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movingrobewoman
Lt. Colonel
USA
Status: offline |
 Posted - February 14 2005 : 10:29:22 PM
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Two questions for you all. Recently I heard that Richard Fox has proposed that E Troop made a definite "charge" (I believe with GA Custer's approval) towards Deep Ravine (before horses were shot to provide breastworks/cover at LSH). What do you all think (I just bought Michno's "The Mystery of E Troop")? Or was the group at DR just a disorganised group of survivors who broke (once all the COs on LSH were dead) to "safety?"
Also--did C Troop REALLY serve (as indicated on one, privately owned Maguire map) with Headquarters, which means they approached MTC, or were they truly attached to Keogh and left to defend, if need be, the bluffs above? One author with whom I am familiar will go to his grave swearing C was attached to HQ (though I heard otherwise at the CBHMA seminar). I seem to remember some kind of different scenario in "Lakota Noon."
I am interested to see your spin.
Hoka hey!
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movingrobe |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - February 14 2005 : 10:54:51 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by movingrobewoman
Two questions for you all. Recently I heard that Richard Fox has proposed that E Troop made a definite "charge" (I believe with GA Custer's approval) towards Deep Ravine (before horses were shot to provide breastworks/cover at LSH). What do you all think (I just bought Michno's "The Mystery of E Troop")? Or was the group at DR just a disorganised group of survivors who broke (once all the COs on LSH were dead) to "safety?"
I think the evidence for a "charge" is pretty thin, though there are plenty of Indian stories which say that the Gray Horse Troop was at Last Stand Hill at some point (Lt. Smith's body was found there), and since most of E's men seem to have been found near Deep Ravine --- none, other than Smith, known to have been ID'd on LSH --- it presumably means that they left the hill in some form of organization. Otherwise, one would think there'd be as many dead E Troopers on Custer Hill as there were F Troop men.
I can't fathom why anyone would charge to Deep Ravine, though, and I've always assumed that they ended up there out of panic; that's certainly what many Indians said, what with their stories of men running towards it "drunk" and shooting their revolvers at the sky. What reasons did Fox give?
quote:
Also--did C Troop REALLY serve (as indicated on one, privately owned Maguire map) with Headquarters, which means they approached MTC, or were they truly attached to Keogh and left to defend, if need be, the bluffs above? One author with whom I am familiar will go to his grave swearing C was attached to HQ (though I heard otherwise at the CBHMA seminar). I seem to remember some kind of different scenario in "Lakota Noon."
Kanipe told Camp that C Company was part of Keogh's battalion, and the sergeants of that company were all found dead south of Custer's Hill, with I and L. I don't know what that guy swears on.
R. Larsen |
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wILD I
Brigadier General
Ireland
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 04:27:50 AM
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I posted this opinion on another thread but here it is again for what it's worth.
Custer's line of march was HQ, troops C [Tom had to be with big brother and he was senior]F, E,I,L.Custer attemped to cross the LBH in the vicinity of Deep Ravine.He was checked and started to retreat up deep ravine.It leads directly to LSH.This retreat turned into a rout of troops C,F,E.Keogh with troops I and L seeing what had happened did not follow but took a position near Calhoun Hill.As most of the officers were found with Custer on LSH and there is a trail of markers leading to it from Deep Ravine it is reasonable to conclude that the movement of the command was from Deep ravine to LSH.Smith's troop E being the rearward troop when the command split was cut off and annilated in Deep Ravine. The rout was halted at LSH where the survivers were finished off.I have always believed that Keogh and Calhoun lasted a bit longer and that a "last stand"was an attempt to preserve some dignity for the 7th.
Custer's command and control amounted to two movements.He retreated and halted.The Idea that he was ordering and controlling rearguards charging and counter attacking,trying to open a corridor to Benteen all rubbish. |
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BJMarkland
Colonel
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 06:51:12 AM
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Wild, one correction. You said, "Tom had to be with big brother and he was senior...". Tom was NOT the senior Captain either in the 7th or with Custer's battalion. Tom's promotion date, per Heitman p. 348, was Dec. 12, 1875. Keogh's promotion to captain was July 28, 1866 (Heitman p. 593). Yates' promotion date was June 12, 1867 (Heitman p. 1065).
hmmm...Yates served with the 45 MO inf. & 13 MO cav.---let me check and see if either was Benteen's unit...no, Benteen's unit was the 10 MO cav.
(for your info Wild, MO is the abbreviation for the state of Missouri, aka, somewhat affectionately, as the state of Misery.)
