Partisans, Guerillas, and Irregulars : Historical Archaeology of Asymmetric Warfare

Essays that explore the growing field of conflict archaeology Within the last twenty years, the archaeology of conflict has emerged as a valuable subdiscipline within anthropology, contributing greatly to our knowledge and understanding of human conflict on a global scale. Although archaeologists have clearly demonstrated their utility in the study of large-scale battles and sites of conventional warfare, such as camps and forts, conflicts involving asymmetric, guerilla, or irregular warfare are largely missing from the historical record. Partisans, Guerillas, and Irregulars: Historical Archaeology of Asymmetric Warfare presents recent examples of how historical archaeology can contribute to a better understanding of asymmetric warfare. The volume introduces readers to this growing study and to its historic importance. Contributors illustrate how the wide range of traditional and new methods and techniques of historiography and archaeology can be applied to expose critical actions, sacrifices, and accomplishments of competing groups representing opposing philosophies and ways of life, which are otherwise lost in time. The case studies offered cover significant events in American and world history, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, Indian wars in the Southeast and Southwest, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Prohibition, and World War II. All such examples used here took place at a local or regional level, and several were singular events within a much larger and more complex historic movement. While retained in local memory or tradition, and despite their potential importance, they are poorly, and incompletely addressed in the historic record. Furthermore, these conflicts took place between groups of significantly different cultural and military traditions and capabilities, most taking on a “David vs. Goliath” character, further shaping the definition of asymmetric warfare. Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Preface 12 Introduction: An Archaeology of Asymmetric Warfare • Steven D. Smith 16 1. Border Warfare in Revolutionary Era West Virginia • W. Stephen McBride and Kim A. McBride 26 2. “Foot Jägers Forward!”: Johann Ewald, Petite Guerre, and the Archaeology of the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge • Wade P. Catts 48 3. The Battle of Williamson’s Plantation: Huck’s Defeat and the Asymmetric Partisan War in the South Carolina Backcountry • Michael C. Scoggins and Steven D. Smith 69 4. Francis Marion’s Partisan Community • Steven D. Smith 88 5. KOCOA Considerations in Asymmetric Warfare: Education and Environment in the Second Seminole War, 1835–1842 • Michelle Sivilich 108 6. The Black Jack Battle of 1856 in Kansas: Asymmetric Warfare and Archaeological Investigations • Douglas D. Scott 124 7. Jayhawkers, Bushwhackers, and Lay-Out Gangs: Archaeology and Asymmetric Warfare in the Trans-Mississippi Confederate Home Front during the American Civil War • Carl G. Drexler 142 8. “Dirty Little Wars” in Northern Mexico and the American Southwest • Charles M. Haecker 155 9. The Hatfield-McCoyFeud as Asymmetric Warfare: Archaeology at the Randall and Sally McCoy Homestead • Kim A. McBride 174 10. A Ukrainian Insurgent Army Company Ambush of a Soviet NKVD Battalion, 1945: A Multidisciplinary Study • Adrian Mandzy 195 Conclusion: Reflections on the Historical Archaeology of Asymmetric Warfare • Clarence R. Geier 215 References Cited 224 Contributors 256 Index 258