Military history of the United States
The article is about the military history of the United States. The categories on this (incomplete, in-development) list are somewhat arbitrary: Not all of these events were military, some were not even violent, but together they delineate the reappearance of the martial spirit in American life. The items enumerated here begin with the establishment of the American state in 1776, and either are located within American territorial boundaries or involve the armed forces of the federal government or the militias of the separate states and territories.
The Vietnam War was one of the longest military conflicts in U.S. history
Militarized Conflicts
This is a list of militarized conflicts involving the United States, the years listed are the years in which U.S. military units (primarily regular, occasionally irregular) were active.
Indian Conflicts, Wars, Battles, Expeditions and Campaigns
See also: Indian Wars
- Sullivan Expedition (1779)
- Northwestern Indian Wars (1790–1795, 1811)
- Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794)
- Nickajack Expedition (1794)
- Sabine Expedition (1806)
- Tecumseh's War (1811)
- Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)
- Little Belt Affair (1811)
- Peoria War (1813)
- Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)
- Seminole Wars (1817–1818, 1835–1842, 1855–1858)
- Arikara War (1823)
- Fever River War (1827)
- Le FÃÂèvre Indian War (1827)
- Sac and Fox War (1831)
- Black Hawk War (1832)
- Sabine-Southwestern War (1836–1837)
- Osage Indian War (1837)
- Navajo Wars (1849–1861)
- Cayuse War (1848–1855)
- Pitt River Expedition (1850)
- Mariposa War (1850–1851)
- Yuma Expedition (1851–1852)
- Walker War (1853)
- Yakima War (1855)
- Snake River War (1855)
- Klickitat War (1855)
- Puget Sound War (1855–1856)
- Rogue River Wars (1855–1856)
- Klamath and Salmon Indian Wars (1855)
- Florida Indian War (1855–1858)
- Tintic War (1856)
- Gila Expedition (1857)
- Mendocino War (1858)
- Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War (1858)
- Pecos Expedition (1859)
- Antelope Hills Expedition (1859)
- Bear River Expedition (1859)
- Paiute War (1860)
- Kiowa-Comanche War (1860)
- Cheyenne Campaign (1861–1864)
- Sioux War (1862-1863)
- Cheyenne-Arapaho-Kiowa-Comanche Wars (1863–1869)
- Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
- Snake War (1864–1868)
- Red Cloud's War (1866–1868)
- Comanche Wars (1867–1875)
- Marias Massacre (1870)
- Modoc War (1872–1873)
- Red River War (1874)
- Apache Wars (1873, 1885–1886)
- Black Hills War (1876–1877)
- Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876)
- Nez Perce War (1877)
- Bannock War (1878)
- Cheyenne War (1878–1879)
- Sheepeater Indian War (1879)
- White River War (1879)
- Ute War (1879-1880)
- Ghost Dance War (1890–1891)
- Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
Ethnic Cleansing and Control
See also: Indian removal
- Trail of Tears (1838–1839)
- Long Walk of the Navajo (1868)
- Lynching epidemic (~1880–~1920)
- Japanese American internment (1942–1946)
Armed Insurrections and Slave Revolts
See also: Slave rebellion, Tax revolt
- Shays' Rebellion (1786)
- Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
- John Fries' Rebellion (1799)
- Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion (1800)
- Louisiana Territory Slave Rebellion (1811)
- Fort Blount Revolt (1816)
- Denmark Vesey's Uprising (1822)
- Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)
