The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN

LOL! Real men NEVER read directions.

Medal of Honor Recipiants:

BANCROFT, NEIL
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Oswego, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water for the wounded under a most galling fire.

BRANT, ABRAM B.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water for the wounded under a most galling fire.

CALLEN, THOMAS J.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date. At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 24 October 1896. Citatlon: Volunteered and succeeded in obtaining water for the wounded of the command; also displayed conspicuously good conduct in assistlng to drive away the Indians.

CRISWELL, BANJAMIN C.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: Marshall County, W. Va. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Rescued the body of Lt. Hodgson from within the enemy's lines; brought up ammunition and encouraged the men in the most exposed positions under heavy fire.

CUNNINGHAM, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Hudson, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Declined to leave the line when wounded in the neck during heavy fire and fought bravely all next day.

DEETLINE, FREDERICK
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 15 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

GEIGER, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio. Date of issue: S October 1878. Citation: With 3 comrades during the entire engagement courageously held a position that secured water for the command.

GOLDIN, THEODORE W.
Rank and organization: Private, Troop G, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 26 June 1876. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 25 July 1855, Avon, Rock County, Wis. Date of issue: 21 December 1895. Citation: One of a party of volunteers who, under a heavy fire from the Indians, went for and brought water to the wounded .

HANLEY, RICHARD P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation. Recaptured, singlehanded, and without orders, within the enemy's lines and under a galling fire lasting some 20 minutes, a stampeded pack mule loaded with ammunition.

HARRIS, DAVID W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Birth: Indianapolis, Ind. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water to the wounded, at great danger to his life, under a most galling fire from the enemy.

HARRIS, WILLIAM M.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Mt. Vernon, Ky. Birth: Madison County, Ky. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire of the enemy.

HOLDEN, HENRY
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: ------. Birth: England. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought up ammunition under a galling fire from the enemy.

HUTCHINSON, RUFUS D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Birth: Butlerville, Ohio. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Guarded and carried the wounded, brought water for the same, and posted and directed the men in his charge under galling fire from the enemy.

MECHLIN, HENRY W. B.
Rank and organization: Blacksmith, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Born: 14 October 1851, Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Pa. Date of issue: 29 August 1878. Citation: With 3 comrades during the entire engagement courageously held a position that secured water for the command.

MURRAY, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: S October 1878. Citation: Brought up the pack train, and on the second day the rations, under a heavy flre from the enemy.

PYM, JAMES
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Oxfordshire, England. Date of issue: S October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily went for water and secured the same under heavy fire.

ROY, STANISLAUS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: France. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water to the wounded at great danger to life and under a most galling fire of the enemy.

SCOTT, GEORGE D.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Mt. Vernon, Ky. Birth: Lancaster County, Ky. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

STIVERS, THOMAS W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Mt. Vernon, Ky. Birth: Madison County, Ky. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

THOMPSON, PETER
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: Scotland. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: After having voluntarily brought water to the wounded, in which effort he was shot through the head, he made two successful trips for the same purpose, notwithstanding remonstrances of his sergeant.

TOLAN, FRANK
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Malone, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

VOIT, OTTO
Rank and organization: Saddler, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Volunteered with George Geiger, Charles Windolph, and Henry Mechlin to hold an exposed position standing erect on the brow of the hill facing the Little Big Horn River. They fired constantly in this manner for more than 20 minutes diverting fire and attention from another group filling canteens of water that were desperately needed.

WELCH, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Ft. Snelling, Minn. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

WINDOLPH, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 lune 1876. Entered service at: Brooklyn, N.Y. Born: 9 December 1851, Germany. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: With 3 comrades, during the entire engagement, courageously held a position that secured water for the command.

Thanks for bringing the Christmas Cheer Fiddlestix

Thanks for the update Tonk.

Directions? What are they, are they good to eat?

Not to the best of my knowledge. Even worse was when the gov't hoarded the Indians on to reservations they were forbidden to wear their traditional clothing. They were forbidden to practice their religion and in many cases to even speak their native language.

It wasn't our proudest moment.

Thanks for bringing the Christmas Cheer Fiddlestix

You're welcome J

That's what I believed too. However, I found that same picture on two different sites claiming it to be Crazy Horse so I figured I'd use it. Of course it's the Internet,so I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Our dealings with the Indians was and in some cases, still is atrocious.

Man... We sure opened up a can of whoop-ass on old Custer, didn't we? ;0)

Good morning everyone!

Fanatical is fine by me LOL - fight to win, or don't bother fighting at all, ya know?

Good morning, Duchess! :)

In High School we used to attribute this quote to Custer:

Let's kick their ass and get the Hell out of here.

--- Colonel George Armstrong Custer

Personally, I get a thrill listening to Ray Stevens' "Please Mr. Custer... I dont' want to go..."

Chad "Look at them bushes over there... and there's a wild injun behind every one..." Fairbanks

Here's what I found out about that photo. The Lakota claim it's a fake and not Crazy Horse and that he was never photographed.

"Portrait of Chief Crazy Horse"

Herein is an enlargement of what I believe is an authentic picture of Crazy Horse. The original is a small tintype, 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches, in excellant condition. Its first owner was Baptiste Garnier (Little Bat) the famous scout and frontiersman. When Bat was murdered in 1900 it went to his wife; on her death it was inherited by her daughter, Ellen Howard, from whom Mr. Hackett obtained it, after which it came to me, so the line of ownership is quite clear. I have a certificate from Mrs. Howard attesting that the tintype belonged to her father, and that it had been in the family since it had been made. She also says that her father told his family that it was truly a picture of Crazy Horse.

