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The FReeper Foxhole Lazy Sunday-The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer - July 24th, 2005
http://www.leavenworth.army.mil/history/custer.htm ^

Posted on 07/24/2005 9:22:10 AM PDT by snippy_about_it



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.



...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer





FORT LEAVENWORTH HISTORY


On 11 October 1867, at Fort Leavenworth, a court martial found Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant Colonel, 7 th U.S. Cavalry guilty and sentenced him to suspension from rank and command for one year, and forfeiture of his pay for the same time.

Charges and Specifications preferred against Brevet Major General G. A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry

Charge first.

Absence without leave from his command.

Specification first.

In this, that he Brevet Major General G.A . Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, did at or near Fort Wallace, Kansas, on or about the 15th day of July 1867, absent himself from his command without proper authority, and proceed to Fort Harker, Kansas, a distance of about 275 miles, this at a time when his command was expected to be actively engaged against hostile Indians.

Charge second.

Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.

Specification first.

In this, that he, Brevet Major General G.A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, immediately after the troops of his command had completed a long and exhausting march, and when the horses belonging thereto had not been rested, and were in an unfit condition for said service, did select a portion of such command consisting of three Commissioned officers, and about seventy-five men with their horses, and did set out upon and execute a rapid march from Fort Wallace, Kansas, to Fort Hays in the same state; the said march being on private business, and without proper authority or any urgency or demand of public business; and in so doing did seriously prejudice the public interest by overmarching and damaging the horses belonging to the said detachment of his command.

Specification second.

In this, that he, Brevet Major General G.A . Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, while executing an unauthorized journey on private business from Fort Wallace, Kansas to Fort Harker in the same state, did procure at Fort Hays in the same state, on or about the 17th July 1867, (two ambulances and) four mules belonging to the United States, and did use such (ambulances and) mules, for the conveyance of himself and part of his escort from said Fort Hays to Fort Harker in the aforesaid state.

Specification third.

In this, that he Brevet Major General G.A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, when near Downer's Station in the state of Kansas, on or about the 16th day of July 1867, after having received information that a party of Indians had attacked a small party detached from his escort near said Station, did fail to take proper measures for the repulse of said Indians, or the defense or relief of said detachment; and further, after the return of such detached party of his command with report that two of their number had been killed, did neglect to take any measures to pursue such party of Indians, or recover or bury the bodies of his command that had been killed as aforesaid.

Additional Charges and Specifications preferred against Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, Brevet Major General U.S.A.

Charge

Conduct prejudicial to good order and Military discipline.

Specification first.

In this that Brevet Major General G.A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, while en route commanding and marching a column of his regiment, six companies or thereabouts, strong, from the valley of the Platte River, to the valley of the Smoky Hill River, did, when ordering a party of three commissioned Officers and others of his Command in pursuit of supposed deserters who were then in view leaving camp, also order the said party to shoot the supposed deserters down dead, and bring none in alive. This on "Custer' Cavalry Column Trail," while traveling southward, about fifty miles southwest from Fort Sedgewick, Colorado, on or about the seventh day of July, 1867.

Specification second.

In this that Brevet Major General G.A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, did order (the following named and designated Soldiers of his regiment, viz. Bugler Barney Tolliver, Company K., Private Charles Johnson, Company K., Private Alburger, Company D., and other) enlisted men of his command, to be shot down as supposed deserters, but without trial; and did thus cause three men to be severely wounded.

This on "Custer's Cavalry Column Trail," while traveling southward, between fifteen and forty miles South of Platt River, between fifty and seventy miles Southwest from Fort Sedgewick, Colorado, on or about the seventh day of July, 1867.

Specification third.

