|
|
Post by twomoons on Apr 24, 2005 12:29:21 GMT -6
Does anyone know what Sheridan's orders were to Terry, Custer and Crook? Not someone's interpretations of them, but the actual orders themselves?
|
|
|
|
Post by crzhrs on May 3, 2005 17:19:06 GMT -6
After numerous attempts in a number of books regarding Sheridan's "orders" I could only find that he relied on field commanders to plan and implement the locating and fighting of the hostiles.
It is well known that there were secret meetings involving Sheridan, Grant, other high-level officers, and several leading politicians in "sitting up" a war against the remaining free Indians (Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, etc.) accusing them of killing whites, stirring up trouble with Reservation Indians, and causing delays in "civilizing" Indians who signed treaties. The government issued an ultimatum they knew the hostiles could never meet to come in to reservations or be deemed in violation of treaties, thereby the military would "force" them to reservations.
The whole scheme was bogus and the Sioux War of 1876 started out with many failures, incompetency with Crook's command bungling the March attack on He Dog's village, Crook's defeat at the Rosebud and the debacle at the Little Big Horn.
It was only after the tribes separated after the LBH and winter conditions that helped the military force the Indians on to reservations.
|
|