Best of wishes,
Billy |
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movingrobewoman
Lt. Colonel
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 09:45:38 AM
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Larsen--but Kanipe's word be trusted in any regards? I mean, did he really bring a message from TWC to the packers, or was it just CYA for running before it got really hot (as so many people accuse Peter Thompson of doing)? I haven't read Camp yet.
Fox calls the E troop manuever the "south skirmish line" theory--because of the amount of men involved (near company strength, early in the battle on LSH, possible bullet evidence?). A move which was quickly overrun by NAs. Also, Two Moons in an interview in 1898 said at about the same time as this happened there was a very clear bugle call. I know Fox's claim to fame is that "his" Last Stand occurred in DR. Like you, I don't know why anybody would make a charge towards DR--maybe ya run there trying to get to the river out of desperation ...
Regards, |
movingrobe |
Edited by - movingrobewoman on February 15 2005 10:02:18 AM |
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Dark Cloud
Brigadier General
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 12:53:38 PM
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That's a point I don't get either. If Kanipe brought the message he said he had - come fast, dropping packs (I've read no contradiction) - then why didn't MacDougall get courtmartialed? No packs were nudged forward separate from the train at all. That dissonance just sits there, like the identities of those who had complained about Custer (about what?)to Terry and others which Custer felt the need to discuss first camp down the Rosebud.
I think both Kanipe and Martin had difficulty living with their encouraging remarks they had made to Benteen and others in the train suggesting the battle was going well. I don't know if Kanipe would fabricate that story, because it was dependent upon all of Custer's men getting killed and not available for testimony against him, something he could not have anticipated or known when he left.
There is something very odd about the two messages, saying almost, not quite, the same thing, with Martin's less hysterical than Kanipe's but coming after and yet so close together. Martin meets Boston, Kanipe does not. It's likely to me that they left Custer closer together than Gray suggests because Martin's horse was wounded and Kanipe was sent by TWC anticipating his brother and unknown to Cooke and Custer. |
Dark Cloud
copyright RL MacLeod
darkcloud@darkendeavors.com
www.darkendeavors.com
www.boulderlout.com |
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wILD I
Brigadier General
Ireland
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 3:08:36 PM
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Kanipe was sent by TWC anticipating his brother and unknown to Cooke and Custer.
We have discussed this one ad nauseum DC,but if you take my scenario that C troop was the lead troop and Tom was close to or with HQ then all that was required was for Tom to call one of his troop sergeants and send him back with the message.
Recently I heard that Richard Fox has proposed that E Troop made a definite "charge" (I believe with GA Custer's approval) towards Deep Ravine
Without their officer and away from Custer?
Also--did C Troop REALLY serve (as indicated on one, privately owned Maguire map) with HeadquartersI think so.They were found in and around LSH it also allowed Tom to be with HQ and command his troop.
Or was the group at DR just a disorganised group of survivors who broke (once all the COs on LSH were dead) to
Why just E troop and they would never have got that far.E troop were in all probability trying to follow Custer out of DR when they got cut off. |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 6:08:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by movingrobewoman
Larsen--but Kanipe's word be trusted in any regards? I mean, did he really bring a message from TWC to the packers, or was it just CYA for running before it got really hot (as so many people accuse Peter Thompson of doing)? I haven't read Camp yet.
I don't know what reason there is to think that he made up the story of the message; certainly nobody there, Benteen, Edgerly, Godfrey, etc., doubted him about it. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest he was faking it. Like all people he's subject to getting a few details wrong, from poor memory or age, though I don't think that's a factor here. What he says about C's place in the battalions is consistent with the order of officer seniority, as Fox pointed out. And the positioning of bodies.
R. Larsen |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - February 15 2005 : 6:44:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dark Cloud
That's a point I don't get either. If Kanipe brought the message he said he had - come fast, dropping packs (I've read no contradiction) - then why didn't MacDougall get courtmartialed? No packs were nudged forward separate from the train at all. That dissonance just sits there, like the identities of those who had complained about Custer (about what?)to Terry and others which Custer felt the need to discuss first camp down the Rosebud.
I don't think it's actually historical, the "go straight across country, cut loose the packs" part. It doesn't crop up, at all, in the literature until Camp interviews Kanipe 30+ years after the battle. Benteen makes no mention of it in his report from early July. He just says that Kanipe's orders were to speed things along. I don't think it's necessary to suppose anything other than poor memory to account for it; these statements of his were all made decades after the event.
