up assault from dasca and hiset cannons were brought forth from the makeshift fortifications inside the camp and aimed towards the road uprooted trees were laid strategically on their sides and wagons were overturned to provide cover while marksmen scurried about looking for lethal Vantage points while the makeshift defenses were not Flawless they gave the Colonials nearly a 100 yards of open foreground to fire upon the French should they attack using the road leading to camp for the better part of the next 90 minutes survivors of the Ambush made their way back into Johnson’s Camp a medical tent was designated for the wounded and a chaotic scene unfolded as wounded were tended to and preparations were simultaneously made for a massive assault Captain air was designated command over the artillery 18 and 32 lb cannons were aimed towards the road the French would almost certainly be rsing to strike around noon whiting’s men gave up their fighting Retreat and sprinted the remaining 3/4 of a mile back to Camp Johnson’s Camp was located 300 yd from the lake with a hill on the left and an extensive swampy Hollow on the right his front being no more than 200 yd across once all of his men had taken their positions the regimental roll call went from left to right as follows fit’s Connecticut companies of the first New York regiment first Connecticut second Connecticut and first second and third Massachusetts on the right it is assumed that the first Rhode Island were divided up as they streamed back into Camp after the bloody morning Scout and took up arms where the officers deemed necessary which was typically upon the flanks and as a reserve Force air had placed three heavy cannons on the road between the two Connecticut regiments with a fourth on the left between the second Connecticut and first New York as the Colonials locked into their defensive positions diow after pursuing the provincials for over 3 miles down the road called a halt to the men’s March only half a mile away the French Commander believed that it was necessary to strike against Johnson’s forces in a quick and decisive manner in order to break through their line to Victory dasca ordered 220 of his men of the line and lond do regiments to assault the camp with a Bayonet charge the grenadiers were intended to bust through the teeth of the provincial defenses creating the opening for a fatal follow-up attack the provincial forces were for the most part rather modestly trained and outfitted however they did have an advantage in regards to the Wilderness style of fighting being unencumbered by the traditional Continental European style of forming into lines and columns they were all struck by the sight of the professional French troops advancing on their Camp as they appeared on the road ahead Phineas Lyman would write of the occasion their arms glistened like the sun with their band and it’s fixed and as confident I suppose of coming straight into our camp and carrying all before them as ever any army was the provincial men who anxiously held their positions behind Fallen trees and overturned wagons would be experiencing a more traditional battle for the first time all of the horrid realities of which would soon unshakably consume them General Johnson sensing the quiet desperation of his men wrote about his lines on Horseback attempting to animate and embolden his people the grenadiers stood tall and marched towards the provincial line just out of range of enemy marksmen the French Legions fired off a series of volleys upon the provincial regiments but this first offensive Outburst did little damage the colonial response would be a different story as the New England and New York soldiers let loose a volley of their own accompanied by several loads of solid shot blasted from Air’s cannons it was written that their effect was to cut Lanes streets and alleys through their enemy the psychological Edge held by the French had turned on a Di and the grenadiers scattered from their lines and sought cover in the woods around the camp even more devastating than the casualties suffered from the cannon fire for the French was the native allies reaction to the sight of the opening exchange not wishing to become Canon fodder for the condescending diow and not Desiring to engage in a battle against their Mohawk cousins they would stay in the woods throughout the battle disregarding any orders from diow to advance with the death of their highly favored leader St Pierre that morning dasca had little recourse for going about changing their minds the Canadians seconded their abanaki and niping allies and refused calls to advance into the Open Fire of the provincials diow now losing Authority and options knew that if he were to break through the provincial defenses he would be resigned to doing so using only his European regulars General Johnson had been shot in the butt with a French musket ball during the initial exchange while he was in considerable pain the wound did not appear Gravely