Frontier Partisans

The knife’s edge where European and native cultures met and mingled — the frontier — ran red with blood for 300 years as the indigenous peoples resisted the weight of the populous, technologically sophisticated civilization that rolled over them and ended their ancient ways of life.
From the plains of Texas to the vast veldt of southern Africa, from the Canadian prairie to the Caucasus Mountains, to the wild Sonoran desert, savage wars raged. Greed and duplicity, cruelty and barbarism held sway on all sides, but so did genuine nobility and heroism as clashes among mere handfuls of men decided the fates of empires.
From that conflict emerged, again and again, men whose frontier skills as scouts, explorers, prospectors and hunters tipped the balance in savage irregular warfare.
Accidental warriors, these frontiersmen intuitively understood le petite guerre and pioneered a way of war that is enshrined today in the doctrine of special operations forces who wage the shadowy, dirty conflicts of an age of asymmetrical warfare.
Some of these frontier partisans became famous, their legends remaining vibrant to this day. But there were many more, across the world — men who are today mostly forgotten.
Most were outriders of empire; a few participated in the native resistance. Still others walked a winding path on the edge of a cultural divide, divided in their loyalties and in their hearts. Some were richly rewarded for their service; others were tossed aside by the very empires they served.
Some were fine men — among the best of their age. Some were rough-hewn, dark-souled bastards. All were brave, resourceful — and deadly.
They deserve to be remembered. The Frontier Partisans Blog and Podcast are a virtual campfire where these stories can be told and passed on.