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Interesting bit of history.
Thank you. This is a wonderfully written bit of history and how and why it evolves.
I recall that as a History undergraduate in 1979, my European professor history had 20th century history, as history, ending after WWI. After that it was opinion and political science.
Gripping post, D.A.!
Like the story of J. Bruce Ismay.
Great post, D.A. V!
Thanks for the post!
I love reading these tidbits of history . . .
Could you tell us what source(s) you are using for that telling of the Little Big Horn expedition?
Back in 1998 I was at a local museum/archive in Monroe, Michigan (Custer’s home town). If I was researching anything, it would have been the militia company from Monroe that was activated during the Black Hawk War, but I don’t have any records showing that I actually accomplished anything on that trip besides being a tourist. Maybe I just made some preliminary inquiries. (On the way there my bicycle had broken down, about 70 miles from home, so this wasn’t even a bicycle expedition anymore.)
At one point the woman in charge of the museum told me about a recent finding by one of the Custer researchers. I don’t know why she told it to me – these people don’t usually share that kind of information out of the blue – and I don’t think she told me the researcher’s name. (I have had local archivists present me with good stuff beyond what I was looking for. These people often know where the bodies are buried, so to speak. But this was different.) I won’t tell the details, but it had to do with a letter Custer had written to Libby. I’ve been waiting ever since for that little tidbit to appear in a book, but to my knowledge it has not.
But I don’t know the Custer literature very well. The last book on Custer that I read (listened to on audio, actually) was Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T.J. Stiles (2015). I came away thinking that he was so close to the topic that if he didn’t mention it, I wonder if I just imagined it all.
Your telling of the battle itself and of Reno’s involvement includes information I hadn’t read before, so if this is based on a book or two, I think I should read them.
My main source was a book called, “A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn – The Last Great Battle of the American West” by James Donovan.
I found it to be a great re-telling of the whole expedition. It is, or at least seems to be, very well researched, given the extensive endnotes and huge bibliography. A huge number of primary sources are referenced and Donovan explains why, when there was a discrepancy, he chose certain versions over others.
I don’t recall specifically letters from Custer to Libby being mentioned, but its certainly possible they are mentioned in the book. He certainly talks a lot about their relationship.
Thanks. It would have been tempting to get this on audio, but I ordered a dead tree version so I can read the footnotes.
D.A.,
All of this is interesting and I think Custer is an interesting subject. I personally have written about him because I think his civil war service has gone almost unnoticed in recent years solely on the basis of Little Big Horn. However, I think a short review might actually shed some light.
Custer was only 23 at Gettysburg when he was given a battlefield rank of Brigadier General. He led a wild charge outnumbered 10 to 1 against Jeb Stuart’s famed cavalry. In this battle, he surprised Stuart and confused Stuart’s troops long enough for other Union cavalry to come into the battle. This was a critical moment as Stuart could have flanked the Union line causing chaos at the moment of Pickett’s Charge.
What is important to remember is that at Little Big Horn 1876 Custer was now 36 years old and had been to Washington DC shortly before for a congressional investigation during which he may have offended Grant who was President at the time.
With this background and your narrative history, we are getting a picture of Custer not as the risk-taking commander of Gettysburg but as someone who was suicidal. Custer cutting his hair suggests that he knew what was coming. This would have been the last thing he would have done at Gettysburg as his flamboyant dress & hair was very much an act to give his men courage. Seeing Custer cut his hair would have had the reverse effect on the men at Little Big Horn.
I have no interest in blaming Reno to get Custer off the hook for Little Big Horn. Of course, the alcoholic Reno (the alcoholism can’t be blamed on Custer) is not very sympathetic, to begin with, but this is no excuse. The problem is that your narrative suggests not how reckless Custer was but that he was suicidal at Little Big Horn.
This is a very interesting historical question. Let’s keep asking questions. Good post.
Regards,
Jim
Well done. Thank you.
The Stiles book is one that has a lot about his Civil War service, and perhaps less than usual about Little Big Horn.
Ret,
I’ll try to check it out. Thanks.
Regards,
Jim
Jim,
Thanks, and you are right about Custer’s Civil War service, which was incredible.
I don’t really think Custer was suicidal at the Little Bighorn. I think it is undisputed that he cut his hair before the expedition. I’ve seen that in a couple of different places. When I say “devalue his scalp” I also mean, in addition to preventing from it becoming a trophy, that he intended to make himself a less conspicuous target for the warriors. I’ve seen one source that says it was Libbie’s idea. But, it’s possible he just didn’t want to deal with long hair in the summer heat.
What really prompted me to write this was trying to figure out what was going on with Reno. Reno had been a good officer in the Civil War. His service was not as spectacular as Custer’s of course, but Reno, too, had risen to the rank of a Brevet Brig. General. His gravestone lists that as his rank.
So what prompted his breakdown? It may just be the sources I’ve read, but I get the impression he went into the battle, having observed all of these ominous signs, including among the many other things mentioned, Custer’s odd conduct, with a terrible feeling that something was going to go wrong. I think that awful gut feeling, along with Custer’s poor leadership that day, which just confirmed his worries, were the major factors. I agree that Custer’s hair cutting would have been disconcerting. So, in looking at things from Reno’s worried perspective, I went with that darker interpretation.
The book I read, which I mention to Reticulator, above, is pretty harsh on Reno. But I mostly came away from it feeling sorry for the guy.
Thank you very much for this. Articles like this make Ricochet worth reading.
That is not at all evident from the history. He may have possibly been drinking, but it’s likely that he was not drunk. We have no way of knowing and therefore cannot claim that he “almost certainly” was drunk.
If I were in that idiot Custer’s unit, and I saw the scouts ceremonially preparing for death after figuring out the size of the enemy force, I would almost certainly have thought about getting wasted.
From what I’ve read, the Indian scouts (mostly Crow, I think) were positively impressed with Custer, and that was one reason why they chose to serve with him. (The other reason being the traditional conflict between their own tribes and the Sioux.)
Perhaps they were impressed with his personal courage and didn’t really get a chance to evaluate some of his less-positive characteristics…
I’m aware there was some disagreement on that point, but from what I’ve read, I’m fairly convinced. I’m not saying he was drunk the entire time, of course, but at some point, I think he would have blown somewhere above .08. You could really go down a whole rabbit hole on the subject, but this is my take on it.
Unbelievably, still to this day there are pro-Custer, pro-Reno partisans out there. They show up in the book reviews on Amazon.
But, in all honesty, I make that point in support of Reno. I think it helps explain his odd actions. As I hope is clear from the post, I sympathize with the guy, and I think, even if he was drunk, he was unfairly blamed for the disaster.
Title line had me thinking this was going to be about Janet Reno.
This detailed reflection, first on events and then on judgments about events, followed long after by further judgment on the earlier judgment, reminds us that history is made of service by flesh and blood, not cartoon characters.
This post is part of the November theme, “Service.” There is one late opening, the 30th, first come first seated!
Outstanding post. Thanks.