serious it would however force him to seek treatment in a medical tent putting Phineas Lyman in command of the battle the unnerved and poorly trained provincial troops were loading their muskets and firing with a fevered pace albeit very inefficiently so much so that Lyman ran from one end of the line to the other bellowing out to his men to save their fire had the men exhausted their Munitions recklessly they would become sitting ducks waiting for the French to engulf them lyman’s orders were quickly implemented by the soldiers and he would write of their performance never men nor Mortals fought better in the world Peter raol would offer a different recounting on behalf of the conduct of many provincials that fateful day great numbers of our men hid themselves and many feigned sickness rxall attempted to Rouse the objectors back to their lines but it was done so with little effect all the while the French regulars continued their attempts to bust open the center of the provincial line while the Connecticut regiment stationed near the road suffered the greatest level of casualties from these French charges A’s Cannon shot continued to decimate the French for over 2 hours that afternoon the gruesome cycle was repeated again and again with little damage incurred by the colonial encampment and losses mounting among the French regulars diow finally acknowledged the reality of the situation and attempted to course correct dascar would write zeros received the whole of the enemy’s fire and perish there almost to the focus of his assault would shift to the right side of the colonial line stationed there were the first second and third Massachusetts regiments the men of which had spent the battle dealing with the Canadians and natives firing upon them from the tree line under the command of Moses titcombs the Bas sters would now be tasked with repelling the advancing grenadiers who had reformed and were now advancing upon them air aimed his artillery towards the new assault and nearly quelled the pressing French with a series of 30 two Pounders as the grenadiers stalled titom and his Lieutenant broke towards a large tree that was down just in front of his line in an effort to inspire his men through a display of courage and fortitude titom and the lieutenant were immediately consumed in A Storm of enemy musket fire and lay dead on the field of battle just a meter from their original line dasca and his trusted officer Chevalier montre sought to formulate an assault with Canadians and natives from their wooded cover behind the advancing French regulars but were dismayed to find that most had broken ranks and gone back to the site of the morning’s battle to pillage and scalp the provincial soldiers they had taken prisoner and left tied to trees just after three with any hope of overtaking Johnson’s line slipping further and further away diow was determined to attempt one final offensive that would turn this battle of attrition in his favor at last jcow charged forward into the clearing to lead the assault and was immediately shot through the leg as montreau washed the wound with Brandy dasca was then shot through the hip while being dragged from the battlefield by two Canadians one of the men was shot and killed jcow instructed the other to leave him and get to cover the Canadians and natives who were left began to retreat from the battlefield leaving the French regulars on their own at this point exhausted and decimated mriu took command for the wounded de Scout he attempted to Rally the regulars for another advance but with the numbers so severely depleted and the sight of Canadians abanaki and nipping Warriors fleeing through the woods the Mohawks behind the provincial line began to cry out in Triumph sensing the culmination of the long day at hand they began to rush onto the field of battle climbing over the breast works and charging forward with unrelenting fervor their tomahawks raised High over their heads provincial troops followed suit shooting down the retreating French as they chased them from the battlefield into the woods then they returned to camp but the Elation of winning the battle would have to be tempered it was just hours from dusk and Johnson’s Camp had wounded to tend to prisoners to interrogate and a potential follow-up assault from French reinforcements to prepare for one of the prisoners brought into Camp was dasca who suffered a fourth gunshot wound when a new englanders suspecting him of retrieving a weapon shot him through the bladder while attempting to remove him from the field of battle a group of mohawks later attempted to execute the French Commander but General Johnson was able to step in and dissuade them from this course of action sparing the French Commander life while the reprieve from Battle was much needed by the men the engagement was not over and in fact the bloodiest part of the affair had yet to even take place the previous night when Johnson dispatched Wagoner Jacob Adams to Fort Lyman to warn them of