Sponsored by the Society of
Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the General Society of
Colonial Wars.
Incorporating archeology,
anthropology, cartography, and Indigenous studies into military history, Wayne
E. Lee has argued throughout his distinguished career that wars and warfare
cannot be understood by a focus that rests solely on logistics, strategy, and
operations. Fighting forces bring their own cultural traditions and values onto
the battlefield. In this volume, Lee employs his "cutting-off way of
war" (COWW) paradigm to recast Indigenous warfare in a framework of the
lived realities of Native people rather than with regard to European and
settler military strategies and practices.
Indigenous people lacked deep
reserves of population or systems of coercive military recruitment and as such
were wary of heavy casualties. Instead, Indigenous warriors sought to surprise
their targets, and the size of the target varied with the size of the attacking
force. A small war party might "cut off" individuals found getting
water, wood, or out hunting, while a larger party might attempt to attack a
whole town. Once revealed by its attack, the invading war party would flee
before the defenders' reinforcements from nearby towns could organize. Sieges
or battles were rare and fought mainly to save face or reputation. After
discussing the COWW paradigm, including a deep look at Native logistics and
their associated strategic flexibility, Lee demonstrates how the system worked
and evolved in five subsequent chapters that detail intra-tribal and
Indigenous-colonial warfare from pre-contact through the American Revolution.
Wayne E. Lee is the Bruce W. Carney Distinguished Professor
of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.