The evocative painting “Ambush” by the
excellent artist Dan Nance conjures images of the French and Indian War[s], the
Revolutionary War, Roger’s Rangers, Simon Girty, James Fenimore Cooper novels,
and Mel Gibson at his vengeful best in The
Patriot.
The dramatic incident portrayed in the
painting is romanticized but myriad such skirmishes did indeed occur, are well-documented
and the ingenuity, and let’s face it, brutality are front and center of these
accounts.
Let’s use Nance’s painting as a jumping off point
regarding an aspect of American Indian skulking warfare, and like tactics
adopted by white settlers who adopted “savage” ways.
First, the talented Mr. Nance portrays our
ambushing warrior attacking from high and above with tomahawk in hand. This
aspect of the painting hews close to many accounts of “from above” ambushes.
What does not hold true is the direction of
the attack.
First, let’s absolve the artist-Mr. Nance is displaying
creative license in his use of lighting. But we use the inaccurate painting for
our lesson all the same.
Native warriors and woodsmen who went native
were skilled and schooled in the ways of skulking, that is, stealthy movement. Positioning
themselves high with the sun to their backs would allow their shadow to fall upon
the trail giving away their position. If not their shadow at least a tell-tale
break in the foliage shadow or unforeseen movement in the shadow ruining the ambush.
The “high and above” ambush on sunny days
would always be executed from the opposite side of the trail where the sun
would not give away the awaiting warrior.
To a large degree this is an opposite tactic
to low-ambushes where we place the sun to our backs when we are not sky-lined on
a distant horizon giving away our position. The sun to the back position is
viable when one is low and plans on engaging in open warfare and desires placing
harsh light in the enemies’ eyes, but for quick ambush less effective.
The “high and above” ambush with sun at the
back would be noticed by avid woodsmen as the ability to read “sign” was front
and center of any woodsman’s education. Reading sign is not only about tracks,
and tell-tale broken twigs, but myriad other often un-considered aspects of our
environment including shadow-reading.
For example-The Penumbra Effect.
The wha?
The Penumbra Effect is demonstrated by the
fact that shadows are crisper at their base and become fuzzier, less distinct
as we move along the shadow’s “height.”
Let’s use a simple test to illustrate and illuminate: Stand with your back to the sun on a bright sunny day with your hand
extended to your side at hip level, fingers splayed-look at the shadow; it will
be somewhat distinct, you will be able to see each individual finger spread out.
Now, raise this same hand above your head and the shadow becomes fuzzier and
indistinct with the hand becoming blobbier the more we move it into the main
trajectory of the sun’s disc.
We see the same thing daily on commutes when
we look at the shadows of vehicles travelling next to us, the vehicle shadow is
crisp towards the bottom and becomes fuzzier towards the top.
Whereas most of us have to have such an “every
single day of your life” observable fact pointed out to us, to Native Warriors
and woodsmen “gone savage” this obvious fact would have been part and parcel of
how the warrior sees the world.
I thank Mr. Nance for the gorgeous painting
and inspiring the ever-present lesson that the warrior must not merely look at
everything, he must see everything.
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