The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan tribe who live on the Southern Plains of North America , in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe . Today, they are headquartered in Southwestern Oklahoma and are federally recognized as the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma . They mostly live in Comanche and Caddo County, Oklahoma .
131-649: The Battle of the Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre ) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer 's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle 's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita River (the present-day Washita Battlefield National Historic Site near Cheyenne, Oklahoma ). The Cheyenne camp was the most isolated band of
262-587: A cavalry leader. He was promoted in the early American Civil War (1861-1865), to brevet brigadier general of volunteers when only aged 23. Only a few days afterwards, he fought at the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in early July 1863, where he commanded the Michigan Brigade . Despite being outnumbered, the new General Custer defeated Confederate States Army cavalry of General J. E. B. Stuart 's attack at East Cavalry Field on
393-432: A Comanche village of 262 lodges and 500 warriors, capturing 130 women and children. The captives served both as human shields, as Mackenzie withdrew to his supply base, and as hostages, offered as a "bargaining tool to force the off-reservation Indians back to reservation, and to force them to free white captives". The number of Indian casualties at the Washita reported by Custer has been controversial. In his first report of
524-547: A charge.' The rebel column disintegrated, and individual troopers fought with saber and pistol. Within twenty minutes the combatants heard the sound of the Union artillery opening up on Pickett's men. Stuart knew that whatever chance he had of joining the Confederate assault was gone. He withdrew his men to Cress Ridge. Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg; the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. "I challenge
655-425: A group of fleeing Cheyenne. Elliott's contingent ran into a mixed party of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho warriors who were rushing from villages up the river to aid Black Kettle's encampment. The warriors overwhelmed the small troop in a single charge. Custer's abrupt withdrawal without determining the fate of Elliott and the missing troopers darkened Custer's reputation among his peers. There was deep resentment within
786-404: A life-long love of practical jokes, which they played out among the close family members. Emanuel Custer was an outspoken Jacksonian Democrat who taught his children politics and toughness at an early age. In a February 3, 1887, letter to his son's widow Libby, Emanuel related an incident from when George Custer (known as Autie) was about four years old: "He had to have a tooth drawn, and he
917-421: A line of squadrons five ranks deep – five rows of eighty horsemen side by side – chasing the retreating rebels until their charge was stopped by a wood rail fence. The horses and men became jammed into a solid mass and were soon attacked on their left flank by the dismounted Ninth and Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry and on the right flank by the mounted First Virginia Cavalry. Custer extricated his men and raced south to
1048-420: A long flanking maneuver. By mid-morning on July 3, Custer had arrived at the intersection of Old Dutch Road and Hanover Road, two miles east of Gettysburg. He was later joined by Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg , who had him deploy his men at the northeast corner. Custer then sent out scouts to investigate nearby wooded areas. Meanwhile, Gregg had positioned Colonel John Baillie McIntosh 's brigade near
1179-463: A low rise, he positioned the First and Fifth Michigan Cavalry and his artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr. To bait his trap, he gathered A Troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, and called out, "Come on boys, I'll lead you this time!" and galloped directly at the unsuspecting rebels. As he had expected, the rebels, "more than two hundred horsemen, came racing down
1310-502: A major winter encampment along the river of numerous Native American tribal bands, totaling thousands of people. Custer's forces attacked the village because scouts had found it by tracking the trail of an Indian party that had raided white settlers. Black Kettle and his people had been at peace and were seeking peace. Custer's soldiers killed women and children in addition to warriors, although they also took many captive to serve as hostages and human shields . The number of Cheyenne killed in
1441-669: A mounted charge by the Ninth Virginia Cavalry and the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. Now it was Custer's men who were running out of ammunition. The Fifth Michigan was forced back and the battle was reduced to vicious, hand-to-hand combat. Seeing this, Custer mounted a counterattack. Riding ahead of the fewer than 400 new troopers of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, he shouted, "Come on, you Wolverines!" As he swept forward, he formed
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#17328017069851572-695: A note praising Custer's gallantry. She treasured the gift of the historic table, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution . On April 15, 1865, Custer was promoted to major general in the U.S. Volunteers, making him the youngest major general in the Union Army at age 25. On April 25, after the war officially ended, Custer had his men search for and illegally seize a large, prize racehorse named "Don Juan" near Clarksville, Virginia, worth an estimated $ 10,000 (several hundred thousand today), along with his written pedigree. Custer rode Don Juan in
1703-399: A pity to have more blood upon the field, to which Longstreet suggested the truce be respected, and then added “General Lee has gone to meet General Grant, and it is for them to determine the future of the armies.” Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him as a gift for his wife by Sheridan, who included
1834-494: A potential crossing point on the Chickahominy River , they stopped, and Custer overheard General John G. Barnard mutter, "I wish I knew how deep it is." Custer dashed forward on his horse out to the middle of the river, turned to the astonished officers, and shouted triumphantly, "McClellan, that's how deep it is, General!" Custer was assigned to lead an attack with four companies of the 4th Michigan Infantry across
1965-460: A record total of 726 demerits, one of the worst conduct records in the history of the academy. The local minister remembered Custer as "the instigator of devilish plots both during the service and in Sunday school. On the surface he appeared attentive and respectful, but underneath the mind boiled with disruptive ideas." A fellow cadet recalled Custer as declaring there were only two places in a class,
2096-540: A response to the hyper-partisan Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Formed in 1866, it was led by Republican activist John Alexander Logan . Plains Apache Their autonym is Ná'ishą , or "takers" based on their skill at stealing horses, or Naishadena , meaning "our people." This is also written Na-i-shan Dine . They were also called Káłt'inde or γát dìndé meaning "cedar people" or Bek'áhe meaning "whetstone people". The Plains Apache are also known as
