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United States Army or the Union Army

Main military branch of the United States of America.

The Army has its origins in the Continental Army, established on June 14, 1775, before the founding of the United States of America in anticipation of the Revolutionary War.[1]

The costliest conflict in the history of the United States Army was the Civil War. Referred to then as the Union Army to differentiate it from the Confederate Army, it fought to restore the seceded Southern States to the Union, establish a national policy outlawing slavery, and rebuild the devastated economy and infrastructure.[2]

During and after the Civil War, the Army established forts and other posts across the Western frontier to protect settlers and commerce from hostile Indians and other lawless aggressors.[3]

Trail West to Fury: In 1865,[4] Bret and Bart Maverick were Confederate prisoners[5] interned at Camp Douglas.[4] They were given a chance to enlist in the Union Army to serve as Galvanized Yankees, fighting Indians on the Western frontier rather than their southern brethren in the Civil War. The war ended, but their service in the Union Army continued for some months.[5] They were mustered out on November 13, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth.[4]

Relic of Fort Tejon: In 1878,[4] Bret Maverick was duped into buying a "full-blooded Arabian mount" that turned out to be a mangy camel named Fatima. Brimmer, who sold it to him, surmised Fatima was one of the last brought over by the Army for its experimental camel corps.[5]

A platoon of the Union Army returns to Little Bend, Texas in August of 1867.[5]