R. Larsen |
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wILD I
Brigadier General
Ireland
Status: offline |
Posted - February 16 2005 : 12:44:41 PM
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| Has anybody seen DR?Is it deep in the accepted sense of the word.Does it lead to LSH? Could it have been used as an escape route by Custer.Could it have been used to approach the river with the intention of crossing? |
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movingrobewoman
Lt. Colonel
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 16 2005 : 6:57:28 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by wILD I
Kanipe was sent by TWC anticipating his brother and unknown to Cooke and Custer.
I think so.They were found in and around LSH it also allowed Tom to be with HQ and command his troop.
Point one: on this I kind of have to (with reservations that will be explored later in my learnin')agree with Dark Cloud. If TWC sent a message to quicken the pace of the packers, why the heck didn't they move? Granted, Martini's relatively quick "skedaddling" following remark might have cut the sails out of it--but Benteen was not in control of the packers.
Point two: I heard there were actually few members of C troop on LSH. Granted, many fell in Henryville--and Walt Cross swears that Lt. Harrington broke out and many miles away from the battlefield, chased down by Santees. I can accept your point that TWC served as some aide to GAC, but from all I've read, Harrington was defacto commander of C on June 25, 1876.
I have been to Deep Ravine--worked the trailhead last year--and it is deep. Quite deep and very, very pronounced. I know several NAs used DR as a conduit towards LSH, so I suppose it could be used by US troops in the opposite direction--IF they were familiar with the terrain. And we have to remember that Bouyer was probably the only person with Custer's battalion who knew the area intimately--and if there was a retreat/charge to DR--he fell well short of getting there. To look from LSH, my eye was drawn first to Cemetery Ravine as a direct out--then to Deep Ravine. |
movingrobe |
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Dark Cloud
Brigadier General
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 17 2005 : 11:04:40 AM
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It's not that painful, come on.
The problem with this Move North Ever On the Offensive line of thought is that MTC offered quicker access to wherever the 7th wanted to go on the west bank, gave them the benefit of whatever surprise they were to be afforded. Even if we believe this Hostage Scenario - and I do not - speed and surprise were paramount, and those qualities were lost the minute you paraded on the east bank north in full view. Supposedly and anyway, MTC was the northern most part of the village or close to it, and nothing that couldn't be run through to the hostages.
All of this is dependent upon this being a village of a size a sane man thought could be taken from a Weir Point vista. If not, activity at MTC would generate retaliation across that very ford, and apparently it did, big time. I still think (surprise!) my theory (I'm usurping it from the several hundred who preceded me with it) makes the most sense, explains everything without tortured logic or a Custer new to history, and violates no time lines or evidence, so called, on the field. And it meshes with the only first hand testimony we have, roundly ignored, from the officers of the 7th days later made well before the later turbulence. |
Dark Cloud
copyright RL MacLeod
darkcloud@darkendeavors.com
www.darkendeavors.com
www.boulderlout.com |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - February 18 2005 : 10:23:25 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by movingrobewoman
Point one: on this I kind of have to (with reservations that will be explored later in my learnin')agree with Dark Cloud. If TWC sent a message to quicken the pace of the packers, why the heck didn't they move?
Well, they moved. What's problematic is that Kanipe's recollection of the message in 1910-or-whatever doesn't agree with the earlier reports, which all have it as just some variant of "hurry up".
quote:
Granted, Martini's relatively quick "skedaddling" following remark might have cut the sails out of it--but Benteen was not in control of the packers.
Martin's message never got to the pack train.
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and Walt Cross swears that Lt. Harrington broke out and many miles away from the battlefield, chased down by Santees.
No evidence, at all.
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I can accept your point that TWC served as some aide to GAC, but from all I've read, Harrington was defacto commander of C on June 25, 1876.
They're all just guessing. There's no actual evidence that Harrington was in command of C. It's just speculation prompted by the discovery of Tom's body on Custer Hill. It's certainly possible that Tom was serving as an aide, but I don't think it's necessary to suppose that, and I'm uncomfortable with how quickly this has been enshrined as a "fact" in all the recent books on the battle.
R. Larsen |
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Dark Cloud
Brigadier General
USA
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - February 18 2005 : 2:12:37 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dark Cloud
I don't know, but didn't Martin have to go get a new horse, and wouldn't that be with the train?
I don't know where he got the horse from, but he told Graham he never delivered a message to the train, and Mathey and McDougall never received one.
