User blog:Elgb333/National Icons: Cowboy vs Samurai

For every country, there is that one badass warrior culture that represents a nation not just in the looks but also in its values. Today we will be pitting two famous national icons in history who both have influenced each other in pop culture, from the quickdraws, the code of honors, and the stoicism.

Cowboy: American heroes of the rugged Western frontier.

vs

Samurai: Japanese warriors of the bloody feudal Japan.

Its Westerns vs Jidai Geki! John Ford vs Akira Kurosawa! Who is deadliest?!!

Cowboy
Central to the myth and the reality of the West is the American cowboy. The cowboy has for over a century been an iconic American image both in the country and abroad; recognized worldwide and revered by Americans. To protect their herd from wild animals, rogue Indians and rustlers, cowboys carried with them their iconic weaponry such as knives, pistols, rifles and shotguns. And on the trail, they also have to endure bad weather and unforgiving environments

Many of the cowboys were veterans of the Civil War; a diverse group, they included Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and immigrants from Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and the Middle East. Although always synonymous with gunslingers in today’s pop culture, there were a number of cowboys who were known as gunfighters, some siding with the law or being outlaws like John Wesley Hardin, Luke Short, Tom Horn and others. Other cowboys participated in various range wars throughout the frontier, and many even joined the Rough Riders lead by fellow cowboy Theodore Roosevelt. They were known for their prowess, speed and skill with their pistols and other firearms and their violent escapades and reputations morphed over time into the stereotypical image of violence endured by the "cowboy hero".

Short= Bowie Knife
 * Single edged with clip point.
 * Various length but the largest were ul to 12 inches long.
 * Throwable.


 * -|Medium= Colt Peacemaker
 * .45 Long Colt
 * 6-round fixed cylinder (although people at that time tend to load only 5 rounds for safety reasons).
 * Many cowboys such as Luke Short, Frank M. Canton and John Wesley Hardin were prominent in the art of the quickdraw, or have participated in such quick draw duels.


 * -|Long= Winchester Rifle
 * .44-40 Winchester
 * 15 round tubular magazine
 * Lever action
 * 200 yards


 * -|Tactics= Attacking From a Defensive Position
 * One of the eight classical maneuvers of warfare. It is a common tactic for cowboys under attack from bandits or Indians. Taking positions on a well-defended location, fortifying said location, and eliminating enemies with overwhelming fire and marksmanship.
 * Effective early on but becomes straining as a battle goes on and resources become depleted.
 * Prime example was the | Raid on Godfrey Ranch on January 15–16, 1865 in which 3-4 ranch hands, upon hearing that a force of 130 Indians(!) were going to attack them, fortified their ranch and held the Indians for a whole night. The cowboys did well in eliminating and keeping the Indians at bay behind the strong adobe walls of the ranch, and using water buckets to douse any attempts of burning it with fire arrows.

Samurai
The Sam​urai were a Japanese aristocratic warrior class that existed from about the 10th century onwards. From the late 12th century onwards, Samurai warlords, known by the title shogun were the de facto rulers of the Japan, with the emperor serving only as spiritual leader. The samurai were known for living by the code of bushido, which emphasized loyalty, duty and honor above all else, even in the face of death. The samurai class was abolished in 1860s, during the modernization of Japan during the Meiji Restoration. Short= Katana
 * Single edged curved blade.
 * 1 meter
 * As the most iconic weapon in Japan, there have been accounts of legendary samurais proficient in iado (sword quickdraw) and the ability to kill with one stroke like Kawakami Gensai and Miyamoto Musashi.


 * -|Medium= Smith and Wesson Army No. 2
 * .32 Rimfire
 * 6 round cylinder magazine


 * -|Long= Spencer Rifle
 * .56-56 Spencer rimfire
 * 7 round stock tube magazine
 * Manually cocked hammer, lever action
 * 500 yards


 * -|Tactics= Bushido Offensive
 * A tactic made famous in Feudal Japan which blends the bushido code of the samurai (courage and a death before dishonor attitude) with clever tactical maneuvers. So effective in fact that it influenced Japanese tactics in later years to come.
 * Effective when executed properly but needs a large amount of men for these “banzai” charges.
 * A well-known example was the Battle of Ueno. In July 4, 1868 forces of Saigō Takamori launched a full scale assault on the much larger Shogunate forces positioned in Kan'ei-ji Temple. His Satsuma forces suffered heavy casualties but held on long enough for the Chosu force to attack from the rear, and with the use of armstrong and snider cannons, completely destroyed the much larger Shogunate army.

X-Factors
Training= Hard to decide. The cowboys have the advantage of a more professional training since many were former American soldiers. The samurai’s training were not as modernized but they were trained in a warrior culture since birth.

While the cowboys fought in conflicts such as the Civil War, Indian Wars, Range Wars and Spanish-American War, and have served as lawmen and bandits alike, their experience in warfare is limited and far in between (there job is actually pretty boring). The samurais however, had centuries of battlefield experience from thhe conception of Japan until the Meiji era. They dought many civil wars like the Genpei War, Senggoku, Boshin War, and were one of a few who defeated a Mongol invasion. They even invaded Korea as well.
 * -|Experience=

Samurai were excellent in melee fighting but in terms of modern weapons such as firearms, they fall flat against the cowboys. The latter had individuals such as Augustin Chacon and John Wesley Hardin who were capable of dual-weilding pistols.
 * -|Weapon Mastery=