The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN - Dec. 13th, 2002

http://www.cbhma.org/history.shtml ^ | Joe Sills, Jr.

[Light Speed]

A few tid bits from PBS.org site on Little Big Horn.

In 1874 Custer leads 1200 men onto the Blackhills of the Lakota.
This became the offense which found its enevitable counter.
The U.S. Government had ceeded the Black Hills to the Lakota 6 years before...such an obvious action of 1200 armed calvary being on treaty land meant the U.S. would not keep their word..hence the gathering of the Chiefs later.
Custer finds himself at odds with Grant in a legal testimony in 1875...he is relieved of duty by Grant for his unco-operative words.
Grant comes under pressure afterwards..and reluctantly restores Custer to command...and sends him out west..to his destiny.
For all the movement of the days battle at the LBH..and its movement a day prior..Custer clearly had disobeyed the plan agree'd upon with Crook and Gibbons.
Ranging to far ahead...Custer did not know that General Crook was turned back by the Indians at Rosebud creek.
Custer had isolated himself..and had no idea the numbers in his vicinty.
Custer was a great soldier..no doubt..his civil war history tends to be overshadowed by the Indian wars.
But war is movement in the field....Custer commited the gravest of errors...isolating himself in un reconned territory.

[Jen]

Hellooooooo!!!! I am finally here.

Sam - I am so impressed with the thread today. You did an awesome job with the articles and the choices of artwork. Thanks so much for all your hard work.

[Jen]

SAMWolf, please sign me up for your FReeper Foxhole alerts.

You are on the Foxhole ping list and should receive a ping from either Sam or me each day.

[Light Speed]

George Crook (1828-1890) Considered the army's greatest Indian fighter, General George Crook earned that reputation by developing a respect for his enemy that carried over into his relationships with Native Americans off the battlefield as well. Born in 1828 into an Ohio farming family, Crook graduated from West Point in 1852 near the bottom of his class. He spent the first part of his military career in Northern California and Oregon fighting several Indian peoples and learning how to operate under frontier conditions that left his troops short of supplies but well-provisioned with hair-trigger, often hare-brained local volunteers. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 brought him back east, where he served in guerilla actions in West Virginia and at the battles of Second Bull Run and Chickamauga. After the war, Crook returned to the Pacific Northwest, waging a two-year campaign against the Paiute. His success led to President Ulysses S. Grant personally placing Crook in charge of the Arizona Territory, where beginning in 1871 he waged a successful campaign to force the Apache onto reservations. The hallmarks of this campaign, as of his broader general career, were his extensive use of Indian scouts, his relentless pursuit of Indians on their own territory and his readiness to negotiate rather than force conflict. Having accomplished his mission in Arizona, Crook was transferred to the northern Plains in 1875, where he was first given the impossible task of removing a rapidly growing hoard of gold miners from the Black Hills. By 1876, he was part of a coordinated attack designed to drive the defiant Lakota bands gathered around Sitting Bull back onto their reservations. In this campaign his troops were forced to retreat from Lakota and Cheyenne warriors led by Crazy Horse in a battle at Rosebud Creek, a defeat that denied reinforcements to George Armstrong Custer and may have contributed to his devastating loss at the Little Bighorn. In 1882 Crook again returned to Arizona, where the Apache had fled their reservation and resumed their guerrilla war under the Chiricahua leader, Geronimo. Over the next four years, Crook repeatedly forced his adversary to surrender, only to see him retreat into the mountains. Finally, in 1886, Crook was relieved of command and saw his long-time rival, General Nelson A. Miles, bring an end to the long Apache war by exiling Geronimo and his band to Florida. The campaign against Geronimo was the last in Crook's military career. He remained a senior officer, but during his last years campaigned vigorously on his lifelong enemy's behalf, speaking out against white encroachments on Indian land and attempting to persuade the Lakota to accept allotment of their reservation, which Crook (like many others) believed would speed their entry into the American mainstream. According to the Lakota chief Red Cloud, a one-time adversary, Crook "never lied to us. His words gave the people hope." Crook died on March 2, 1890.

*************** Gene Hackman plays General Crook in the movie "Geronimo" with Wes Studi,Jason Patrick and Robert Duvall.
This is a must see movie for those who follow the history of the Indian wars.

[Ravenstar]

I agree with you misty but again my apologies to all for the mispost.

Ravenstar

[Jen]

I've removed your name from the ping list. Thanks for your note.

[Jen]

Fascinating. KEEP me on your ping list.

Gladly!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks cavtrooper21, those "attaboys" mean a lot and coming from a fellow vet makes even more special.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Good one.

[Jen]

Great photos Misty!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Victoria.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Jen, I wasn't sure if BlueLancer was on or not.

[Jen]

Hi K-Man! It's been ages since I've heard from you! Glad you found your way into our foxhole today. How's Sassy?

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the background on Crook. Amazing that when most people think of the Indian wars they pretty much only think of Custer.

[Jen]

Thanks for your kind words. It's good to see you Peaches. I love your screenname - even if it is taken from the name of your cat! hahahaha

[P8riot]

I heard that Custer was chairman of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and told them "don't do anything until I get back."

[Jen]

After 21:00, I end up getting wierder.

Oh heck, I just get here and you're already gone. I think you are quite an interesting character. ;-)

[Jen]

I was thinking about you all day Misty. I'm glad to see you here.

[MistyCA]

Well, you may start a run on the place, much like the lost mine at Superstition Mountain! :)

[Jen]

All through school and college, I hated history, and studied just enough to pass a test and promptly forgot everything soon as the test was over. But now I am gaining an appreciation for it. Thanks so much Sam for helping to 'educate' me.