2227-413: A total of about 180 lodges. At the bottom of the loop was a large Southern Cheyenne camp under Medicine Arrows . Followers of Little Robe, Sand Hill, Stone Calf, Old Little Wolf (Big Jake), and Black White Man made up one large village, and nearby was a smaller Cheyenne village consisting of the followers of Old Whirlwind. These two Cheyenne villages, together comprising about 129 lodges, were situated along
2358-546: A vain dandy. Custer's division was mustered out beginning in November 1865, replaced by the regulars of the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment . Although their occupation of Austin had apparently been pleasant, many veterans harbored deep resentments against Custer, particularly those in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry , because of his attempts to maintain discipline. Upon its mustering out, several members planned to ambush Custer, but he
2489-449: A vision of a wolf wounded on the right side of its head mourning its little ones, which had been scattered and killed by a powerful enemy. He tried to persuade Black Kettle to move camp immediately, but was unsuccessful. But five of Black Kettle's children (four daughters and a son) moved to the camp of Black Kettle's nephew Whirlwind, which was ten miles downriver (five miles straight-line distance). General Philip Sheridan , in command of
2620-688: Is now on the Washita, 40 miles east of the Antelope Hills , and I have there about 180 lodges. I speak only for my own people; I cannot speak nor control the Cheyenne north of the Arkansas. Big Mouth of the Arapaho spoke next, saying in part: I never would have gone north of the Arkansas again, but my father there [the agent] sent for me time after time, saying it was the place for my people, and finally I went. No sooner had we got there than there
2751-698: The Lakota gave them territory south of the Black Hills in what became South Dakota and Wyoming . The Apache are associated with the Dismal River culture (ca. 1650–1750) of the western Plains, generally attributed to the Paloma and Cuartelejo Apaches. Jicarilla Apache pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites. Some of the people from the Dismal River culture joined
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#17328017069852882-555: The Michigan Cavalry Brigade ("Wolverines"), part of the division of Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick . Despite having no direct command experience, he became one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at the age of 23. He immediately shaped his brigade to reflect his aggressive character. Now a general officer, he had greater latitude in choosing his uniform. Though often criticized as being gaudy, it
3013-766: The Overland Campaign , including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which Custer ascended to division command), and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station , in which Sheridan sought to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the Confederates' western resupply route, Custer captured Hampton's divisional train, but
3144-871: The Peninsula Campaign in Virginia until April 4. On April 5, Custer served in the 5th Cavalry Regiment which participated in the Siege of Yorktown from April 5 to May 4 and was aide to Major General George B. McClellan . McClellan was in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign. On May 24, 1862, during pursuit of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston up the Peninsula, General McClellan and his staff were reconnoitering
3275-673: The Solomon and Saline rivers in Kansas, which began August 10, 1868. The warriors killed at least 15 white settlers, wounded others, and were reported to have raped some women, as well as taking others captive to be adopted into their tribes. In 1897, Kansas Rep. Horace L. Moore remarked at a meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society that "The total of losses from September 12, 1868, to February 9, 1869, exclusive of casualties incident to military operations,
3406-666: The Tenth Cavalry documenting the conversations. Black Kettle began by saying to Hazen, "The Cheyennes, when south of the Arkansas , do not wish to return to the north side because they feared trouble there, but were continually told that they had better go there, as they would be rewarded for so doing." Hardoff notes that by the terms of the Medicine Lodge Treaty, the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation had
3537-787: The Wichita Mountains . In 1966, the tribe organized a business committee and regained federal recognition. In 1972, the Kiowa, Comanche, and Plains Apache legally separated. The Plains Apache social organization is split into numerous extended families ( kustcrae ), who camped together (for hunting and gathering) as local groups ( gonka ). The next level was the division or band, a grouping of several gonkas (who would come together, for mutual protection, especially in times of war). In pre-reservation times there were at least four local groups or gonkas who frequently joined together for warring neighboring tribes and settlements. Historically,
3668-578: The 2nd Division of Cavalry of the Military Division of the Gulf), and accompanied by his wife, he led the division (five regiments of veteran Western Theater cavalrymen) to Texas on an arduous 18-day march in August. On October 27, the division departed to Austin. On October 29, Custer moved the division from Hempstead to Austin , arriving on November 4. Major General Custer became Chief of Cavalry of
3799-588: The 2nd Division of Cavalry, Military Division of the Southwest, to march from Alexandria, Louisiana , to Hempstead, Texas , as part of the Union occupation forces. Custer arrived at Alexandria on June 27 and began assembling his units, which took more than a month to gather and remount. On July 17, he assumed command of the Cavalry Division of the Military Division of the Gulf (on August 5, officially named
3930-487: The 7th Cavalry had 21 officers and men killed and 13 wounded at the Washita. They estimated the Indians had perhaps 50 killed and as many wounded. Twenty of the soldiers killed were part of a small detachment led by Major Joel Elliott, who was among the dead. Elliott had separated from the three companies he led, apparently without Custer's approval. Yelling "Here's for a brevet or a coffin!", Elliott and his small band pursued
4061-498: The 7th Cavalry that never healed. In particular, Frederick Benteen , Eliott's friend and H Company captain, never forgave Custer for "abandoning" Elliott and his troopers. Eight years later, when Benteen failed to race to Custer's aid at the Battle of the Little Bighorn , his actions were closely examined in light of his long-standing anger toward Custer for the events at the Washita River. The Southern Cheyenne encampment on
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4192-814: The Apache Business Committee outlined above, the tribe also operates the following tribal departments: The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma owns and operates the Apache Golden Eagle Casino in Apache, Oklahoma . The Golden Eagle Casino was previously closed in 2013 due to a tribal dispute, along with the Silver Buffalo Casino in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Only the Golden Eagle Casino reopened once the dispute
4323-525: The Arkansas River as its northern boundary. In April 1868, the U.S. Army distributed food provisions due the Cheyenne and Arapaho at Fort Larned and Fort Dodge, both north of the Arkansas. On August 9, 1868, they had distributed treaty annuities in the form of arms and ammunition at Fort Larned rather than south of the Arkansas. Black Kettle continued, asking if he might move his people south to Fort Cobb: The Cheyennes do not fight at all this side of
