George Armstrong Custer
I'm reading a book, "The Battle of the Washita - The Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867-69" by Stan Hoig. It is about Custer and events leading up to the Battle of the Washita which occurred November 27, 1868 when the 7th Regiment of the United States Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, attacked and massacred a Cheyenne Indian village under Chief Black Kettle on the Washita River in the Indian Territory. Black Kettle, his wife, and Chief Little Rock were killed along with more than a hundred other men, women, and children of the tribe. The village was burned and nearly eight hundred horses shot.
Custer, "the great Indian fighter of the Plains Indian wars" as often portrayed in the movies was really very inept at fighting the Indians with his final ineptness displayed at the Little Big Horn.
Hoig's book is not a novel. It is a historical account taken from official U.S. Army records and documents. There are numerous instances which display Custer's ineptness matching military wits with the Indians and the Western environment. I found this particular quote from the book to be rather amusing:
"As his (Custer's) column marched northward toward the Smoky Hill River, he rode on ahead with his dogs and his chief bugler. Spotting a large buffalo, he began a chase that separated him from the bugler. The buffalo turned when Custer caught up to him and charged Custer's horse, actually his wife's very favorite mount,
In controlling the reins with both hands, while one held his pistol, Custer accidentally shot the horse in the head, killing it. Just as suddenly, Custer found himself afoot facing the buffalo, which now rambled away, and completely lost in the vastness of the open prairie Custer began walking in what he hoped was the direction of his command. Finally a line of dust proved to be that of his troops, and he was rescued from what had been a very foolish adventure for a commander of troops on an Indian hunt".
Custer, "the great Indian fighter of the Plains Indian wars" as often portrayed in the movies was really very inept at fighting the Indians with his final ineptness displayed at the Little Big Horn.
Hoig's book is not a novel. It is a historical account taken from official U.S. Army records and documents. There are numerous instances which display Custer's ineptness matching military wits with the Indians and the Western environment. I found this particular quote from the book to be rather amusing:
"As his (Custer's) column marched northward toward the Smoky Hill River, he rode on ahead with his dogs and his chief bugler. Spotting a large buffalo, he began a chase that separated him from the bugler. The buffalo turned when Custer caught up to him and charged Custer's horse, actually his wife's very favorite mount,
In controlling the reins with both hands, while one held his pistol, Custer accidentally shot the horse in the head, killing it. Just as suddenly, Custer found himself afoot facing the buffalo, which now rambled away, and completely lost in the vastness of the open prairie Custer began walking in what he hoped was the direction of his command. Finally a line of dust proved to be that of his troops, and he was rescued from what had been a very foolish adventure for a commander of troops on an Indian hunt".
posted by Donald G Davidson at 2:20 AM
3 Comments:
Does your book cover the time Custer spent in Austin?
The local campus lore around the University is that Custer was stationed in a part of campus called "Little Campus" that now sits just north of the Special Events Center and on the corner of 19th Street and IH-35.
The book did not mention anything about Custer being stationed in or near Austin.
I've read a good bit about Custer and don't recall anything about him anywhere in Texas except out in the Panhandle area.
The book did not mention anything about Custer being stationed in or near Austin.
I've read a good bit about Custer and don't recall anything about him anywhere in Texas except out in the Panhandle area.
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