In this that Brevet Major General G.A . Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, after the following named and designated soldiers of his regiment, viz. Bugler Barney Tolliver, Company K., Private Charles Johnson, Company K., and Private Alburger, Company D., had been summarily shot down and severely wounded by order of him the said Custer, did, order and cause the said soldiers to be placed in a government wagon, and to be hauled eighteen miles, (and did then and there neglect and positively and persistently refuse to allow the said soldiers, to receive treatment and attention from the Acting Assistant Surgeon with his command or any other Medical or Surgical attendance whatsoever).

This on "Custer's Cavalry Column Trail," while traveling southward, between fifteen and forty miles south of Platt River, between fifty and seventy miles Southwest from Fort Sedgewick, Colorado, on or about the seventh day of July, 1867.

Specification fourth.

In this that Brevet Major General G.A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel 7th U.S. Cavalry, while commanding and marching a column of his regiment, six companies or thereabouts strong, did, on or about the seventh day of July 1867, at a point about fifteen miles South of Platt River, and about fifty miles southwest from Fort Sedgewick, Colorado, order and cause the summary shooting, as a supposed deserter, but without trial, of one Private Charles Johnson, Company K., 7th U.S. Infantry [sic], a soldier of his command; whereby he, the said Johnson, was so severely wounded that he soon after - to wit, on or about the 17th day of July 1867, at or near Fort Wallace, Kansas - did decease; he the said Custer thus causing the death of the said Johnson.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Findings

Of the 1st Specification 1st Charge - Guilty of the Specification, substituting the words "Fort Harker," for the words "Fort Riley," and the figures "200" for the figures "275."

Of the 1st Charge - Guilty. Of the 1st Specification of the 2nd Charge - Guilty.

Of the 2nd Specification of the 2nd Charge - Guilty of the Specification, substituting the words "Ft. Harker" for the words "Ft. Riley;" omitting the words "two ambulances and," and substituting the word "four" for the word "eight," and omitting the words "ambulances and," and attach no criminality thereto.

Of the 3rd Specification of the 2nd Charge - Guilty.

Of the 2nd Charge - Guilty.

Of the 1st Specification of the Additional Charge - Guilty.

Of the 2nd Specification of the Additional Charge - Guilty of the Specification omitting the words "the following named and designated soldiers of his Regiment, viz Bugler Barney Tolliver, Co.K, Private Charles Johnson, Co K, Private Alburger, Co. D. and other," and substituting the words "three" in place of the words "the said."

Of the third Specification of the Additional Charge the Court finds the facts as stated in the specification except the words "and did then and there neglect and positively and persistantly refuse to allow the said soldiers to receive any treatment or attention from the acting assistant Surgeon with his command, or any other medical or surgical attendance whatever," and attach no criminality thereto.

Of the forth Specification of the Additional Charge - Guilty.

Of the Additional Charge - Guilty.

In consequence the Court sentenced Brevet Major General G.A. Custer, Lieutenant Colonel, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to be suspended from rank and command for one year, and forfeit his pay for the same time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Members of the Court

Brevet Major General William Hoffman, Colonel Third U.S. Infantry
Brevet Major General John W. Davidson, Lieutenant Colonel Tenth U.S. Calvary (excused)
Brevet Major General Benjamin H. Grierson, Colonel Tenth U.S. Calvary
Brevet Brigadier General Pitcairn Morrison, Colonel U.S. Army Retired
Brevet Brigadier General Michael R. Morgan, Major Commissary of Subsistence
Brevet Brigadier General Franklin D. Callender, Lieutenant Colonel Ordnance Department
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Thomas C. English, Major Fifth U.S. Infantry
Brevet Major Henry Asbury, Captain, Ordnance Department
Brevet Major Stephen C. Lyford, Captain Ordnance Department
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert Chandler, Captain Thirteenth U.S. Infantry, Judge Advocate





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Good morning everyone. Enjoy your Sunday.




FAST FACTS:


In 1861, Custer entered the Civil War as a second lieutenant, Company G, 2nd U.S. Cavalry. Some of the battles he fought in included Bull Run, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and Culpepper Court House, where he was wounded. During the Civil War, Custer attained, by battlefield commission, the rank of General. However, After the war ended, the commission was revoked and reverted to the rank of Captain.