4454-486: The Arkansas; they do not trouble Texas, but north of the Arkansas they are almost always at war. When lately north of the Arkansas, some young Cheyennes were fired upon and then the fight began. I have always done my best to keep my young men quiet, but some will not listen, and since the fighting began I have not been able to keep them all at home. But we all want peace, and I would be glad to move all my people down this way; I could then keep them all quietly near camp. My camp
4585-682: The Battle of the Washita of a strategy that used "capture[d] women and children" to "neutralize" the Southern Cheyenne superiority in numbers over the US military. Author James Donovan describes the 53 women and children seized at the Washita as "captives" or "prisoners." They were used by Custer to ensure the escape of his regiment as Cheyenne forces from nearby villages began "pressing his position". Historian Jerome Greene spelled out their function: "... fifty-three women and children taken captive at
4716-726: The Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac reorganized under the command of Major General Philip Sheridan , Custer (now commanding the 3rd Division) led his "Wolverines" to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year's end they defeated the army of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 . During May and June, Sheridan and Custer (Captain, 5th Cavalry, May 8 and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, May 11) took part in cavalry actions supporting
4847-594: The Cheyenne and Arapaho at Fort Larned , Kansas, interviewed Little Rock , a chief in Black Kettle 's Cheyenne village. Little Rock told what he had learned about the raids along the Saline and Solomon rivers. According to Little Rock's account, a war party of about 200 Cheyenne from a camp above the forks of Walnut Creek departed camp intending to go out against the Pawnee. Instead, they raided white settlements along
4978-575: The Cheyenne prisoners. In a letter to Indian Agent Col. Edward W. Wynkoop on December 14, 1868, Morrison wrote, John Smith, John Poysell [Poisal], and Jack Fitzpatrick have got in today. John S. was not in the [Washita] fight, but John P. and Jack were. They all agree in stating that the official reports of the fight were very much exaggerated; that there were not over twenty bucks killed; the rest, about 40, were women and children. The Cheyenne prisoners, interviewed by Gen. Sheridan at Camp Supply, reported 13 Cheyenne men, two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed at
5109-601: The Cheyenne, and Big Mouth and Spotted Wolf of the Arapaho, arrived at Fort Cobb to visit the post trader, William "Dutch Bill" Griffenstein. Griffenstein's wife Cheyenne Jennie, a Cheyenne originally of Black Kettle's camp, had died around October 10. Griffenstein had sent runners to inform her parents of her death, perhaps also sending a message to urge Black Kettle to come to talk with Colonel (Brevet Major General) William B. Hazen about making peace. The four chiefs met with Hazen on November 20, with Captain Henry Alvord of
5240-463: The Cheyenne, were at war with most of the Plains tribes. The Osage scouts led Custer toward the village, hearing sounds and smelling smoke from the camp long before the soldiers. The Osage did not participate in the initial attack, fearing that the soldiers would mistake them for Cheyenne and shoot them. Instead, they waited behind the color-bearer of the 7th US Cavalry on the north side of the river until
5371-800: The Cheyennes their traditional hunting lands as long as there was sufficient buffalo to justify the chase, a crucial treaty stipulation which was tacitly dropped in the subsequent ratification process. This forced them to give up their traditional territory for one with little arable land and away from buffalo , their main source of meat and a center of their culture. Months of fragile peace survived raids between warring Kaw Indians and Southern Cheyennes. But in summer 1868, war parties of Southern Cheyenne and allied Arapaho, Kiowa , Comanche , Northern Cheyenne, Brulé , Oglala , and Pawnee warriors attacked white settlements in western Kansas, southeast Colorado, and northwest Texas. Among these raids were those along
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5502-495: The Chickahominy River above New Bridge. The attack was successful, resulting in the capture of 50 Confederate soldiers and the seizing of the first Confederate battle flag of the war. McClellan termed it a "very gallant affair" and congratulated Custer personally. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, he began his life-long pursuit of publicity. He was promoted to the rank of captain on June 5, 1862. On July 17, he
5633-569: The Department of Texas, from November 13 to February 1, 1866, succeeding Major General Wesley Merritt . During his entire period of command of the division, Custer encountered considerable friction and near mutiny from the volunteer cavalry regiments who had campaigned along the Gulf coast. They desired to be mustered out of Federal service rather than continue campaigning. They resented the imposition of discipline (particularly from an Eastern Theater general) and considered Custer nothing more than
5764-736: The Fort Sill reservation, which they shared with 1,140 Kiowa and 326 Plains Apache. Some groups of Plains Apache refused to settle on reservations and were involved in Kiowa and Comanche uprisings, most notably the First Battle of Adobe Walls which was the largest battle of the Indian Wars. It would be the last battle in which the Natives repelled the U.S. Army in the Southern Plains. The Kiowa-Comanche-Apache (KCA) Reservation
5895-848: The Kiowa Apache. To their Kiowa allies, who speak an unrelated language, the Plains Apache are known as Semat. At major historical tribal events, the Plains Apache formed part of the Kiowa tribal "hoop" (ring of tipis ). This may explain why the Kiowa named the Plains Apache Taugui meaning "sitting outside". Today the tribe is headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma . Their tribal jurisdictional area covers parts of Caddo , Comanche , Cotton , Greer , Jackson , Kiowa , Tillman and Harmon Counties in Oklahoma. In 2011,
6026-467: The Kiowa. They were ethnically different and spoke different languages. They communicated with their allies using the sophisticated Plains Indian Sign Language . The Plains Apache continued migrating south along the eastern Rocky Mountains and hunting bison. They allied with the Pawnee , Arapaho , and Kiowa. Even before contact with Europeans, their numbers were never large, and their 1780 population
6157-574: The Plains Apache in the Black Hills. Due to pressure from the Comanche from the west and Pawnee and French from the east, the Kiowa and remaining people of Dismal River culture migrated south where they later joined the Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache nations. In the early 18th century, the Plains Apache lived around the upper Missouri River and maintained close connections to
6288-506: The Plains and Horrors of Indian Warfare , that "Custer assembled the officers to inquire of each how many dead Indians each had seen; then what each had seen were added. They had all seen the same dead Indians ." [emphasis in original]. John Poisal and Jack Fitzpatrick, mixed-blood scouts attached to the Seventh Cavalry, reported a different number of Indian casualties to scout J.S. Morrison when they arrived at Fort Dodge with
6419-465: The Saline and Solomon rivers. Some of the warriors returned to Black Kettle's camp. Little Rock learned from them what took place. Little Rock identified the warriors most responsible for the raids and agreed to try to have them delivered to white authorities. By early November 1868, Black Kettle's camp joined other Southern Cheyenne and other tribal bands at the Washita River, which they called Lodgepole River, after local pine trees. Black Kettle's village