a coming assault Adams was shot down and killed after unknown ly riding through the French Camp these gunshots were heard by Scouts dispatched from Fort Lyman after a council of war the following day was held at Fort Lyman it was determined that Captain Nathaniel pulam and his 143 men of the New Hampshire regiment along with Captain William mcginness and 90 men of the New York regiment would depart Fort Lyman to gather further Intel while traveling up the Military Road the ever growing sound of cannon fire and muskets could be heard in the direction of Lake George fulam and mcginness agreed they should forgo their orders and head towards the battle with the expectation that Johnson was under attack just after 5:00 that afternoon the provincials happened upon the location of a few hundred Canadians and Indians who had fled from the battle at Johnson’s Camp they were resting near a small pond when fulam and his New Hampshire men rushed forward and immediately Unleashed a blitz of musket fire upon them after a half a dozen rounds of fireworks changed the New Yorkers arrived and assisted in the the firefight for nearly an hour the hostilities carried on when the momentum began to fade the determined Captain l a small group of his men in a charge against their foe the exhausted Canadians and natives still fraught from the day’s long battle at Johnson’s Camp fled from their position seeding the ground and their positions to the Victorious provincials the New York and New Hampshire irregular troops Collective gaze was now transfixed upon the innumerable slain bodies of their enemy combat as they disposed of them by dumping their still war corpses into the small body of water the natives and Canadians had been resting beside turning its murky Waters a deep and ghastly Crimson the waters and the affair itself would forever more be known as bloody Pond Captain McKinnis had been shot through the head and was dying quickly and after much debate buam announced the men would head out from the pond at Daybreak the following morning the men would would get no sleep that evening as they anticipated a raid from the enemy they had just driven away when morning finally came they traveled through a grizzly scene painted with the horrors of the prior days events corpses lining the road and Woodline some having been shot in the battle others tied to trees where they were executed scalped and at times further desecrated the British Colonials had at last won a pivotal battle turning back the French from what would have amounted to an undeterred line of attack towards Albany and from there perhaps even New York City the cost was high with a combined 670 dead across the three stages of the battle Johnson had lost 18 officers the Massachusetts Regiment incurred the worst of the casualties with 70 killed and 60 Mohawks including Chief hendrik perished in the fighting the French toll stood at 149 dead 163 wounded and 27 taken prisoner including Baron de diow who would survive his many wounds and be sent to London where he would remain for the duration of the War General Johnson and the commander-in-chief Shirley would further their rivalry after the battle of Lake George with disagreements on whether to consolidate their gains with the building of a strong fortification or continue the expedition to the North Shores of Lake George and overtake Crown Point from the French to gain a clear path to Montreal the victory would boost morale amongst the colonies and Resurrect The aspirations outlined in the failed bradic Expeditions but the Seven Years War was still in its infancy and there was much blood yet to be shed but for tonight those are other stories for other [Music] times Japan April 13th 1612 on a tiny Island known as gri oima located between the larger islands of honu and koshu a well-known Samurai named Sasaki kojiro stalks the shoreline growing ever more incensed by the minute he has an appointment as it were to fight another Samurai and a one-on-one sword duel the fight is an intensely serious matter one that can and often does lead to Grievous injury and death cojiro is an experienced Samurai the elite warrior class that even at this point in the 1600s has existed in Japan for centuries he is a of many such tools and a highly acclaimed fighter known for his unique fighting style one that is based upon his unique choice of Weaponry KIRO employs a katana the legendary Long Blade of the Samurai that is substantially longer and heavier than the standard sword this has enabled him to strike with great power from greater range than all of his opponents thus far he goes by the fighting name g Ru meaning large Rock style it is rumored that cojiro was a student of the legendary swordsman toen who excelled in the use of the short blade known as the kodachi the local story holds that after months of sparring with a local short blade Master saen cojiro adopted the longblade katana a more cumbersome but powerful weapon which better suited the young Samurai’s