The expedition was troubled from the start. The number of men to be involved in the campaign was reduced from 12,000 to less than 3,000 because many soldiers were mustered out of the army at the end of the American Civil War. The remaining volunteers were "mutinous, dissatisfied, and inefficient." The companies of the 6th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment commanded by Colonel James H. Kidd had recently been transferred from the Civil War battlefields of Virginia, and most of Cole's and Walker's men had been active in the Western Theater during the last years of the war. Few of the men and officers had any experience fighting Indians or traveling on the Great Plains. Procuring supplies was also a problem.