6550-538: The Southern Army of Northern Virginia 's final retreat from their fallen capital city of Richmond in early April 1865 and received the first flag of truce from the exhausted Confederates. He was present at the Army of Northern Virginia commanding General Robert E. Lee 's surrender ceremony at the McLean House to Union Army General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House , Virginia . After
6681-525: The U.S. Army's Department of the Missouri, decided upon a winter campaign against the Cheyenne. While difficult, a winter campaign offered chances for decisive results, since it was the only time of year the Plains Indians were immobilized. If their shelter, food, and livestock could be destroyed or captured, not only the warriors but their women and children would be at the mercy of both the Army and
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#17328017069856812-407: The Union rear along Cemetery Ridge; he must make one last effort to break through the Union cavalry. Stuart passed by McIntosh's cavalry – the First New Jersey, Third Pennsylvania, and Company A of Purnell's Legion, which had been posted about halfway down the field – with relative ease. As Stuart approached, the Union troops were ordered back into the woods without slowing down Stuart's column, which
6943-401: The Washita River comprised a key component in Custer's field strategy – Indian noncombatants included many women, children, and the elderly or disabled. Custer targeted them for capture to serve as hostages and human shields. Custer's battalions intended to "ride into the camp and secure noncombatant hostages" and "forc[e] the warriors to surrender". Custer demonstrated the value at
7074-530: The Washita River. They set out on November 23, 1868, in the midst of heavy snow, and headed south. On November 26, 1868, Custer's Osage scouts located the trail of an Indian war party. Custer's troops followed this trail all day without a break until nightfall, when they rested briefly until there was sufficient moonlight to continue. They followed the trail to Black Kettle's village, where Custer divided his force into four parts, moving each into position so that at first daylight they could simultaneously converge on
7205-415: The Washita battle, also describes the role of "hostages" as human shields: Custer probably could not have pulled off this tactical coup [at the Washita] had he not had in his possession the fifty-some women and children captives. Although not hostages in the narrowest meaning of the word, doubtlessly it occurred to Custer that the family-oriented [Cheyenne] warriors would not attack the Seventh [Cavalry] with
7336-443: The Washita camps. The Cheyenne discounted the information, as they did not believe U.S. soldiers would operate so far south in such wintry conditions. The Kiowa proceeded to their own village further east along the river, but Trails the Enemy decided to stay overnight with friends in Black Kettle's camp. Also on November 26, Crow Neck, a returning warrior, told Bad Man (also known as Cranky Man) that he had left an exhausted horse along
7467-410: The Washita on the evening of November 26. The evening before, on November 25, a war party of as many as 150 warriors, which included young men of the camps of Black Kettle, Medicine Arrows, Little Robe, and Old Whirlwind, had returned to the Washita encampments. They had raided white settlements in the Smoky Hill River country with the Dog Soldiers . Major Joel Elliott of the Seventh Cavalry found
7598-438: The Washita served as assurance against attack from the downriver [Indians] during Custer's extrication of his command from the scene late on November 27." As Custer advanced with his regiment in a mock assault – mounted women and children hostages riding among his troops – the warriors dispersed, "afraid that shots directed against the column might hit the prisoners". Larry Sklenar, in his narrative of
7729-423: The Washita, a figure which Sheridan subsequently reported to Bvt. Maj. Gen. Nichols. The journalist DeB. Randolph Keim interviewed the women prisoners with the help of interpreter Richard Curtis. He obtained the names of those killed and arrived at the same figure of 13 Cheyenne, two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed. Later information from various Cheyenne sources, most of them independent of each other, tended to confirm
7860-422: The alternative of resignation from the Army to take the lucrative post. Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress. He took part in public discussion over the treatment of the American South in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation. He was named head of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, regarded as
7991-415: The annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry", Custer wrote in his report. "For Gallant And Meritorious Services", he was awarded a Regular Army brevet promotion to major. General Custer also participated in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. In this campaign, the civilian population was specifically targeted in what is known as the Burning . In 1864, with
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#17328017069858122-443: The arm. He jumped and skipped, and said 'Father you and me can whip all the Whigs in Michigan.' I thought that was saying a good deal but I did not contradict him." In order to attend school, Custer lived with an older half-sister and her husband in Monroe, Michigan . Before entering the United States Military Academy , Custer attended the McNeely Normal School, later known as Hopedale Normal College, in Hopedale, Ohio . The school
8253-437: The attack has been disputed since the first reports. After the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty , they were – according to the final treaty text as affirmed by Congress – required to move south from present-day Kansas and Colorado to a new reservation in Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma). The actual oral accord of the treaty negotiations, however, had guaranteed
8384-491: The attack. Ben Clark reported "the loss of seventy-five [Cheyenne] warriors dead, and fully as many women and children killed". Greene notes that "all warriors who lay wounded in the village – presumably no matter the extent of their injuries" were (according to Clark's testimony) "promptly shot to death". This was consistent with Sheridan's orders to kill or summarily hang all [captured] warriors. The Seventh Cavalry tactical engagement of noncombatants contributed to
8515-447: The battle to Gen. Sheridan on November 28, 1868, Custer reported that by "actual and careful examination after the battle," the bodies of 103 warriors were found – a figure echoed by Sheridan when from Camp Supply he relayed news of the Washita fight to Bvt. Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols the following day. In fact, no battlefield count of the dead was made. According to Lt. Edward S. Godfrey , no estimate of Indian warrior fatalities
8646-508: The class of 1862. His class numbered seventy-nine cadets embarking on a five-year course of study. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the course was shortened to four years, and Custer and his class graduated on June 24, 1861. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduates: 23 classmates had dropped out for academic reasons while 22 classmates had already resigned to join the Confederacy. Throughout his life, Custer tested boundaries and rules. In his four years at West Point, he amassed