physicality another account holds that it was actually kanaki jesi himself a former student of Toto saen who was kojiro’s teacher regardless of the origin of his fighting style the results of kojiro’s natural proclivity and his efforts and training have become the stuff of local Legend in recent years in duel after duel many of them being to the death cojiro has proven his skills and fortitude he is not only a formidable fighter he is one of the best perhaps the best swordsman in all of Japan since the beginning in accordance with the samurai tradition of discipline that will eventually become known as the code of Bushido cojiro has made it a point to show up on time and prepared be it for a training session or an actual duel today has been no different as cojiro has risen at dawn said his prayers dawned his armor and arrived at the appointed place of combat well ahead of time with a slew of onlookers and assistance in toe but his opponent on this day has not seen fit to extend such basic courtesy to all involved this is a major breach of etiquette and cojiro is understandably growing increasingly indignant finally a rowboat appears in the distance placidly making its way towards the island though its arrival is by now hours late The Vessel seems to travel at the speed of someone on a sightseeing tour finally the boat rides the gentle waves into the rocky Shore and out steps an austerely dressed unkempt and apparently unhurried man his demeanor is workmanlike seemingly almost bored as though he has been in this exact same place aund times before in an ostere location only minutes away from facing a highly skilled opponent in a fight that could be to the death this is because he has the man’s name is mamoto Musashi considered by many if not most to be the actual greatest swordsman in Japan considering the gravity of the situation at hand his seeming lack of concern is palpably disconcerted as he strides footedly away from the ropot mamoto Musashi seems wholly unbothered by his obviously aggravated opponent while suzaki kojiro cuts the expectedly imposing figure of a samurai ornately adorned in polished armor gleaming steel blade in hand emanating an air of controlled Fury held in check only by his years of tireless training mamot Musashi is clothed and simple garments with uncombed hair and eczema scarred skin however despite his slightly puzzling appearance he seems to possess the cold hard demeanor of a Hitman perhaps the most striking feature of the enigmatic Warrior making his way towards his opponent now is what he lacks a sword of his own instead he carries a boat or that he has spent the preceding few hours carving into a crude makeshift wooden Katana in this world of ritual and respect moushi has introduced an element of unadulterated C chaos but in such chaos lies Musashi’s strategic calculated genius a genius he has fostered over the preceding decades in a life that will ultimately become the stuff of Japanese Legend mamoto Musashi was born shinmin Musashi Noami fujiwara noar noobu in either the harima province or the Mimis Saka province in the year 1584 his father shinman munai was himself a legendary swordsman and martial artist Masashi was trained from an early age in both the ways of armed and unarmed combat but it was at the age of only seven that his father cast him into the streets after an argument not allowing him to return with mhi’s mother having passed away only a few years earlier he was now relegated defending for himself luckily for the baguer youngster a kindly uncle named dorin Bo took him in and he was raged in a temple near Harajuku here DOR J Bo and another uncle named tasumi educated the young moushi in the ways of Buddhism as well as Reading Writing and arithmetic he also continued to train in the martial arts and swordsmanship and according to his own account in his legendary autobiography in treaties on combat known as Goen noo or the book of five rings he fought his first Duel at the age of only 13 Musashi’s personal account of the events is as follows I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth at the age of 13 I fought a duel for the first time my opponent was called araki a sword Adept of the Shinu Rio and I defeated him at the age of 16 I defeated a powerful Adept by the name of akiyama who came from the prefecture of Tajima at the age of 21 I went up to Kyoto and fought duels with several adapts of the sword from famous schools but I never lost in the interim as at roughly the age of 20 mhi also found himself caught up in one of the deadliest large- scale battles in Japanese history in the year 1600 War had ignited between the toyami and Tokugawa Clans Musashi had fought on the side of the toyotomi and what was known as the army of the West he is reported to have participated in the defense of jiu Castle The Assault on Fushimi castle and the devastating defeat suffered at the Battle of SEI gahara during the Battle of SE gahara toyot Tom’s Army of the West Was decisively routed and its