quote:

---

Originally posted by wILD I

St Pat's day greetings to all.
A little known fact.In 1848 the Choctaw Indians raised 700 dollars for famine relief in Ireland.That was about 70 times the amount Queen Vic donated.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by wILD I

Joe
I don't want to do you an injustice but I think you give Custer the benefit of the doubt as regards the orders he got from Terry but you won't extend this benefit to Benteen who was in a much more precarious situation.

---

Wild, you could never do me an injustice because you disagree with me. You are a gentleman and possess a distinguished ability to understand the need to be civil with one another on this forum. Every thread you have posted has been even, comprehensible, and worthy. Your stability counters my propensity to get carried away at times. I appreciate your candid perspective of my perspective. You have afforded me an opportunity to espound further upon my position and, I hope, given me an additional chance to clarify my perspective regarding Benteen.

Custer operated under the orders of General Terry who was a competent lawyer. Have you ever know a lawyer who did not have a immense command of the English language? Yet, his orders were ambiguous. Every reputable scholar agrees that the fantastic "leeway" was afforded Custer. The reasons, I'm sure, are many. When the columns set out, no one knew the exact position of the hostiles. No one was certain of their strength. Everyone, who counted, was convinced that the hostiles would flee at the first approach of the military. Under such circumstances, perhaps, discretion in orders was appropriate.

However, Custer's "order" to Benteen,unlike the circumstances that helped to formulate Terry's orders, was based on hard, cold, and substantiated facts: "We have found the village, it is large, reports sent from Reno indicate the hostiles are making a stand, we have thousands of non-combatants fleeing north, there is no need to keep the ammunition (protected) in the rear, bring it now."

---

Custer was in control of the situation and could have adhered to Terry's wishes.There was no pressure of time to have forced him to act as he did.His decision was taken coldly and deliberately.Benteen on the other hand was not in control of the situation.

---

You are absolutely correct when you say there was no pressure of time to force his actions. Time was irrelevant. It was action, action on behalf of the village that appeared to be on "the jump", running away
that prompted Custer to do what he did. From the moment that his scout, Girard shouted, (and I paraphrase),"there go your Indians General, running like the Devil" followed by Custer's observation of a huge,dust cloud bellowing in the distance, the General was convinced that the Indians were running for their lives.

Today Wild, you and I know that he was in error, the Indians were not running away. Custer had no way of knowing this at that critical moment in time.

---

Go valley hunting but for how long?

---

Benteen wrote a letter to his wife several days after the battle. In the letter he explained that he was to seek "THE" valley, not "a" valley. "The" (a direct article) denotes a specific location as opposed to "A", an indefinite article, which could be anywhere. The valley Benteen was to scout was the southern end of the very same valley Custer was approaching. Custer feared an escape route to his "left." Benteen's Lt., Gibson, understood this order exactly and, said as much in a letter he too wrote. Only after three years of accusations of malfeasance of duty did Benteen resort to what is commonly referred to as "Benteeisms" or mis-information.

---

Come quickly but bring the packs.2/IC of regiment begging for help.Where is Custer?

---

Benteen's command easily followed Custer's trail by following the torn and disrupted earth deposited by the hooves of the iron-shod steed of Custer's command. He simply stopped short. This was the same trail the Weir picked up later as he moved to ward's Custer's command until he was stopped by the charging hostiles.

I have been repeatedly charged with "demonizing" Benteen. As a result, I can only assume, I have been relegated to the obvious perineum of a "Custerphile" by certain parties. The only problem I have with Benteen is that he lied. His statements at the Reno Inquiry were patently false and, he knew it. Why he lied is the subject of another thread.
No Wild, you could never do me an injustice because I respect you. Your agreement or disagreement with my philosophies are irrelevant. if others followed your example( including me)so much more could be accomplished on this wonderful forum.

---

---