8777-520: The close proximity of their women and children, and their necessary exposure in case of conflict, would operate as a powerful argument in favor of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed. General Phil Sheridan, commander of the Department of the Missouri, issued orders for the Washita River expedition, including the following: "to destroy [Indian] villages and ponies, to kill or hang all warriors, and to bring back all woman and children [survivors]." The purpose of this "total war" strategy
8908-530: The country road" after Custer and his men. He lost half of his men in the deadly rebel fire and his horse went down, leaving him on foot. He was rescued by Private Norvell Francis Churchill of the 1st Michigan Cavalry , who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and pulled Custer up behind him. Custer and his remaining men reached safety, while the pursuing rebels were cut down by slashing rifle fire, then canister from six cannons. The rebels broke off their attack, and both sides withdrew. Spending most of
9039-455: The crucial third day of the Gettysburg clash. In 1864, Custer served in the Overland Campaign and with Union cavalry commander General Philip Sheridan 's army in the Shenandoah Valley campaigns later that summer, defeating Confederate General Jubal Early at Cedar Creek . In the last year of the war of 1865, he destroyed or captured the remainder of Early's forces at the Battle of Waynesboro in Western Virginia . Custer's division blocked
9170-445: The effective "destruction" of Black Kettle's village – it "ceased to exist". Colonel Ranald Mackenzie , with elements of the Fourth Cavalry, emulated the success – and methods – of the Battle of the Washita in the lead-up to the Red River War at the battle of North Fork , near McClellan Creek, Texas, in 1872. Applying similar tactics of taking captives, Mackenzie's command of 284 men attacked
9301-405: The elements. They would be forced to surrender. Sheridan planned to have three columns converge on the Indian wintering grounds just east of the Texas Panhandle : one from Fort Lyon in Colorado, one from Fort Bascom in New Mexico , and one from a supply camp to be established ( Camp Supply ). There, Lt. Col. George A. Custer commanded the 7th Cavalry's 800 soldiers against the various bands on
9432-517: The enemy northeast of town near the railway station. Custer deployed his troops and began to advance. After a brief firefight, the rebels withdrew to the northeast. This seemed odd, since it was assumed that Lee and his army were somewhere to the west. Though seemingly of little consequence, this skirmish further delayed Stuart from joining Lee. As Captain James H. Kidd, commander of F troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, later wrote: "Under [Custer's] skillful hand
9563-509: The field were not counted by the troops then, but guessed at later, as explained." In his 1928 memoir, Godfrey related, "After supper in the evening, the officers were called together and each one questioned as to the casualties of enemy warriors, locations, etc. Every effort was made to avoid duplications. The total was found to be one hundred and three." Captain Benteen stated, in annotations to his personal copy of W.L. Holloway's Wild Life on
9694-629: The figures given by the Cheyenne women prisoners. Few of the military reports noted casualties among the women and children. Custer acknowledged in his report, "In the excitement of the fight, as well as in self-defence, it so happened that some of the squaws and a few of the children were killed and wounded...." After Custer and Sheridan visited the battlefield in December, Custer revised his initial estimate of 103 warriors killed upward. He wrote from Fort Cobb, George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876)
9825-462: The first flag of truce from the Confederate force. After a truce was arranged, Custer was escorted through the lines to meet Longstreet, who described Custer as having flaxen locks flowing over his shoulders, and Custer said “in the name of General Sheridan I demand the unconditional surrender of this army.” Longstreet replied that he was not in command of the army, but if he was, he would not deal with messages from Sheridan. Custer responded it would be
9956-468: The following day. In fact, no count of the dead had been made. The reported number was based on Custer's reports from his officers the day after the attack, during their return to Camp Supply. Cheyenne and other Indian estimates of the Indian casualties at the Washita, as well as estimates by Custer's civilian scouts, are much lower. According to a modern account by the U.S. Army Center of Military History ,
10087-425: The following spring to "clean out the entire country." Hazen took the young warriors' boasts so seriously that he requested two more companies of the 10th Cavalry from Fort Arbuckle and two howitzers to remain for a week or two at Fort Cobb. Black Kettle and the other chiefs departed Fort Cobb on about November 21 with food supplied by Griffenstein, traveling through storm conditions. They reached their villages on
10218-517: The four regiments were soon welded into a cohesive unit...." Next morning, July 1, they passed through Abbottstown, Pennsylvania , still searching for Stuart's cavalry. Late in the morning they heard sounds of gunfire from the direction of Gettysburg. That night at Heidlersburg, Pennsylvania , they learned that General John Buford 's cavalry had found Lee's army at Gettysburg. The next morning, July 2, orders came for Custer to hurry north to disrupt General Richard S. Ewell 's communications and relieve
10349-476: The grand review victory parade in Washington, D.C., on May 23, creating a sensation when the scared thoroughbred bolted. The owner, Richard Gaines, wrote to General Grant, who ordered Custer to return the horse to Gaines, but he did not. Instead, he hid the horse and won a race with it the next year, before the horse suddenly died. On June 3, 1865, at Sheridan's behest, Major General Custer accepted command of
10480-434: The head and the foot, and since he had no desire to be the head, he aspired to be the foot. A roommate noted, "It was alright with George Custer, whether he knew his lesson or not; he simply did not allow it to trouble him." Like the other graduates, Custer was commissioned a second lieutenant ; he was also assigned to the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment and tasked with drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On July 21, 1861, he
10611-494: The intersection and sent the rest of his command to do picket duty two miles to the southwest. After additional deployments, 2,400 cavalry under McIntosh and 1,200 under Custer remained together with Colonel Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr. 's and Captain Alanson Merwin Randol 's artillery, who had a total of ten three-inch guns. About noon, Custer's men heard cannon fire, Stuart's signal to Lee that he
10742-401: The main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg , where they spent the winter. In April 1865, the Confederate lines finally broke and Robert E. Lee began his retreat to Appomattox Court House , pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro , Dinwiddie Court House , and Five Forks . His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received
10873-776: The mid- 20th century . Custer's paternal ancestors, Paulus and Gertrude Küster, came to the North American English colonies around 1693 from the Rhineland in Germany, probably among thousands of Palatines whose passage was arranged by the English government to gain settlers in New York and Pennsylvania. Custer's maternal ancestors were of English and Ulster Scots descent, having ancestries from England and Northern Ireland. According to family letters, Custer