Custer was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the newly commissioned Seventh United States Cavalry, July 28, 1866. On October 11, 1867, at Fort Leavenworth, a court martial found Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant Colonel, 7 th U.S. Cavalry guilty of being absent without leave from his command and "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline" He was sentenced to suspension from rank and command and loss of pay for one year.

He and the 7th were sent to the Plains and stationed at Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota in 1873. The Sioux Campaign began in early 1876. On June 25, 1876, Custer and his unit discovered a Lakota camp along the Bighorn River. Custer divided his regiment into three columns and moved in to attack. Custer and his column were destroyed by a superior force of Lakota warriors. The 7th Cavalry lost 272 men during the battle, almost half the regiment.




1 posted on 07/24/2005 9:22:10 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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To: vox_PL; Bigturbowski; ruoflaw; Bombardier; Steelerfan; SafeReturn; Brad's Gramma; AZamericonnie; ...



"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Sunday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.


2 posted on 07/24/2005 9:23:04 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: All


Showcasing America's finest, and those who betray them!


Please click on the banner above and check out this newly created (and still under construction) website created by FReeper Coop!



Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.





Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.



We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

I realized that our Veterans have no "official" seal, so we created one as part of that recognition. To see what it looks like and the Star that we have dedicated to you, the Veteran, please check out our site.

Veterans Wall of Honor

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NOW UPDATED THROUGH JULY 31st, 2004




The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

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LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

3 posted on 07/24/2005 9:23:29 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
Good morning Snippy.


4 posted on 07/24/2005 9:24:21 AM PDT by Aeronaut (2 Chronicles 7:14.)
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To: snippy_about_it

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.


5 posted on 07/24/2005 9:30:00 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; All


July 24, 2005

Garbage Detail

Read:
1 Peter 5:1-6

All of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility. —1 Peter 5:5

Bible In One Year: Isaiah 52-54

cover It was once my privilege to preach in a church where love and warmth were especially evident. I was impressed by the members' willingness to pitch in and work. On the Sunday I spoke, three services were scheduled. The women of the church had provided a bountiful meal to be served between the meetings for visitors who had traveled a long distance.

Following the dinner, after most of the people had left, I noticed a distinguished-looking couple clearing the tables and dumping the paper plates into large plastic bags. When I complimented them on what they were doing, they said matter-of-factly, "Oh, we're the 'garbage detail.' We volunteered to clean up after every church function. We consider it a ministry."

How wonderful that this man and woman were not only available to serve the Lord, but they humbly did what others might consider demeaning work. These dear people were glad to be what they cheerfully called the "garbage detail."

Some members of the body of Christ are called to serve in places of prominence; others to labor quietly behind the scenes. Regardless of what the Lord asks us to do, let's be willing to do it by serving one another through love, knowing that ultimately we are serving the Lord. —Richard De Haan

There's surely somewhere a lowly place
In earth's harvest fields so wide
Where I may labor through life's short day
For Jesus the Crucified. —Prior

There is no insignificant task in the church.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
The Church We Need

6 posted on 07/24/2005 9:36:58 AM PDT by The Mayor ( Pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends on you.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Iris7; Valin; PAR35
MORNING GLORY FOLKS!

Custer attained, by battlefield commission, the rank of General. However, After the war ended, the commission was revoked and reverted to the rank of Captain.

Custer was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the newly commissioned Seventh United States Cavalry, July 28, 1866.

There was mention of the 7th Calvary by Lt. Col. Hal Moore in "We Were Soldiers". Does the 7th Calvary ever have a "dark cloud" following it due to Custer? Or is that just a passing comment? Just curious.