forces dispersed as the men fled into the surrounding Villages and Countryside according to Legend Masashi had sought refuge in the wilderness surrounding Mount haiko or hioa here he trained relentlessly refining the Marshall skills he had learned as a child over the coming years he would build his reputation as a formidable fighter as he traveled Japan to compete against other Samurai and Duels though not all duels were to the death unless this stipulation had been previously agreed to by both combatants injury was not uncommon and the Damage Done to one’s reputation was often seen by many as worse than death as the years passed moushi built a progressively more formidable reputation as not only a skilled fighter but an innovator and a refiner of techniques as well as a deeply contemplative Warrior he would continue to live a vagabond likee existence until 1611 where he had begun to frequent the mioi dasan hin where he had met a man who served as the vassel to Lord hokus Sawa tadaoki a powerful local Lord who had been given charge of Northern koshu the man was named nagaoka sedo the two men developed a friendship at the temple as sedo was well aware of mhi’s reputation and was likely an admirer of his skills as well some sources cite sedo as the critical proponent of the duel between Musashi and sojiro arguing repeatedly that the time had come to determine who was in fact the greatest Swordsman in Japan after the customary Challenge and negotiation the date of April 13th 1612 had been agreed to now the day of the fight has arrived and though the Gathering of Spectators has been expressly forbidden by Civic officials this has done little in the way of actually prohibiting onlookers from crowding onto the shoreline in hopes of catching even a glimpse of what will likely go down as the greatest Samurai duel in history moushi despite his unkempt appearance and detached unbothered demeanor here on the rocky Shoreline facing down his opponent has anticipated that cojiro will in fact be his toughest opponent to date he knows that he will need every strategic and tactical advantage that he can bring to bear thus every action he has taken today and every facet of his appearance has been part of a cold calculated plan meant to disrupt his opponent’s mindset moushi has risen late slowly eaten his breakfast and made his way to the opponent place of combat under condition of deliberate tardiness he has shown up not only late and not only looking as though he has just rolled out of bed and virtually unarmed save for the boat ore that he carries though all of these affronts to the samurai code would seem to the Casual Observer to have set Masashi up poorly for potential success in this rare instance the inverse is proving true coiro one of Japanese most experienced and Adept Swordsmen has come prepared for the high stakes matchup under the opes of normality expecting tradition and ceremony to be afforded their customary precedence but in introducing these purposeful slights of Honor not only to his opponent but to The Spectators and to the event itself moushi has masterfully utilized chaos as a means to mentally unbalance his opponent cojiro is himself a master of the traditional form of Samurai dueling but moushi via a combination of foresight experience and natural-born disposition has refused to seed even the most minut of strategic ground preferring to defy social norms in the interest of personal victory in Japanese Marshall tradition this is a nearly unheard of instance however in keeping with the very core of Samurai tradition moushi has taken great care in envisioning and enacting his detailed plan every aspect of the chaos being produced by moushi is purposely designed to impart a very specific psychological impact every skill that he will use to bring his vision to fruition has been carefully honed through years of rigorous training KIRO not impressed by these factors begins to berate his opponent for being late chiding him and implying that he has done so out of cowardice still in a fit of rage cojiro throws the Scabbard of his sword into the water indicating that he intends to fight to the death mhi well aware of the meaning of the gesture and in fact quite pleased that the strategy is working assures kojiro that this is just as well as he will never have an opportunity to use his Scabbard in this world again though these fights are generally officiated by a referee the two Warriors now Circle each other paying no attention to the opponent official intent only on their opponent’s destruction as they move both bring their weapons forward with cojiro taking a unique stance in which his hands are held high baiting moushi in for a strike which he plans to counter by capitalizing on his weapon’s Superior range but the weapon moushi wields is also part of his larger plan he has carved the boat or a mere few inches longer than kojiro’s sword effectively nullifying one of kojiro’s greatest advantages however this scarcely perceptible tactic