The Call for Cavalry
Military authorities look to volunteers to secure the frontier as federal forces withdraw from the Pacific Northwest.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The withdrawal of the regular forces from Oregon and Washington necessitated the employment of California volunteers in this district. In addition, the military authorities have thought proper to call on this State for one regiment of cavalry to be mustered into service for three years. With ten companies of infantry and a like number of cavalry, the force in this country will be equal to that employed before the breaking out of the civil war. It is necessary to have 2,100 men under arms in Oregon and Washington to protect the frontier effectually. Gen. Harney in his letter to some citizens of Oregon, last winter, on the subject of the war debt, testifies that no offensive operations against Indians could be undertaken with a less force; as forts must be garrisoned, communications kept open, and the enemy attacked besides. He justifies the employment of Oregon volunteers in the last Indian war, as a matter of necessity.
“It is necessary to have 2,100 men under arms in Oregon and Washington to protect the frontier effectually.”
This reflects the volatile security climate of 1861, where the onset of the Civil War pulled federal troops eastward, leaving frontier settlers to rely on local volunteer militias. The tension between military necessity and local governance remains a touchstone in regional history.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.