11004-450: The new commander of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade , Pleasanton began replacing political generals with "commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks". He found just the kind of aggressive fighters he wanted in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt , Elon J. Farnsworth (both of whom had command experience), and Custer. All received immediate promotions, Custer to brigadier general of volunteers, commanding
11135-519: The next day downriver to be closer to the other Indian camps. According to Moving Behind Woman, who was about 14 at the time of the attack at the Washita camp, Black Kettle's wife Medicine Woman stood outside the lodge for a long time. She was angry that the camp was not moving that night, saying, "I don't like this delay, we could have moved long ago. The Agent sent word for us to leave at once. It seems we are crazy and deaf, and cannot hear." Black Hawk's brother White Shield (also known as Gentle Horse) had
11266-417: The night in the saddle, Custer's brigade arrived at Two Taverns, Pennsylvania , roughly five miles southeast of Gettysburg around 3:00 a.m. on July 3. There he was joined by Farnsworth's brigade. By daybreak they received orders to protect Meade's flanks. At this point, he was about to experience perhaps his finest hours during the war. Lee 's battle plan, shared with less than a handful of subordinates,
11397-533: The only council chief who had remained with Black Kettle since the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864, lived with his family in the village. It also included the families of Big Man, Wolf Looking Back, Clown, Cranky Man, Scabby Man, Half Leg, Bear Tongue, and Roll Down. Downriver from Black Kettle's camp, the Washita River looped northward in a large oxbow. At its northern portion was the Arapaho camp of Little Raven , Big Mouth, Yellow Bear, and Spotted Wolf,
11528-442: The other encampments. The surrounding Indians retreated, at which point Custer turned around and returned to his supply train. In his first report of the battle to Gen. Sheridan on November 28, 1868, Custer reported that by "actual and careful examination after the battle", his men had found the bodies of 103 warriors – a figure repeated by Sheridan when he relayed news of the Washita fight to Bvt. Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols
11659-497: The oxbow southeast of Little Raven's Arapaho camp and west of a small Kiowa camp headed by Kicking Bird . The Kiowa leaders Satanta , Lone Wolf, and Black Eagle had moved their villages to the Fort Cobb area. Downriver were other camps of Comanche and Kiowa-Apache. Overall, a total of about 6,000 Native Americans were in winter camp along the upper Washita River. In mid-November, a party headed by Black Kettle and Little Robe of
11790-674: The peace of the Kiowa and Comanche already camped there. He told them, I am sent here as a peace chief; all here is to be peace, but north of the Arkansas is General Sheridan, the great war chief, and I do not control him; and he has all the soldiers who are fighting the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. Therefore, you must go back to your country, and if the soldiers come to fight, you must remember they are not from me, but from that great war chief, and with him you must make peace. Reporting to Sherman on November 22, Hazen said, "[T]o have made peace with them would have brought to my camp most of those now on
11921-400: The pressure on the Union forces. By midafternoon, as they approached Hunterstown, Pennsylvania , they encountered Stuart's cavalry. Custer rode ahead alone to investigate and found that the rebels were unaware of the arrival of his troops. Returning to his men, he carefully positioned them along both sides of the road where they would be hidden from the rebels. Further along the road, behind
12052-608: The protection of Pennington's artillery near Hanover Road. The pursuing Confederates were cut down by canister, then driven back by the remounted Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Both forces withdrew to a safe distance to regroup. It was then about three o'clock. The artillery barrage to the west had suddenly stopped. Union soldiers were surprised to see Stuart's entire force about a half mile away coming toward them, not in line of battle, but "formed in close column of squadrons... A grander spectacle than their advance has rarely been beheld". Stuart recognized he now had little time to reach and attack
12183-508: The raid. On the evening of November 26, Black Kettle held a council in his lodge with the principal men of his village to convey what he had learned at Fort Cobb about Sheridan's war plans. Discussion lasted into the early morning hours of November 27. The council decided that after the foot-deep snow cleared, they would send out runners to talk with the soldiers. They wanted to clear up misunderstandings and make it clear that Black Kettle's people wanted peace. Meanwhile, they decided to move camp
12314-626: The skirmish lines. Stuart ordered an attack by his mounted infantry under General Albert G. Jenkins , but the Union line held, with men from the First Michigan cavalry, the First New Jersey Cavalry , and the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Stuart ordered Jackson's four gun battery into action; Custer ordered Pennington to answer. After a brief exchange in which two of Jackson's guns were destroyed, there
12445-608: The trail of the raiders on November 26, which drew Custer and his forces to the Washita. On November 26, the same day that Black Kettle returned to the Washita, a party of Kiowa returning from raiding the Utes passed through Black Kettle's camp on their way to their own village. They told the Cheyenne that as they had passed near the Antelope Hills on the Canadian River , they had seen a large trail leading southward toward
12576-473: The trail to rest. When he went back to retrieve the horse that day, he saw moving figures to the north who looked like soldiers. Fearful, he turned back without getting his horse. Bad Man doubted Crow Neck had seen soldiers; he said perhaps he had a guilty conscience from having gone against the chiefs' wishes by joining the war party. Crow Neck told no one else what he had seen, fearing that he might be laughed at, or chastised by Black Kettle for having been part of
12707-564: The tribe had 2,263 total members, of whom 1,814 lived in-state. Tribal membership is based on 1/8 blood quantum , meaning a person must be able to prove they have at least 1/8 Native American ancestry to be considered eligible for tribal enrollment. As of 2024, the Tribe Chairman is Durell Cooper, supported by Vice Chairman Matt Tselee, Secretary/Treasurer Ruth Bert and committee members Donald Komardley and Dustin Cozard. In addition to
12838-539: The tribe was led by an elder council, chiefs, medicine men , and warriors. Women controlled and maintained family belongings, including tipis . Skilled artists joined women's societies. The Plains Apache language is a member of the Southern Athabaskan language family, a division of the Na-Dene languages . The Plains Apache language , also referred to as Plains Apache, was the most divergent member of
12969-479: The village was taken. The Osage rode into the village, where they took scalps and helped the soldiers round up fleeing Cheyenne women and children. Black Kettle and his wife, Medicine Woman, were shot in the back and killed while fleeing on a pony. Following the capture of Black Kettle's village, Custer was in a precarious position. As the fighting began to subside, he saw large groups of mounted Indians gathering on nearby hilltops and learned that Black Kettle's village