R. Larsen |
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movingrobewoman
Lt. Colonel
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 18 2005 : 6:06:31 PM
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I honestly thought I had said that Benteen was not in charge of the packers ...!
If TWC wasn't serving as an even an unofficial aide, as a non-senior captain, then how did he come to send Kanipe? And being his brother's keeper (so to speak) doesn't really float with me. Wouldn't that job have normally fallen to Cooke, the adjutant, in advisement with the CO?
But getting back to C--what evidence is there (other than the Maguire map) accompanies the proposal that they served as HQ guard? At the CBHMA seminar this year, that HQ idea/therefore attendant to the MTC debacle was really not accepted. |
movingrobe |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - February 19 2005 : 3:58:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by movingrobewoman
If TWC wasn't serving as an even an unofficial aide, as a non-senior captain, then how did he come to send Kanipe? And being his brother's keeper (so to speak) doesn't really float with me. Wouldn't that job have normally fallen to Cooke, the adjutant, in advisement with the CO?
I think it should have, but then there's a lot of stuff in the Custer saga that doesn't go like it "should have". I think it's odd, for example, that Cooke was at Reno's crossing for any amount of time --- with Keogh to boot. What business did they have doing there? Isn't it an aide's job to always stick with his CO? And a battalion commander to stick with his battalion? Their whole presence there seems very weird and pointless, but no one has ever commented on it except to trawl their brief bits of conversation for clues as to Custer's intentions.
In this case, Kanipe says he saw Tom talking with Custer before he got the order to relay the message, so presumably Tom took care of it with Custer's approval. I don't know why Custer would use Tom instead of Cooke --- though it seems that he did. Cooke might have been doing something else at the time; the episode at Reno's crossing shows, at least, that his company wasn't always thought to be indispensable. Maybe Custer didn't want to lose one of his assigned orderlies just yet. I don't know. The thinking behind a lot of the stuff that occurred that day is not very clear.
quote:
But getting back to C--what evidence is there (other than the Maguire map) accompanies the proposal that they served as HQ guard? At the CBHMA seminar this year, that HQ idea/therefore attendant to the MTC debacle was really not accepted.
If there was one company serving as HQ guard (and I'm skeptical) then it must have been F. The identified bodies on Custer Hill were nearly all from F Troop and HQ. No other company is so closely associated with Custer's entourage.
R. Larsen |
Edited by - Anonymous Poster8169 on February 19 2005 3:59:46 PM |
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JGSturgis
Private
Canada
Status: offline |
Posted - March 05 2005 : 01:45:58 AM
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As for company E's deployment see my post on Sturgis's death, I'll sum it up here. E recons MTC, moves to Battle Ridge, Searched for North Ford with F and HQ, returns to battlefield, forms line in Cemetery Hill, Sturgis directs move to Deep Ravine, mutilations begin.
I don't think the move to Deep Ravine was a 'Charge' by any means, if you've been the battlefield the area between Deep Ravine and Last Stand Hill/Cemetery Hill is a poor defensive position. Deep Ravine is undefendable once your in it you'd have warriors firing down upon you. E troop moved to Deep Ravine because it was either make a run towards the only open route or suffer the fate they had witnessed of those on LSH.
I believe C troop was divided, a platoon acting as HQ Guard, which is why so many C troop horses are concentrated on LSH along with Bays of F troop. The other platoon under Lt. Henry Harrington were on Finley Ridge until the collapse when they fell back to Calhouns position until it collapsed where they then fled to the Keogh area and were finished off, Lt. Harrington making a wild ride several miles towards the Wolf Mountains before shooting himself rather than be killed by one of the persuing Indians. |
James Garland Sturgis
7th US Cavalry
2005 Reenactment dates June 24-25-26 |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - March 05 2005 : 6:16:40 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by JGSturgis
I believe C troop was divided, a platoon acting as HQ Guard, which is why so many C troop horses are concentrated on LSH along with Bays of F troop.
We're only talking six horses, aren't we? That number could easily have come with the refugees from Battle Ridge. Bottom line, I don't think a C Troop platoon escorting HQ is tenable, since ALL their sergeants were ID'd with Keogh and Calhoun. Surely if C were sliced in two for such duty all the sergeants would not have been packed into one group.
quote:
Lt. Harrington making a wild ride several miles towards the Wolf Mountains before shooting himself rather than be killed by one of the persuing Indians.
You're not concerned that there's no evidence of this?