7 posted on 07/24/2005 9:48:26 AM PDT by w_over_w (If you wash camels for a living . . . which day of the week is "hump day"?)
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To: All

Morning Foxhole


8 posted on 07/24/2005 10:01:16 AM PDT by USMCBOMBGUY (Mad as hell)
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To: All
Seems to me Custer's career was plagued short comings. Flamboyant in life, George Armstrong Custer has remained one of the best-known figures in American history and popular mythology long after his death at the hands of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, and spent much of his childhood with a half-sister in Monroe, Michigan. Immediately after high school he enrolled in West Point, where he utterly failed to distinguish himself in any positive way. Several days after graduating last in his class, he failed in his duty as officer of the guard to stop a fight between two cadets. He was court-martialed and saved from punishment only by the huge need for officers with the outbreak of the Civil War. Custer did unexpectedly well in the Civil War. He fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, and served with panache and distinction in the Virginia and Gettysburg campaigns. Although his units suffered enormously high casualty rates -- even by the standards of the bloody Civil War -- his fearless aggression in battle earned him the respect of his commanding generals and increasingly put him in the public eye. His cavalry units played a critical role in forcing the retreat of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's forces; in gratitude, General Philip Sheridan purchased and made a gift of the Appomatox surrender table to Custer and his wife, Elizabeth Bacon Custer. In July of 1866 Custer was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Cavalry. The next year he led the cavalry in a muddled campaign against the Southern Cheyenne. In late 1867 Custer was court-martialed and suspended from duty for a year for being absent from duty during the campaign. Custer maintained that he was simply being made a scapegoat for a failed campaign, and his old friend General Phil Sheridan agreed, calling Custer back to duty in 1868. In the eyes of the army, Custer redeemed himself by his November 1868 attack on Black Kettle's band on the banks of the Washita River. Custer was sent to the Northern Plains in 1873, where he soon participated in a few small skirmishes with the Lakota in the Yellowstone area. The following year, he lead a 1,200 person expedition to the Black Hills, whose possession the United States had guaranteed the Lakota just six years before.
9 posted on 07/24/2005 10:16:50 AM PDT by USMCBOMBGUY (Mad as hell)
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To: All

Preview didn't help much, I apologize for my formatting, my HTML needs some work.


10 posted on 07/24/2005 10:23:10 AM PDT by USMCBOMBGUY (Mad as hell)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Professional Engineer; alfa6; PhilDragoo; Wneighbor; Samwise; Valin; ...

Good morning/afternoon everyone.

11 posted on 07/24/2005 10:26:38 AM PDT by Soaring Feather (This Little Light of Mine)
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To: snippy_about_it

From:

Wurstfest headliner dies of cancer
http://web.herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?wcd=13383

>>>> The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to a special fund that will be set up to benefit the United Service Organization or USO, which books entertainment for American troops overseas. <<<<

Myron Floren, accordion player on 'The Lawrence Welk Show,' dies
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1449301/posts


12 posted on 07/24/2005 11:00:45 AM PDT by quietolong
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To: snippy_about_it; bentfeather; Samwise; Peanut Gallery; Wneighbor
Good morning ladies. Flag-o-Gram.


13 posted on 07/24/2005 11:02:03 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Dining room, we don't need no stinkin dining room! Classroom space, on the other hand, is valuable.)
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To: bentfeather

Hi miss Feather

Bittygirl has been saying, "tickle, tickle, tickle" the last few days. I've no idea where that came from.


14 posted on 07/24/2005 11:07:27 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Dining room, we don't need no stinkin dining room! Classroom space, on the other hand, is valuable.)
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To: Professional Engineer; snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; All
A Sunday afternoon Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

I wonder if the gents in the F-O-G are going to have to do the FOD walkdown?

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

15 posted on 07/24/2005 11:19:47 AM PDT by alfa6
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To: USMCBOMBGUY
Speaking of Phil Sheridan, Custer's boss, now THERE was a hard boiled egg.

