In mid April 1869 the UNION awoke to the startling news that Chinese troops were invading the nation. Panic stricken settlers from the area south west of Denver rushed into that city with stories of huge numbers of Chinese troops marching east towards Denver. The UNION army was immediately ordered to mobilise and on 20th April the Cavalry brigade from Fort Reno marched west on a reconnaissance mission to determine exactly what the UNION faced. The Cavalry brigade from Fort Bridger also moved north on a similar mission. The Infantry brigades from Fort Reno took up positions immediately west of Denver to await developments while the three remaining Infantry brigades in Fort Bridger started to en train for the Denver area. In addition all other UNION armies were mobilised ready for immediate movement as soon as the full nature of the threat was understood.
The Chinese army in 1869 consisted of about 500,000 fully trained troops with the same again in partly trained militia. Although the army was armed with single shot breach loading rifles the militia was equipped only with old fashioned muzzle loaders. Artillery consisted of muzzle loading cannon of limited range. The Militia had no heavy weapons. Chinese soldiers were known to carry just rations and ammunition with limited supporting services being available. Despite these limitations the Chinese army posed a dire threat simply because of their huge numbers. The motivation for the Chinese invasion was and remains to this day unknown but it is assumed there were a combination of factors. Support for their Iranian allies, desire for the rich resources of the UNION, fear of a growing economic and industrial neighbour, or maybe a military adventure to keep a huge standing army motivated were among the reasons put forward but the truth remains unknown given the nature of the communist regime in China.
UNION cavalry soon encountered the advancing Chinese only 250 hundred miles west of Denver, the Chinese had clearly been on UNION territory for some time to have gotten so far. The Cavalry reported the Chinese moving east in several parallel columns with a strength of between 100,000 and 150,000. They seemed to march at dawn each day and after covering only ten or so miles camped and spread out on foraging expeditions. Obviously Chinese supply lines were stretched.
With such a huge army of invaders to face, all UNION armies were ordered to en train for Denver. The only exception was the Cavalry brigade of 2nd army at Fort Leavenworth which would remain there to keep up patrols in Ukraine to ensure the Russians made no attempt to take advantage of the situation in the west. The UNION generals knew that they and the army faced the greatest test in their history to date.
Over the following days military trains arrived in Denver every few minutes as the UNION army concentrated to meet the Chinese threat. In the meantime the Cavalry brigade from Fort Reno was ordered to undertake a rear guard action to slow the Chinese advance. The tactics employed involved waiting until the Chinese were about to start moving at dawn and then to gallop forward and launch a short but heavy horse artillery barrage onto the leading Chinese forces. The Union forces would then quickly withdraw. The impact of the bombardment caused the Chinese to redeploy to receive an attack. By the time they recovered and prepared to start moving the UNION forces again launched a bombardment. These activities caused the Chinese advance to be seriously delayed. This strategy continued for several days. The Chinese, like most other armies, had no substantial cavalry forces to counter the UNION action as the costs of mounting large numbers of men were prohibitive, the UNION were the only nation other than the British to employ mounted troops in any numbers.
By 4th May UNION forces consisting of 1st and 3rd armies and 2nd army less its cavalry brigade had concentrated about 150 miles west of Denver and were dug in ready to receive a Chinese attack. 4th army and 5th army, less the brigade in Mexico ,were formed up to the south west hidden behind a ridge ready to launch a counter attack or flanking maneuver as appeared best at the appropriate time. At that time each UNION army was about 27,000 strong so in total over 125,000 UNION troops stood ready to confront the Chinese invaders. Although the two armies appeared to be of similar size. the UNION forces had a massive superiority in artillery, both in numbers of guns but also in rate of fire and weight and power of projectiles. The scene was set for a titanic battle.
UNION cavalry soon encountered the advancing Chinese only 250 hundred miles west of Denver, the Chinese had clearly been on UNION territory for some time to have gotten so far. The Cavalry reported the Chinese moving east in several parallel columns with a strength of between 100,000 and 150,000. They seemed to march at dawn each day and after covering only ten or so miles camped and spread out on foraging expeditions. Obviously Chinese supply lines were stretched.
With such a huge army of invaders to face, all UNION armies were ordered to en train for Denver. The only exception was the Cavalry brigade of 2nd army at Fort Leavenworth which would remain there to keep up patrols in Ukraine to ensure the Russians made no attempt to take advantage of the situation in the west. The UNION generals knew that they and the army faced the greatest test in their history to date.
Over the following days military trains arrived in Denver every few minutes as the UNION army concentrated to meet the Chinese threat. In the meantime the Cavalry brigade from Fort Reno was ordered to undertake a rear guard action to slow the Chinese advance. The tactics employed involved waiting until the Chinese were about to start moving at dawn and then to gallop forward and launch a short but heavy horse artillery barrage onto the leading Chinese forces. The Union forces would then quickly withdraw. The impact of the bombardment caused the Chinese to redeploy to receive an attack. By the time they recovered and prepared to start moving the UNION forces again launched a bombardment. These activities caused the Chinese advance to be seriously delayed. This strategy continued for several days. The Chinese, like most other armies, had no substantial cavalry forces to counter the UNION action as the costs of mounting large numbers of men were prohibitive, the UNION were the only nation other than the British to employ mounted troops in any numbers.
By 4th May UNION forces consisting of 1st and 3rd armies and 2nd army less its cavalry brigade had concentrated about 150 miles west of Denver and were dug in ready to receive a Chinese attack. 4th army and 5th army, less the brigade in Mexico ,were formed up to the south west hidden behind a ridge ready to launch a counter attack or flanking maneuver as appeared best at the appropriate time. At that time each UNION army was about 27,000 strong so in total over 125,000 UNION troops stood ready to confront the Chinese invaders. Although the two armies appeared to be of similar size. the UNION forces had a massive superiority in artillery, both in numbers of guns but also in rate of fire and weight and power of projectiles. The scene was set for a titanic battle.
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