Front Lines on the Frontier
Protecting the regiment
8 Interesting Facts
*The First Regiment, or Texas Mounted Riflemen were sent in 1861 to patrol the frontier on a line of a bunch of forts from the Red river and the Rio Grande.
*The original outposts were 25 miles apart and had 25 men each.
*The Regiment transferred in March 1864, when men formed the Frontier Organization to give support.
*It couldn't prevent Indian attacks.
*A raid by Kiowas and Comanches in 1864 left a dozen Texans dead and seven captured.
*On November 25, 1864, the biggest battle between the U.S. Army and American Indians in Texas during the Civil War took place near the ruins of Adobe Walls.
There were 3,000 American Indians, and 372 U.S soldiers.
*Adobe Walls was a trading post north of the Canadian river in the Panhandle.
Link to the article.
Satanta
Francis Lubbock
Reflection
Why did the Battle of Adobe Walls occur? The men had been trying to keep the Indians out. They kept raiding, and eventually showed up with an army of 3,000.
Why did the Indians keep raiding? They probably wanted to steal things. Comanches and Kiowas liked doing that. They became comfortable with the patrols and kept attacking.
How did they manage to keep the Indians out? They had a big line of defense along the frontier that spread from the Red River to the Rio Grande. They were spaced 25 feet apart, so it was pretty much a meat shield for the frontier.