Category: Fort

Apache Wars history book – “The Black Legend: George Bascom, Cochise, and the Start of the Apache Wars” (TwoDot, 2018) – Doug Hocking interview

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Doug Hocking has lived in the American Southwest for much of his life. He’s written lots of western historical fiction and non-fiction. We discussed his latest book on Cochise and the Apache War of 1861.

0:50 – Doug talks about how he got into studying the Apache Wars. He grew up on the Jicarilla Apache reservation. He got into studying the Bascom and Cochise affair and found many discrepancies in the accepted story.

6:32 – Doug talks about how he starts the story in 1856. He then gets into how the Apache War started.

13:57 – Doug talks about the differences between US Army and Native American tactics.

He talks about terrain and weapons. He also talks about rations and food for each side.

19:00 – Doug talks about why he considers Cochise the best Apache leader in history.

22:32 – Doug talks about the relationships between the area tribes. He also talks about how the Apache Indians learned how to raid for spoils.

25:16 – Doug talks about how various groups in the area were armed.

29:08 – Doug talks about Apache clothing and how it was affected by combat. He also talks about clothing worn by US soldiers.

37:01 – Doug talks about the US Army were supplied in the area.

39:28 – Doug talks about who had to serve out in this area.

44:04 – Doug talks about what the forts were like in the area.

47:37 – Doug talks about the newspapers and other resources he used. He also mentions some Mexican records hat are useful to this research.

54:40 – Doug came to dislike Rueben Bernard.

58:07 – He’s on DougHocking.com and his books are there as well as on Amazon.

Links of interest

http://doughocking.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Doug Hocking

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, California, Texas, US Civil War, Bascome, Cochise, Apaches, dragoons, Utes, Embudo mountains, Fort Union, Fort Buchanan, Santa fe, General Buell, West Point, Fort Massachusetts, Fort Defiance, Fort Cummings, Army posts, adobe, jachal, Tucson

18th and 19th C US Army history book – “The Soldiers of Fort Mackinac” (Michigan State University Press, 2018) – Phil Porter interview

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Phil Porter is director of Mackinac State Historic Parks and has studied the Mackinac area extensively. We talk about his latest book on the soldiers of Fort Mackinac.

1:49 – Phil talks about how he got into Mackinac history 46 years ago. He’s written about US military authority after the American Revolution and he’s written another book on Fort Mackinac history.

5:27 – The book is a collection of images of soldiers who served at Fort Mackinac but also discusses the life of these soldiers and why they were at the Fort.

8:30 – Phil talks about some of the history of the British retaking of the fort in the War of 1812.

11:00 – Phil talks about the importance of the fort in the region.

18:05 – Phil talks about images of soldiers at the fort during the pre-War of 1812 period.

20:00 – We talk about uniform variations among soldiers at the Fort from the rest of the US Army.

23:31 – Phil talks about famed medical Dr. Beaumont who was a pioneer on digestive processes.

29:30 – Phil talks about relations between Native American and he soldiers of the fort over time.

31:07 – Phil talks about Civil War soldiers who had served at Fort Mackinac. One was Confederate officer John Pemberton.

36:00 – Phil talks about a soldier that served in the First Barbary War.

37:30 – Phil talks about three wealthy Confederates who were imprisoned at Fort Mackinac for a few months.

45:55 – Getting permissions to use images was a long and tedious process.

47:20 – They found a photo of soldiers playing baseball at the fort. They still play baseball at the fort at the same field.

54:43 – The parks’ books can be found on Amazon and on their website mackinacparks.com.

55:35 – Phil explains why the spelling is Mackinac but is pronounced Mackinaw.

Links of interest

Mackinac State Historic Parks

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Phil Porter

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, US Civil War, Mexican-American War, Native American, british, militia, First Barbary War, military prison, Michigan history