13100-430: The village. At daybreak, as the columns attacked, Double Wolf awoke and fired his gun to alert the village; he was among the first to die in the charge. The cavalry musicians played " Garryowen " to signal the attack. The Cheyenne warriors hurriedly left their lodges to take cover behind trees and in deep ravines. Custer soon controlled the village, but it took longer to quell all remaining resistance. The Osage, enemies to
13231-498: The war path south of the Arkansas; and as General Sheridan is to punish those at war and might follow them in afterwards, a second Chivington affair might occur, which I could not prevent." Hazen reported that while the chiefs seemed sincere, the Kiowa and Comanche at Fort Cobb said the young warriors who accompanied the chiefs were pleased that peace had not been made. They boasted that the Lakota and other northern bands would come down
13362-422: The war, Custer was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the standing Regular Army and sent west to fight in the ongoing Indian Wars , mainly against the Lakota / Sioux and other Great Plains native peoples . On June 25, 1876, while leading the Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the southeastern Montana Territory against a coalition of Western Native American tribes, he
13493-530: The war. The orders stated if General Philip Sheridan had to invade the reservation to pursue hostile Native Americans, he needed to spare the "well-disposed". Sherman recommended that non-belligerent Native Americans camp near Fort Cobb. Hazen knew that Sheridan had already declared the Cheyenne and Arapaho to be "hostile", meaning they were subject to attack by the U.S. Army. Hazen told the four chiefs he could not make peace with them. He recommended against their coming to Fort Cobb, as their presence would jeopardize
13624-522: The way into danger." On June 30, 1863, Custer and the First and Seventh Michigan Cavalry had just passed through Hanover, Pennsylvania , while the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry followed about seven miles behind. Hearing gunfire, he turned and started off to the sound of the guns. A courier reported that Farnsworth's Brigade had been attacked by rebel cavalry from side streets in the town. Reassembling his command, he received orders from Kilpatrick to engage
13755-585: The women and children marching in [the middle of his column]. Custer provided the military logic for tactical use of human shields in his book My Life on the Plains , published two years before the Battle of the Little Big Horn: Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger…For this reason I decided to locate our [military] camp as close as convenient to [Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne] village, knowing that
13886-569: Was "advancing as if in review, with sabers drawn and glistening like silver in the bright sunlight...." Stuart's last obstacle was Custer and his 400 veteran troopers of the First Michigan Cavalry directly in the Confederate cavalry's path. Outnumbered but undaunted, Custer rode to the head of the regiment, "drew his saber, threw off his hat so they could see his long yellow hair" and shouted... "Come on, you Wolverines!" Custer formed his men in line of battle and charged. "So sudden
14017-409: Was 158 men murdered, sixteen wounded and forty-one scalped. Three scouts were killed, fourteen women outraged, one man was captured, four women and twenty-four children were carried off. Nearly all of these losses occurred in what we then called western Kansas, although the Saline, Solomon and Republican do not seem so very far west now". On August 19, 1868, Colonel Edward W. Wynkoop , Indian Agent for
14148-802: Was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars . Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York , last in his graduating class of 1861, although he finished 34th out of a starting class of 108 candidates, . Nonetheless, Custer achieved a higher military rank than any other U.S. Army officer in his class. Following graduation, he worked closely with future Union Army Generals George B. McClellan and Alfred Pleasonton , both of whom recognized his abilities as
14279-555: Was a lull in the action. About one o'clock, the massive Confederate artillery barrage began in support of the upcoming assault on Cemetery Ridge. Jenkins's men renewed the attack, but soon ran out of ammunition and fell back. Resupplied, they again pressed the attack. Outnumbered, the Union cavalry fell back, firing as they went. Custer sent most of his Fifth Michigan cavalry ahead on foot, forcing Jenkins's men to fall back. Jenkins's men were reinforced by about 150 sharpshooters from General Fitzhugh Lee 's brigade, and shortly Stuart ordered
14410-541: Was broken up into individual allotments under the 1889 Springer Amendment to the Indian Appropriations Act . The so-called "surplus" lands of the KCA Reservaton were opened up to white settlement in 1901. The U.S. federal government took more KCA lands in 1906. Despite tribal opposition to the land sessions, the U.S. courts upheld allotment. Most Plains Apache families chose land north of
14541-673: Was demoted to the rank of first lieutenant . He participated in the Maryland Campaign in September to October, the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, the Battle of Antietam on September 17, and the March to Warrenton, Virginia , in October. On June 9, 1863, he became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton , who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Recalling his service under Pleasonton, he
14672-594: Was estimated at 400. The Plains Apache and Kiowa had migrated into the Southern Plains sometime around 1800. The Treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867 established an Indian Reservation for the Kiowa, Plains Apache, and Comanche in Western Oklahoma. They were forced to move south of the Washita River to the Red River and Western Oklahoma with the Comanche and the Kiowa. The 1890 Census showed 1,598 Comanche at
14803-592: Was in position and had not been detected. About the same time, Gregg received a message warning that a large body of rebel cavalry had moved out on the York Pike and might be trying to get around the Union right. A second message from Pleasonton ordered Gregg to send Custer to cover the Union far left. Since Gregg had already sent most of his force off to do other duties, it was clear to both Gregg and Custer that Custer must remain. They had about 2,700 men facing 6,000 Confederates. Soon afterward, fighting broke out between
14934-573: Was killed along with every soldier of the five companies he led of his regiment. This event became known as "Custer's Last Stand". Custer's dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his life and career, and the reaction to his life remains divided, even 150 years later. His mythologized status in American history was partly established through the energetic lobbying of his adoring wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer (1842-1933), throughout her long widowhood which spanned six decades longer into
15065-453: Was known for training teachers for elementary schools. While attending Hopedale, Custer and classmate William Enos Emery were known to have carried coal to help pay for their room and board. After graduating from McNeely Normal School in 1856, Custer taught school in Cadiz, Ohio . His first sweetheart was Mary Jane Holland. Custer entered West Point as a cadet on July 1, 1857, as a member of
