Posted on 08/04/2010 1:32:54 PM PDT by JoeProBono
“My Life on the Plains” by Gen. Custer is a great read and it gives a much different picture of the man than history gives.
A really good book. Barnes and Noble always has it.
Custer was a very sucessful general but his biggest mistake is the one everybody remembers.
“I expect you have forgotten what you promised me,” Billy the Kid wrote to New Mexico Territory’s governor, Lew Wallace, in 1881. The Kid was writing from a Santa Fe jail cell. He was there because of the dogged efforts of Pat Garrett, who had been elected sheriff of Lincoln County, which comprised the southeastern part of the territory, on the promise that he would put a stop to Billy and his gang of rustlers. Now Billy was waiting to be transported to Mesilla, where he would be tried for the murder of another Lincoln County lawman, Sheriff William Brady......
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/14/opinion/la-oe-gardner-billythekid-20100714
Good to know that NM’s problems have been resolved!
It may not have been his mistake at Little Bighorn. I just read that the Army sent investigators to Little Bighorn and they found many, many knives with broken tips beside the soldiers as well as rifles that had jammed. I don’t know whether it is true but the article said that the army had issued .45-70 cartidges with copper cartridge cases rather than the normal brass. Afterwards the Army replaced the copper cases with brass and never had the problem again.
I am still trying to find the committee report. It may shed some light on the battle.
oh... the problem appeared to be that the copper cases jammed in the breech due to heat and the normal way of unjamming the rifle was to pry the cartridge cases loose with a knife point. Hence the broken knife blades.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first or last time our soldiers have received less than adequate arms.
I believe the original M-16 was a real pig in the earliest months of vietnam till corrections were made.
The other finding that has been stated is that there were large numbers of arrows at the battle site and that many, perhaps a majority of the indians attacking were not using rifles.
I have always felt that there was something else going on at Little Bighorn other than the fact that General Custer had split his command with the other flight getting pinned down in another area. But he should have had enough firepower to handle the attack except the guns jammed and they probably finished using pistols. This would expalin the loss of this battle.
One of the reasons we used .45-70s was that if you missed the rider, the round would kill the horse or put him down and it did not require accurate placement at all.
Our Army frequently fought outnumbered. One of the most famous was the Battle of Canadien River in which 54 troopers, dug in on a sandbar, fought off an estimated 900 indians over two or three days. The majority of the indian rounds were 44-40 and .39-55 which were the common calibers for repeaters that were handed out by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for beaver and Buffalo pelts. General Custer hated the Bureau.
Read the book. It is really interesting. One of my more valued books.
should be “.38-55”
My attitude towards the Ordnance Department is much like Reagan’s:
Trust but verify.
C’mon this is just Pancho Billa showing professional courtesy from one thief (read: Democrat) to another.
That’s why when anyone tells me that they would love to have lived in the (pick any time period prior to 1940) I have just one word for them - dentistry.
|
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks JoeProBono. |
||
|
· Discover · Bronze Age Forum · Science Daily · Science News · Eurekalert · PhysOrg · · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · Archaeology · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · · History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword · · |
|||
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.