Warriors all.

One feature of warfare, or perhaps the psychology of conquerors, is that the victors often endow their enemies with unusual military strengths. The enemy has to be crafty, vigorous, determined, tenacious, as well as brave and brutal. If the enemy were otherwise, the courageous actions of the victorious army would be meaningless. In a colonial context, economics might dictate why a given nation embarks on such a venture, but colonizers normally justify their actions in terms of bringing progress and civilization to a "savage" indigenous population. A militarily conquered group is given a bit more status in colonization. Savage but courageous natives are somehow more worthy of being civilized. The mythical martial race, overcome only by military adeptness in the first place, has been invented and reinvented by colonizers throughout history. The idea that American Indians are members of a martial race is at least as old as the United States itself. For example, Colonel James Smith, who had been a captive of an unnamed Indian tribe between 1755 and 1759, and who later served in the Revolutionary Army against the British, wrote in 1799 a short but very appreciative treatise on American Indian modes of warfare. Smith's account was accurate enough, and his observations bolstered the idea that Indians were uniquely adept and brave warriors. As a product of black powder warfare, in which armies armed with muskets marched within 40 yards of an enemy in order to pour relatively inaccurate lead balls into the foe's closely packed ranks, Smith was especially interested in the psychology of courage and in the ability to outmaneuver an enemy. In Smith's view, Indians were courageous beyond all reason as well as being the tactical superiors of most then-modern armies. In fact, American Indian armies anticipated most of Karl von Klauswitz's ideas and theories concerning warfare. Von Klauswitz, of course, is the most widely taught military theorist in the world. According to Smith, "The business of private warriors is to be under command, or punctually to obey orders; to learn to march abreast in scattered order, so as to be in readiness to surround the enemy, or to prevent being surrounded; to be good marksmen, and active in the use of arms; to practice running; to learn to endure hunger or hardship with patience and fortitude; to tell the truth at all times to their officers, but more especially when sent out to spy the enemy."