First publication was by J. W. Vaughn in his excellant With Crook at the Rosebud, (Stackpole, 1956). The account tells of finding the picture in an old trunk, which is probably true, but after that point my investigations do not agree with the information supplid to Mr. Vaughn. The account said the picture was taken about 1870 at Fort Laramie. There were two other pictures, one of Little Bat and his wife, and the other of Bat and Frank Grouard. We do not know if they were part of the same series but if they were, they were not taken in 1870 for the following reasons: Grouard tells in his biography, Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard, by Joe DeBarthe (1894, p. 117), that he met Crazy Horse for the first time just a few days after the battle between the Sioux and the Stanley Expedition on the Yellowstone River - this took place August 4th, 1873. Another point, in 1870 Bat was 15 or 16 years old; I do not believe a war chief of the Oglalas was hanging around with a teen-ager. Crazy Horse had been made a chief only a little more than a year previous - he was out in the hinterlands with his band of warriors and their families; he was not hanging around the fort for the white man's handouts as did Red Cloud and Spotted Tail. At this time and for several more years probably his only contact with the white man was across the sights of his Winchester.

Following their surrender in May 1877, Crazy Horse and his chief warriors were signed up as Indian Scouts ostensibly to keep tab on the Nez Perce, but with Lieutenant Clark on the job you may be sure they were under his eagle eye both day and night. The whites were afraid of this man and kept close track of his every move, so he was not let out on any scouting trips. Time was very heavy on his hands, the tiny details of every day living were a nuisance to him, begging for supplies and food, or settling a quarrel between the women, so one day when Little Bat rode past the camp on his way to Fort Robinson he easily persuaded Crazy Horse to come along and see what they could see. Crazy Horse liked Bat, and Mrs. Bat was a cousin of his, so he was at ease and relaxed, being with his friends. While at the Fort, with everyone in high good humor Bat dared Crazy Horse to have his picture taken, and he finally consented. According to the story he even borrowed the moccasins to make a good appearance. I know all previous picture requests had been refused; these had all been made by white men, and the white man had been trying for years to kill Crazy Horse and his people, so why should he do even the slightest favor for them. Also, on this last summer of his life he did a number of things he had never done before. On this one time he let down his guard for his good friend Bat. We also know there was a photographer at the Fort in the summer of 1877 as I have another photo stamped Fort Robinson in the mounting and this was taken in 1877.

The picture shows an Indian of medium stature, lighter-haired than the average Indian, with a rounded face rather than one with high, wide cheekbones. His hair is in two braids to his waist, and he wears two feathers which was customary for Crazy Horse. Mr. Hackett has a set of feathers given him by an old chief and they are exactly similar to those shown in the photo. Also the picture shows clearly the scar in the left corner of his mouth where he was shot some years before by No Water, after he had ridden away with No Water's wife.

It is unfortunate that the secretive nature of the old-time Indians dealing with whites caused this picture to be so long hidden. We know of trunks and bags which still hold relics of the Custer battle. Even thrity years ago would have been sufficient for proper identification, as He Dog lived until 1936, and Docotor McGillycuddy who knew and liked Crazy Horse, lived until June of 1939. Either man could have said yes or no at first glimpse, but neither saw it and now it is too late. From the people involved and my searches I firmly believe this is an authentic likeness of Crazy Horse...written by Carroll Friswold

I love that song!

"They were sure of Victory,
The men of the 7th Cavalry,
As they road on.

From the rear a voice was heard..."

Mr. Custer

Artist: Larry Verne (peak Billboard position # 1 in 1960)
Words and Music by Fred Darian, Al DeLory, and Joe Van Winkle

<Indian drums throughout>
<Indian war whoops>

(That famous day in history the men of the 7th Cavalry went riding on)
(And from the rear a voice was heard)
(A brave you man with a trembling word rang loud and clear)
What am I doin' here??

Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go
Hey, Mr. Custer, please don't make me go
I had a dream last night about the comin' fight
Somebody yelled "attack!”
And there I stood with a arrow in my back.

Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go (forward Ho!!)--aaww

SPOKEN: Look at them bushes out there
They're moving and there's a injun behind every one
Hey, Mr. Custer-you mind if I be excused the rest of the afternoon?
HEY CHARLIE, DUCK YER HEAD!! <sound of arrow whizzing by>
Hmm, you're a little bit late on that one, Charlie
Hooh, I bet that smarts!

(They were sure of victory, the men of the 7th Cavalry, as they rode on)
(But then from the rear a voice was heard)
(That same brave voice with the trembling word rang loud and clear)
What am I doin' here??

Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go
Listen, Mr. Custer, please don't make me go
There's a redskin a'waitin' out there, just fixin to take my hair
A coward I've been called cuz I don't wanna wind up dead or bald

Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go (forward HO)--aaww

SPOKEN: I wonder what the injun word for friend is
Let's see-friend-- kemo sabe, that's it
KEMO SABE!, HEY OUT THERE-KEMO SABE! <sound of arrow whizzing by>
Nope, that itn't it
Look at them durned injuns
They're runnin' around like a bunch of wild Indians-heh, heh, heh
Nah, this ain't no time for jokin'
<sound of arrow whizzing by>
<sound of arrow whizzing by>

Thanks Chad! Now I'm gonna have that song running through my mind all day!

Excellent read, SW! This has always been one of my favorite, and most fastinating parts of US History.
Thanks for posting it :)

LOL! Real men NEVER read directions.

Or maps. We get a lot of left over parts and spend alot of our time lost tho. Small price to pay for manhood. :-)

Please take me off this ping list. Thanks.