is lost amid the torrent of confusion and frony that moushi has Unleashed in the midst of this though mhi’s demeanor remains that of a laborer on a work site not in the least caught up in the ey of his opponent not to mention the crowd and officials whom he has also kept waiting Musashi’s eyes fade into a shark-like emotionless Focus holding the boat ore out as a gauge for distance moushi makes no move to give cojiro an attack to counter taking this as a further display of cowardice kojiro has now worked himself into a blinding Fury in kojiro’s mind moushi has not only deeply disrespected him but he has wholly disregarded the samurai tradition of honor and respect between dueling opponents coiro now decides that moushi must not be allowed to bch the code that so many have lived by and died for now he decides is the time to cut this Vagabond down once and for all for his insolence gojiro moves in a flat charging forward in short decisive steps as he whips his blade in a circular pattern known as the swallows cut Masashi however has rendered his next movements relatively unpredictable as he has not taken up a traditional stance and is weighed down with a heavier than normal weapon in a rare instance kojiro’s cut misses as moushi Sid steps the elongated blade by some accounts doing so by such a close margin that his headband is cut and falls to the ground now in a decisive blow akin to the local butcher dispatching an Autumn hog moushi crashes down upon the skull of cojiro with the bore striking him with several blows so powerful that the mere audible memory alone will haunt many onlookers present for days to come within seconds the fight is over Sasaki kajiro one of Japan’s greatest Samurai Now lies dead on a remote beach as a group of horrified onlookers and officials gaze at his Gore covered opponent in equal parts shock and awe mamoto Musashi now stands boat or in hand over his Fallen opponent in later accounts moushi will write of kajiro as his greatest Challenge and toughest opponent and it can only be imagined the wash of relief rage and reverence that befell the nervous system of Japan’s greatest duelist but now is no time for sentimentalities though his genius will go on to fill the pages of one of the most seminal Works in Practical approaches to combat in history genius is often not recognized in its own time such is the case now as several of the onlookers are unhappy and while many of the crowd indeed admire the Showcase of skill and psychological gamesmanship they have just witnessed Nashi is well aware that he has created a contentious situation and that now would be the most prudent time to make his exit and so with little Fanfare Masashi jumps back into his rowboat with his paid oresman already in place for their return Journey with no more Fanfare nor ceremony than the aforementioned local butcher mamoto Musashi sits emotionless as the boat makes its way back to the main island this duel will go down as one of the most seminal events in Japanese Samurai history as well as one of the turning points in mhi’s life seeing the regrettable nature of losing one of Japan’s greatest Fighters simply to result an ego-driven qural Masashi began more and more to contemplate the philosophical implications of fighting and how he felt they should or perhaps more aptly that they must be applied to combat certainly though this is but one Duel of mini in the legendary career of mamoto Musashi who would go down in history as perhaps the greatest Samurai swordsman of all time as well as a nationally revered figure in a fitting twist one that would L suit both men suzaki KIRO has also become a revered figure in Japan known as a courageous skilled Warrior who ardently upheld the code of Bushido but the tales of the many battles of miamu Musashi as well as the countless other legendary Samurai and samurai battles are for tonight other stories for other times thank you for joining us on this episode of history of theok Corral be sure to click the like button share this episode with a friend and become a subscriber also if you’d like to support our work and gain Early Access to episodes as well as add free viewing you can become a member of this channel by clicking the join button below or click the link in the description below to become a member on patreon thank you again for watching and we’ll see you next time on history at theok Coral home of History’s Greatest shootouts and showdowns
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Shout out from Detroit
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Hello from Moscow, Idaho. Love the channel.
So, they were being gallant in opening their enemies stomachs’ after death to ensure their souls’ wouldn’t be trapped? Interesting. BTW, can’t believe Chumsford was a real name. I used to call brainless people at the track “Chumsford.”
Dang, I’m here early. Great channel!
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Shout out from South Africa🙏 watched just about every episode.