Battle of Little Bighorn
By Mary Trotter KionLesson 5: Open Season on Sioux, and Custer's Happy Home
President Grant Gets Revenge
President Grant
May 2, 1876, the day that George Armstrong Custer left Washington without permission was just a few days before the 7th Cavalry was due to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln on the pre-planned major campaign against the hostile Indians lurking in the unceded Indian Territory.
The first stop for the train that Custer rode in was Chicago. It reached there on May 3, and that was as far as Custer got. When he stepped off the train a member of Sheridan’s staff was there to place Custer under arrest by order of President Grant. The charge: Leaving Washington without permission. The punishment: Custer, by Presidential decree, would NOT be allowed to join the expedition against the hostile Sioux — much less lead his 7th Cavalry into glorious battle.
For Custer, this was the worst possible thing that could happen, but the Democrats loved it. It was the perfect excuse for Bennett to cream Grant in newsprint. Bennett labeled the Custer situation “to be the most highhanded abuse of his [Grant’s] official power which he has perpetrated yet.” And a few days later Bennett struck Grant again likening the President to an “irresponsible despot . . . with an absolute power to decapitate anybody offending his Highness or his favorites.”
General Alfred Terry
Poor Custer was made to understand that he was under arrest. He was, however free to move about and took a train to St. Paul to meet with Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry whom Grant had made the new commander of the upcoming expedition in place of Custer.
It is noteworthy that several senior officers, upon hearing that Custer was no longer in command of the 7th for the expedition, immediately applied for the position. One such officer who applied, and who had ill feelings towards Custer, was Major Marcus A. Reno of the 7th Cavalry.
Major Marcus A. Reno
Custer was desperate. It was crucial, for at least his military career and possibly a future political career, that he be reinstated. Sherman, now the General in Chief of the Army, had refused to speak to Grant on the matter. Terry was Custer’s last hope. Custer was so desperate that, in front of Terry, he went down on his knees and, with tears in his eyes, begged Terry to get his, Custer’s, orders changed.
Terry suggested that Custer write to the President again, but Custer insisted that it wouldn’t do any good. The wordy Custer couldn’t think of what to say so Terry wrote it for him and Custer signed it. The telegram that was sent requested that the President at least allow Custer serve with his regiment during the expedition.
Lt. Col. Custer
Fortunately for Custer, Terry wanted this dramatic and flamboyant officer to command the 7th Cavalry. Terry endorsed the request with his own words, and even managed to persuade Sheridan to speak to Grant.
Now, all Custer could do was to wait for an answer from the President of the United States who held Custer’s career, and life, in his hands.
Internet link(s) for this section are:
Marcus Reno http://www.historytelevision.ca/chiefs/h... Reno was Custer’s second-in-command during the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The sources for this section are:
Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. Random House, Inc. New York, 1996.
New York Herald, May 6, 1876 as quoted in Stewart, Custer’s Luck and Ambrose’s Crazy Horse and Custer.
Topics for discussion:
Pretend that you are President Grant. It is the mid-1870s and the United States is in the depths of a major depression. Crime rate is high because the employment and wage rate is extremely low. In addition, you as President have a sworn obligation to correct these situations to the best of your ability. There is one major way, as you and your party members see it, to accomplish what needs to be done—that is, to save your country from disaster. Gold has been discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. As previously proved, a gold rush not only raises the overall moral of the country, but can put it back on an even financial plane. The big problem is that the Black Hills belong to a major group of Native Americans. What would you do? No, you may not resign from being President of the United States. You’re stuck with it until this problem is solved.
Bibliography:
Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. Random House, Inc. New York, 1996.
Barnett, Louise. Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1996.
Connell, Evan S. Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn. North Point Press, San Francisco, 1984.
Debo, Angie. A History of the Indians of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1989.
Hays, Robert G. A Race at Bay: New York Times Editorials on “The Indian Problem,” 1860-1900. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1997.
Hyde, George E. Spotted Tail’s Folk: A History of the Brule Sioux. Norman, Oklahoma, 1961.
Kluger, Richard. The Paper: The Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1985.
Lazarus, Edward. Black Hills White Justice: The Sioux Nation Versus the United States, 1775 to the Present. Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.
Merington, Marguerite, ed. The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General George A. Custer and His Wife Elizabeth. New York, 1950.
Osborn, William M. The Wild Frontier: Atrocities During the American-Indian War from Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee. Random House, New York, 2000.
Stewart, Edgar I. Custer’s Luck. Norman Oklahoma, 1955.
Utley, Robert M., Frontier Regulars
Utley, Robert M., and Wilcomb E. Washburn. Indian Wars. American Heritage, New York, 1977.
Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1993.
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