Critical review - Circle of fire The Indian war of 1865

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Circle of fire

Written by Gitte Schultz

Introduction to history

Circle of fire

The Indian war of 1865

The bibliography of this book review is: McDermott, John D. Circle of fire: the Indian war of 1865. Mechanicsburg, PA 17055: Stackpole books, 2003, 1st edition, 304 pages.

Only the first 176 pages deal with the actual historical aspects of the war, the rest of the book is endnotes and the bibliography.

Circle of fire is a monograph that describes the war between the plains Indians and the American government in 1865. The book gives very descriptive explanations on the expeditions through the Indian Territory in 1865 and is also highly detailed when informing the reader about the movement of the American army in the battles between the two nations, and in some cases it also describes the route the Indians traveled, when such material has been available.

The first chapter in the book describes how a division of the army had killed almost a whole tribe of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians at sand creek in 1864, (McDermott,2003:13) this act was the starting point to the war in 1865. The Indians sought revenge and raided small stations, wagon trains and farms, the government sent out different divisions of the army to stop the attacks.

The massacre on the tribe in 1864 as mentioned above was not the only reason as to why the Indians attacked the white settlers, they felt that they were being pushed out of their land by the white settlers, their game was about to vanish and the white gold seekers had found gold in the mountains beyond the plains, and on their way there they killed and destroyed the game that the Indians depended upon to survive. They wanted to protect themselves and their way of living. (McDermott,2003:2)

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The book is divided up into thirteen chapters, each chapter dealing with a significant event during the war. The chapters are chronologically built up.

McDermott’s description of the events begins in January when the first battles start. He describes how the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux Indians together with the trader George Bent and his sons attack Julesburg, a home station for the overland stage line, which is the first battle in the war of vengeance.

During 1865 there are many battles between the army and the plains Indians, the Indians succeeds in capturing a lot of horses and cattle. There ...

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