Henry James Nowland

[Diane Merkel]

Does anyone know if Lt. Nowland (Hammer's spelling), who was on the Far West during LBH, left any papers or letters regarding the stories he heard about the battle or the Seventh in general?

Thanks in advance.

[elisabeth]

I don't know of any Nowlan archive, alas. He'd be a wonderful source if he had committed anything much to paper. But the National Library of Ireland, in its Keogh archive, has microfilm of one long and very touching letter that Nowlan wrote to Keogh's favourite sister Margaret. I had trouble transcribing it completely, as some words were difficult to read, and a page seemed to be missing from the microfilm. The original will by now be in the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage collection in California -- so if any board member is based near there, maybe they could do a better job of transcribing it than I did!

I can't quote it directly without permission from both the NLI and the Autry Museum, which could take forever to get, so I'll have to paraphrase. Much of it, of course, is concerned with Nowlan's relationship with Keogh, his grief, his sympathy for Margaret, promises of help, and suggestions about the eventual funeral arrangements. (It's dated Camp on Yellowstone River, July 15th 1876, when Nowlan knows they've another campaign to get through before the bodies can be recovered for proper burial.) All he says specifically about the battle is that the enemy struck in overwhelming force, and annihilated the command before "we", i.e. the Terry/Gibbon column, could get there; that Keogh was "foremost" among those who died -- well, he would say that, wouldn't he, but he was one of the first to see the bodies, and was a naturally truthful man -- and that he died surrounded by his men, who loved him dearly and showed it by their deaths because not one of them deserted him. (Nowlan's own words are much better than this feeble paraphrase; I really must try and extract permission from the copyright-holders before too long!)

Interestingly, he mentions in this letter that he and Keogh were POWs together in the Civil War -- although when Keogh writes home to his brother about Nowlan joining him at Fort Wallace, in 1867, he says nothing to indicate that they've met before. (Keogh was very ill while a POW, so perhaps wasn't aware of Nowlan at the time.) He also talks about the many Indian fights they've been in together -- which gives the lie both to Benteen, who regarded Nowlan as a useless "coffee-cooler", and to all those who continue to claim Keogh had no Indian-fighting experience!

[elisabeth]

Update: the latest issue of the Custer Association of Great Britain's journal, 'The Crow's Nest' (Vol. 5, no. 2) has Part 1 of a two-part biography of Nowlan, written by Barry C. Johnson. This part covers his life up to his entry into the Civil War. Part 2 will presumably cover his wartime career and his time in the 7th Cavalry, both pre- and post-LBH -- and just might, possibly, answer the question! The first part is meticulously annotated, and I don't doubt that the second will be too. So if there IS a cache of his letters or diaries somewhere, the writer is sure to cite it!

The bad news is: it's a twice-yearly publication, so we shan't get Part 2 until next spring ...

[Melani]

Elizabeth, is there any way for us non-members across the pond to order a copy of this journal? Or do we have to join up? I would love to read the article--in fact, I found this website while doing a web search on Nowlan.

[elisabeth]

A fellow Nowlan fan! Great!

You could try e-mailing them, via the e-mail address that's given on their website -- here's the link:

www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Index.htm

But it's only $15 for US members to join, which is probably not much more than the cost of a back issue. And then you'd be guaranteed Part 2 of the article as well ...

[Melani]

Wonderful! Thanks! I'll send them a check as soon as I get home (goofing off at work).