The early American mind, the rough hewn frontier rough
n tumble mindset was one diametrically opposed to open field, fair play “warfare”
tactics, a culture less steeped in the sportive affections of Mother England
and the Continent.
The orderly rules of warfare described by men such as Grotius
in his De jure belli ac pacis [On the Law of War and Peace]
or even in the combat games that followed an early “sense of fair play” such as
the boxing rules laid down by Broughton and later the Marquis of Queensberry,
well, these did not hold in the New World.
This passion for orderliness in sport and war was
practically non-existent in the new realties of the New World.
War in Early America simply did not follow the “rules.”
Combat sport in the New World was equally as “free
and wild.”
Indigenous assaults and the Anglo counter assaults were
marked by a viciousness long since dead across the Atlantic.
A ferocious barbarism and savagery had less returned
to humanity than never ceased to exist on this continent.
The Reverend Joseph Doddridge writing in his Notes
on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and
Pennsylvania From 1763-1783 regarding the character of warfare in Western
Virginia had this to say.
“The Indian kills indiscriminately. His object is
the total extermination of his enemies. Children are victims of his vengeance,
because, if males, they may hereafter become warriors, or females, they may
become mothers. Even the fetal state is criminal in his view. It is not enough
that the fetus should perish with the murdered mother, it is torn from her
pregnant womb, and elevated on a stick or pole as a trophy of victory and an
object of horror to the survivors of the slain. If the Indian takes prisoners,
mercy has but little concern in the transaction. He spares the lives of those
who fall into his hands for the purpose of feasting the feelings of ferocious
vengeance of himself and his comrades, by the torture of his captive.”
Lest one think the good and frank Reverend
exaggerates, the historical record abounds with supporting accounts. The
savagery and travesty abound on both sides of the ledger.
Here we find none of the “orderliness” of warfare as
existing somewhat contemporaneously on the entire European continent.
The Americas were a different brutal breed of cat.
Every section of the seacoast colonies
suffered massacres. Cotton Mather himself wrote they
were “assaulted by unknown numbers of devils in flesh on every side.”
The native peoples were feared as “so many
unkennell’d wolves.”
For the necessity of survival, garrisons were
established in each somewhat populated area. Garrisons can be thought of as
domestic “forts” for refuge. “Houses of retreat” once the “hue and cry” was
issued.
Keep in mind, garrison life was spartan subsistence
living. It was a life of danger and uncertainty.
Even times we now refer to poetically originally were “Seasons
of Fear.”
For example, Indian Summer.
“A backwoodsman seldom hears this expression
[Indian Summer] without feeling a chill of horror during the long continued
Indian war sustained by the first settlers of the West, they enjoyed no peace
excepting in the winter season, when, owing to the severity of the weather, the
Indians were unable to make their excursions into the settlements. The onset of
winter was therefore held as a jubilee by the early inhabitants of the country,
who, throughout the spring and the early part of the fall, had been cooped up
in…uncomfortable forts, and subjected to all the distresses of the Indian war.
At the approach of winter, therefore all the farmers excepting the owner of the
Fort, removed to their cabins on their farms, with the joyful feelings of a
tenant of a prison recovering his release from confinement. All was bustle and
hilarity and preparing for winter, by gathering in the corn, digging potatoes,
fattening hogs, and repairing the cabins. To our forefathers the gloomy months
in the winter were more pleasant than the zephyrs of the flowers of May. It
however sometimes happened, after the apparent onset of winter, the weather
became warm; The smoky time commenced, and lasted for a considerable number of
days. This was the Indian summer, because it afforded the Indians another
opportunity of visiting the settlements with the destructive warfare. The
melting of the snow saddened every countenance, and the genial warmth of the
sun chilled every heart with horror. The apprehension of another visit from the
Indians, and being driven back to the detested fort, was painful in the highest
degree, and the distressing apprehension was frequently realized.”
War was frequent, brutal, and nothing akin to the
manuals and rules of warfare across the pond.
This culture of immediacy also bred different forms of
martial readiness. Here, all must be prepared, not simply career
soldiers. Men, women and children Anglo and Indigenous were indoctrinated in
the ways of war and survival.
Here, all was seen as preparation for survival.
Hunting, turkey shoots, tomahawk throwing, the far
more vicious form of scufflin’ [boxing and wrestling] were seen as survival, pastime
and readiness endeavor.
Looking to the manuals and guidebooks and histories of
warfare [armed or unarmed] on the far side of the Atlantic tells us little
about what actually existed by necessity on the Wild Side of the Atlantic.
Let us end today where we began, “In such colonial
warfare all were soldiers because all lived on the battlefield.”-Daniel J.
Boorstin, Historian and author of the Bancroft Prize winning trilogy The
Americans.
[In support of this essay I highly recommend a paired
reading with GARRISON FIGHTING.]
Mull these
further resources, Warriors!
The Black Box Training Warehouse for All Things Rough n Tumble
The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast
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