Traveling Trunk Lesson Plan 3: US Cavalry

Essential Question

How has conflict resulted from the migration and settlement of people as they expanded across the continent, and how were they resolved?

Objective

Discuss the average frontier cavalry soldier and some of the hardships.
Understand the hardship of cavalry life along the Western Frontier.
Map items/locations on a historical frontier fort map.

Traveling Trunk Items

cavalry coat, haversack, kepi(cavalry hat), cards, dice, eating utensils, hardtack, coffee beans, canteen, cup, harmonica

Hook

1. Discuss what they think cavalry soldiers did on a regular day. Were they always fighting? Battling? What did they do when not fighting battles? Was life hard or easy for a frontier cavalry soldier? (Take a vote)

Explore

1. Open PowerPoint and explore the life of a cavalry soldier. Use the items listed above to explore further.

2. Pass out the Fort Hays map. Explain that Fort Hays was a fort during the Battle of the Washita. It was where the women and children taken captive at the battle were taken.

3. Have the students imagine they are cavalry soldiers. What places would be important for them to know the location of? Have the students find the following locations on the map and color them:

   • Hospital - blue

   • Commanding Officers Quarters - yellow

   • Cavalry Stables - green

   • “Soapsuds Row” - orange

   • Company Barracks - red

4. Have the students use the key to discover distances on the Fort Map: (100 ft = 1 inch)

   • How many feet did the commanding officer have to walk to get to:

     1. the stables?

     2. the hospital?

     3. the flagpole?

5. Call the class together and check answers.

Homework/Extension

1. Have the students “Earn their Rank” by completing the cloze worksheet OR Have students draw and/or label a cavalry soldier’s uniform.

Associated Files

1. Lesson Three PowerPoint (PPTX, 5,234)
2. Cavalry Cloze Worksheet (PDF, 81 KB)
3. Label a Cavalry Soldier Worksheet (PDF, 337 KB)
4. Label a Cavalry Soldier (no arrows) Worksheet (PDF, 377 KB)