- Amistad Seizure (1839)
- Anti-Rent War (1839–~1844)
- Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842)
- John Brown's Raid on Federal Armory at Harper's Ferry (1859)
Range Wars
See also: Range war
- Franklin County War (Idaho, 1866–1872)
- Mason County War (Texas, 1874–1877)
- Colfax County War (New Mexico, 1875)
- Lincoln County War (New Mexico, 1877–1878)
- Johnson County War (Wyoming, 1892)
- Pleasant Valley War (Arizona, 1886)
- Sheep Wars (Texas-New Mexico borderlands, ~1879–1900)
- Posey War (Utah, 1923)
Bloodless Boundary Disputes
- Toledo War (1835, Michigan Territory-Ohio)
- Aroostook War (1838–1839, U.S.-Canada)
- Honey War (1839, Iowa Territory-Missouri)
- Fifty-Four Forty or Fight (1844, U.S.-Canada)
- Pig War (1859, U.S.-Canada)
- Chamizal Dispute (1895–1963, U.S.-Mexico)
Terror, Paramilitary Groups and Guerrilla Warfare
See also: List of terrorist incidents- Green Mountain Boys (pre-U.S. through Revolution)
- Francis Marion (1780–1782)
- Bleeding Kansas (~1854–~1860)
- Cortina Troubles (1859–1861)
- Kansas Jayhawkers (1861–1863)
- Quantrill's Raiders (1861–1863)
- Ku Klux Klan (1877–present)
- Knights of the White Camelia
- White League (1874–)
- Coushatta Massacre (1874)
- Colfax Riot (1874)
- Wall Street Bombing (1920)
- Capitol Attack (1954)
- Weather Underground (1969–1976)
- Symbionese Liberation Army (1970s)
- Marine Barracks Bombing (1983)
- World Trade Center Bombing (1993)
- Oklahoma City Bombing (1994)
- U.S. Embassy Bombings (1998)
- USS Cole Bombing (2000)
- 9/11 (2001)
Secession Attempts, etc.
See also: List of extinct states, Unrecognized historic regions of the United States
- Westsylvania (1776)
- Republic of Vermont (1777–1791)
- State of Franklin (~1784–~1790)
- Oconee War (1784)
- Burr Conspiracy (~1804–~1807)
- Republic of West Florida (1810)
- Republic of Indian Stream (1832–1842)
- Patriot War (1837–1838)
- Free City of Tri-Insula (1861)
- Confederate States of America (1861–1865)
- State of Jefferson (1941)
Covert Operations, U.S.-Supported Coups, etc.
- Baltimore Crisis (Chile, 1891)
- Operation Ajax (Iran, 1951–1953)
- Bay of Pigs Invasion (Cuba, 1961)
- Operation Mongoose (Cuba, 1961–1963)
- Secret War (Cambodia-Laos, 1962–1975)
- Chilean Coup (Chile, 1974)
- Mujahideen vs. USSR (Afghanistan, 1979–1989)
- Contras (Nicaragua, 1980s)
Miscellaneous
- Yankee-Pennamite Wars (1769–1784)
- Chesapeake Affair (1807)
- Hatfields and McCoys (1860–1891)
- Fenian Invasion of Canada (1866)
- Canal Zone Riots (1964)
- Israeli Attack on USS Liberty (1967)
- Kent State Shootings (1970)
- War on Drugs (~1972–)
- Iraqi Attack on USS Stark (1987)
- Vincennes Incident (1988)
Latter-Day Saints
- Mormon War (1838)
- Mountain Meadows Massacre (1857)
Republic of Texas
- Texas Revolution (1835–1836)
- Texas Santa Fe Expedition (1841)
See Also
External links
- Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798-1993 by Ellen C. Collier, Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division
- United States Military Campaigns, Conflicts, Expeditions and Wars Compiled by Larry Van Horn, U.S. Navy Retired
- History Guy: United States Military History
{| style='margin:0 auto;' align=center width=95% id=toc |align=center| History of the United States: Timeline & Topics
Pre-Colonial | Colonial | 1776–1789 | 1789–1861 | Civil War origins | Civil War | 1789–1861 | 1865–1918 | 1918–1945 | 1945–1964 | 1964–1980 | 1980–1988 | 1988–present
Military | Postal | Diplomatic | Imperialist | Religious | Industrial