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Unquestionably, the American Civil War forever altered the United States. After the four years of the “brothers’ war,” the cultural, economic, political, social, and regional fabric of the United States was drastically altered under the premise of Reconstruction. What is often forgotten; however, are the changes that affected the U.S. military after the guns were stacked at Appomattox Courthouse. Priorities changed from a civil war, primarily fought in the eastern U.S., to open warfare against the Native Americans who lived on the vast expanses of the western United States. In order to affect a formidable frontier military presence, the U.S. military needed to enhance its cavalry.