R. Larsen |
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JGSturgis
Private
Canada
Status: offline |
Posted - March 06 2005 : 02:20:42 AM
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Mr. Larsen, several years after the battle a skull was found at the base of the Wolf Mountains by an army doctor. This goes along with Indian testimony of chasing a man for several miles before he killed himself. The skull showed a blunt force to the temple, and looking at the skull and holding my colt revolver, its in the position that should a man be killing himself, the barrel is there.
There is a book being written about this topic, try a google search for; Custer's Lost Officer. I can't wait for it to come out. |
James Garland Sturgis
7th US Cavalry
2005 Reenactment dates June 24-25-26 |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - March 06 2005 : 3:09:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by JGSturgis
Mr. Larsen, several years after the battle a skull was found at the base of the Wolf Mountains by an army doctor.
Really. Name of the surgeon? Year of discovery? And it was connected to Little Bighorn, how?
quote:
This goes along with Indian testimony of chasing a man for several miles before he killed himself.
So who's the Indian that said he chased a man all the way to the Wolf Mountains?
And the link to Lieutenant Harrington, as opposed to any other person, would be .... ?
R. Larsen |
Edited by - Anonymous Poster8169 on March 06 2005 3:11:01 PM |
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JGSturgis
Private
Canada
Status: offline |
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Anonymous Poster8169
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - March 06 2005 : 4:39:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by JGSturgis
Here is a topic on the issue, this should answer all of your questions.
http://boards.historychannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=300033593&start=0&tstart=0
And here's a link to the book
http://bronzestar.tripod.com/7thuscavalrycusterslostofficer/
Thank you.
So from all I can see the surgeon was Shufeldt, and the year was 1877.
As the author claims on one of the links:
"The skull was picked up by an Army surgeon from Fort Laramie in July of 1877. Historical sources indicate he picked the skull up some miles to the east of the LBH battle site as he and his party made their way from the Tongue River Cantonment. He forwarded it to the Army Medical Museum in 1881 claiming he found it at the terminus of Reno's charge. Historical sources shows he was either in error when he stated this, or was intentionally deceptive. Finding it at LBH instead of miles to the east made the find more "valuable" And it paid off for him in later years as he procured a position with the AMM. The AMM subsequently sent the skull on to the Smithsonian in the 1890s."
What these "historical sources" are that say Shufeldt was lying about where he found it, he doesn't mention.
Regardless of where it was found, Scott does consider Harrington as a potential ID on page 170 of "They Died with Custer", but rejects him as too young. If your fellow is right and the skull was found in the Wolf Mountains, then there's nothing at all to connect it to the Little Bighorn, and the identification with Harrington becomes even more ludicrous.
R. Larsen |
Edited by - Anonymous Poster8169 on March 06 2005 4:46:41 PM |
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aj
Recruit
United Kingdom
Status: offline |
Posted - May 29 2005 : 07:03:54 AM
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I do not think that C Company was attched to headquarters, although Tom Custer may have been attached to headquarters, C Company was under the command of 2nd Lt. Harrington.
C Company was on the right with L Company. At one point they made a charge (i do not know if it was mounted or dismounted)into Calhoun Coulee and were beaten back, L Company had to re-organise to cover C company's retreat, when L Company collapsed the survivors of both comapanies were cut down as they tried to reach Last Stand Hill, although some made it. |
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joseph wiggs
Brigadier General
Status: offline |
Posted - May 29 2005 : 9:57:45 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by aj
I do not think that C Company was attched to headquarters, although Tom Custer may have been attached to headquarters, C Company was under the command of 2nd Lt. Harrington.
C Company was on the right with L Company. At one point they made a charge (i do not know if it was mounted or dismounted)into Calhoun Coulée and were beaten back, L Company had to re-organize to cover C company's retreat, when L Company collapsed the survivors of both companies were cut down as they tried to reach Last Stand Hill, although some made it.
There are as many theories as to what actions "E' and "F" participated in during the battle as there are aspirins in a ten gallon size bottle. Needless to say, no one knows which theory is correct, almost correct, ludicrous, or a pending episode for the Twilight zone. Having dispensed with the amenities, I must say your theory has merit.
Some of us find it incredible that the commander of "C" troop was not with his command at the end, dying with his troops. In the fatalistic approach this would be a reasonable assumption. However, if one views the initial portion of this battle as a series of calculated, military movements designed to gather additional intelligence (while simultaneously preparing a trap to capture the Indian Women and Children) with perceived minimum Indian threat, then Tom riding with the Headquarters command (intelligence gatherers)is not so unreasonable. It was the unanticipated eruption of all hell that resulted in the chaos that ensued and defeated the troops.