15196-415: Was made until the evening of the day following the battle, after the soldiers made camp during their march back to Camp Supply. "On [the] second night [after the battle]," Godfrey told interviewer Walter M. Camp in 1917, "Custer interrogated the officers as to what Indians they had seen dead in the village, and it was from these reports that the official report of Indians killed was made up. The dead Indians on
15327-438: Was more than personal vanity. Historian Tom Carhart observed that "A showy uniform for Custer was one of command presence on the battlefield: he wanted to be readily distinguishable at first glance from all other soldiers. He intended to lead from the front, and to him it was a crucial issue of unit morale that his men be able to look up in the middle of a charge, or at any other time on the battlefield, and instantly see him leading
15458-689: Was named after George Armstrong, a minister, in his devout mother's hope that her son might join the clergy. Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio , to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806–1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and his second wife, Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807–1882), who was of English and Scots-Irish descent. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston . His other full siblings were the family's youngest child, Margaret Custer, and Nevin Custer, who suffered from asthma and rheumatism. Custer also had three older half-siblings. Custer and his brothers acquired
15589-499: Was only one of many Indian encampments along the river, where thousands of Indians had gathered. Fearing an attack, he ordered some of his men to take defensive positions while the others seized the Indians' property and horses. They destroyed what they did not want or could not carry, slaughtering about 675 ponies and horses. They spared 200 horses to carry prisoners. Near nightfall, fearing the outlying Indians would find and attack his supply train, Custer began marching his forces toward
15720-548: Was quoted as saying that "I do not believe a father could love his son more than General Pleasonton loves me." Pleasonton's first assignment was to locate the army of Robert E. Lee , moving north through the Shenandoah Valley in the beginning of what was to become the Gettysburg Campaign . Pleasonton was promoted on June 22, 1863, to major general of U.S. Volunteers. On June 29, after consulting with
15851-771: Was settled. The casino is under the jurisdiction of the Apache Gaming Commission, headed by Gaming Commissioner Ryan Adudell. There is also a smokeshop and a gas station on the reservation. The tribe issues their own tribal license plates through the Tax Commission. Their oral history states that the Plains Apache broke away from the Tsuutʼina , an Athabascan people who moved onto the Great Plains in Alberta, Canada . They migrated south, where
15982-726: Was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them...." As the Confederate advance stopped, their right flank was struck by troopers of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Michigan. McIntosh was able to gather some of his men from the First New Jersey and Third Pennsylvania and charged the rebel left flank. "Seeing that the situation was becoming critical, I [Captain Miller] turned to [Lieutenant Brooke-Rawle] and said: 'I have been ordered to hold this position, but, if you will back me up in case I am court-martialed for disobedience, I will order
16113-402: Was the westernmost of a series of winter camps, of Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Kiowa-Apache bands, that ran ten to 15 miles along the Washita River. Black Kettle's village was several miles west of the rest of the camps and consisted of around 50 Cheyenne lodges, plus one or two lodges of visiting Arapaho and two of visiting Lakota, for a total of about 250 inhabitants. Little Rock,
16244-632: Was then cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his division's trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved. When Lieutenant General Early was ordered to move down the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington, D.C., Custer's division was again dispatched under Sheridan. In the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , they pursued the Confederates at the Third Battle of Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at Cedar Creek . Sheridan and Custer, having defeated Early, returned to
16375-540: Was then in a struggle with the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I (a satellite ruler of French Emperor Napoleon III ), Custer applied for a one-year leave of absence from the U.S. Army, which was endorsed by Grant and Secretary Stanton. However, Sheridan and Mrs. Custer disapproved, and after his request for leave was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward , who was against having an American officer commanding foreign troops, Custer refused
16506-478: Was to defeat Meade through a combined assault using all of his resources. General James Longstreet would attack Cemetery Hill from the west, Stuart would attack Culp's Hill from the southeast, and Ewell would attack Culp's Hill from the north. Once the Union forces holding Culp's Hill had collapsed, the rebels would "roll up" the remaining Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge . To accomplish this, he sent Stuart with six thousand cavalrymen and mounted infantry on
16637-649: Was to make "all segments of Indian society experience the horrors of war as fully as the warriors". Benjamin "Ben" Clark, the highly regarded scout and guide attached to the Seventh Cavalry, recalled that women and children were not spared being killed at the Washita: "[T]he regiment galloped through the tepees ... firing indiscriminately and killing men and women alike." One cavalry unit was seen pursuing "a group of women and children," shooting at them and "killing them without mercy". Lieutenant Edward Godfrey observed that soldiers made no effort "to prevent hitting women" during
16768-436: Was trouble. I do not want war, and my people do not, but although we have come back south of the Arkansas, the soldiers follow us and continue fighting, and we want you to send out and stop these soldiers from coming against us. Hazen's October 13 orders from General William Tecumseh Sherman , commander of the Military Division of the Missouri, had charged Hazen with making provision for Native Americans who wanted to stay out of
16899-399: Was very much afraid of blood. When I took him to the doctor to have the tooth pulled, it was in the night and I told him if it bled well it would get well right away, and he must be a good soldier. When he got to the doctor he took his seat, and the pulling began. The forceps slipped off and he had to make a second trial. He pulled it out, and Autie never even scrunched. Going home, I led him by
17030-488: Was warned the night before and the attempt thwarted. On February 1, 1866, Major General Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence until September 24. During this time he explored several options in New York City, where he considered careers in railroads and mining. Offered a position (and $ 10,000 in gold) as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico, who
17161-531: Was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Manassas Campaign where Army commander Winfield Scott detailed him to carry messages to Major General Irvin McDowell . After the battle, he continued participating in the defense of Washington D.C. until October 1861, when he became ill. He was absent from his unit until February 1862. In March, he participated with the 2nd Cavalry in
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