Some folks say that Custer looks like a bipolar disorder, a "manic-depressive". I think we are too far away in time to make such judgments. (Don't like psychobabble history.)

Wouldn't surprise me, though.

I say, so what if he had a peculiar streak. He defeated Jubal Early at Waynesboro, March 28-29 of 1865, where Custer in independent command routed Early's infantry division, capturing 1,500 men, seventeen battle flags, all the Rebel guns, and over two hundred wagons. Custer's total losses were nine men, killed and wounded altogether. Respectable, what? I kind of like the consarned old varmit.

16 posted on 07/24/2005 11:23:47 AM PDT by Iris7 ("What fools these mortals be!" - Puck, in "Midsummer Night's Dream")
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To: snippy_about_it

Morning Snippy, as much as I've read about Custer I don't remember hearing about his Court Martial. I learned something new today. :-)


17 posted on 07/24/2005 11:36:46 AM PDT by SAMWolf (t+h838 *f#*D (SMACK!) MEEYOW!...and STAY off my keyboard!)
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To: SAMWolf; snippy_about_it; alfa6; Valin; Iris7; Peanut Gallery; Darksheare
I brought two coffee mugs home from my visit to the Wisconsin.

Here's the first.

We discovered an interesting feature of the second one. This image taken w/o flash due to mug properties.




18 posted on 07/24/2005 11:43:33 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Dining room, we don't need no stinkin dining room! Classroom space, on the other hand, is valuable.)
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To: alfa6; SAMWolf; Valin
I wonder if the gents in the F-O-G are going to have to do the FOD walkdown?

I had the same thought when I saw the brass on deck. LOL

19 posted on 07/24/2005 11:45:45 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Dining room, we don't need no stinkin dining room! Classroom space, on the other hand, is valuable.)
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To: Iris7

Monument atop Custer Hill

Custer had some success I will give you that. Custer also had some major failings and was very over eager. Many of Custer’s officers were related to him, I wonder if he had some officers who could have tempered his ego if things would have been different. The original plan that Custer blew was sound.


In 1876, Custer was scheduled to lead part of the anti-Lakota expedition, along with Generals John Gibbon and George Crook. He almost didn't make it, however, because his March testimony about Indian Service corruption so infuriated President Ulysses S. Grant that he relieved Custer of his command and replaced him with General Alfred Terry. Popular disgust, however, forced Grant to reverse his decision. Custer went West to meet his destiny.


Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer



Indian village lay on the flats, and amidst the timber, on the west bank of the Little Bighorn River




The original United States plan for defeating the Lakota called for the three forces under the command of Crook, Gibbon, and Custer to trap the bulk of the Lakota and Cheyenne population between them and deal them a crushing defeat. Custer, however, advanced much more quickly than he had been ordered to do, and neared what he thought was a large Indian village on the morning of June 25, 1876. Custer's rapid advance had put him far ahead of Gibbon's slower-moving infantry brigades, and unbeknownst to him, General Crook's forces had been turned back by Crazy Horse and his band at Rosebud Creek.

Sitting Bull
On the verge of what seemed to him a certain and glorious victory for both the United States and himself, Custer ordered an immediate attack on the Indian village. Contemptuous of Indian military prowess, he split his forces into three parts to ensure that fewer Indians would escape. The attack was one the greatest fiascos of the United States Army, as thousands of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors forced Custer's unit back onto a long, dusty ridge parallel to the Little Bighorn, surrounded them, and killed all 210 of them.
Custer's blunders cost him his life but gained him everlasting fame. His defeat at the Little Bighorn made the life of what would have been an obscure 19th century military figure into the subject of countless songs, books and paintings. His widow, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, did what she could to further his reputation, writing laudatory accounts of his life that portrayed him as not only a military genius but also a refined and cultivated man, a patron of the arts, and a budding statesman.
20 posted on 07/24/2005 11:49:36 AM PDT by USMCBOMBGUY (Mad as hell)
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