Allow me to elaborate, "C" troop is part of Keogh's command which consisted of "C', "I", and "L". Custer assigns Keogh the responsibility to protect the "back" door of the battlefield (Calhoun Hill environs)while "C" and "I" troops are held in reserve, east of Custer Ridge. This movement was enacted to facilitate the expected arrival of Benteen's command. This movement was also designed to reduce Indian infiltration from the Henry ville area and Calhoun Coulée.
The warriors were fascinated by the Gray horses("E") and their documentation of this troop movement exceeds all others. Thus there movement is better documented then most. Indian testimony relates that the "Grays" passed through the Keogh sector to Cemetery ridge. "He Dog", "Hollow Horn Bear", and "White Bull" testify to this movement. They also describe a movement where soldiers descended Medicine Trail Coulée and approached the riverbank there. In the fatalistic approach, thousands of Indians drove these soldiers back towards Custer Ridge. Cheyenne oral history and testimony, however, clearly states that only 10 or so warriors met this movement and disrupted it. "He dog" exclaimed, "Not much shooting there." This movement may have been a military "feint" designed by Custer to encourage an all ready, massive exodus of Indian non-combatants fleeing northward to keep running. Since the soldiers failed to cross as "intended" the Indians would, naturally, view this movement as a "retreat."
At this point, all is relatively calm and going as planned for the troopers. After approaching the Medicine Trail Coulée riverbank, "E" troop (followed by "F") turn oblique bank and,eventually, arrive upon Commentary Ridge. "L" troop remains on the skirmish line on Calhoun Hill exchanging salutatory fire with warriors. "I" and "C" are held in reserve. The "led" horses of Calhoun's troops have been placed at the head of Calhoun Coulée which protects them from Indian fire coming from the south. All appears to be working in Custer's favor.
Unfortunately, the "Led" horses eventually become threatened by a band of encroaching warriors who have infiltrated Calhoun coulée. Realizing the danger, Keogh sends "C" troop, or a portion thereof, to clear the threat. Led by Lt Harrington, the troopers storm from the east of Custer Ridge to the Calhoun Coulée environs(Lt. Calhoun's unprotected rear)and initially, drive the warriors back. Led by Lame White Man and a fortuitous blast of Indian weapons from Greasy Grass ridge, the soldiers offensive, sputters then falls apart. Panic among the troops ensues and all is lost.
Soldiers flee towards Last Stand Hill because men in dire straits (panic)will run towards perceive safety. At the end, approximately 105 soldiers remain on Last Stand Hill. The Indians testified that they then heard the sound of a bugle which implies that someone was still in command. Shortly thereafter, a round forty or so soldiers charged west, from the hill, towards Deep Ravine. Just as the Calhoun Coulée excursion by "C" faltered, this charge also sputtered as the movement was decimated by Indian fire. The bodies of the soldiers who were dropped in their tracks helped to establish the erroneous "South Skirmish Line." |
Edited by - joseph wiggs on May 29 2005 10:33:01 PM |
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kenny
Recruit
USA
Status: offline |
Posted - February 16 2006 : 02:11:07 AM
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| If I remember this correctly.The person who shot himself had stripes.He was being chase by a boy.But according to a dream I had.It was really Lt.James Porter.Who Change coats.Because his was shoke with his own blood.He really wasn't going to shot himself.He was going to shoot the horse that the indian boy was riding.Because he didn't believe in shooting children.When he was going shoot the horse.He had a involuntary muscle movement.Which cause him to shoot himself.Because I was him in the dream.But the dream didn't end there.I came too in middle of the night.It was pitch dark was cold.I could hear the indians drum playing.So I went away from the drum sound.The next thing I know I by a some river and there was a dead horse by me.I took some paper and I wrote a long letter.Using a stick and blood from a dead horse.I wrap the letter in some cloth.Then I put it in a square tin can.Then I warp that in some cloth.I put that in a saddlebag.Then I put that in a tree by the river.In the next part of the dream.I found myself in some bed.Peaple were standing around me and asking who I was.But I couldn't remember anything about myself.The injuries were both side of my head and on my left side just below my chest.But that was just only a dream I had. |
Edited by - kenny on February 16 2006 02:13:02 AM |
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E and C Troop Activities, 6.25.1876
