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Post by elisabeth on Feb 16, 2006 8:26:49 GMT -6
I promise it's true about Yankton, Billy! Garlington's Chronological Sketch of Co. I (which I can't post for the usual tiresome copyright reasons, but it's in the 1973 edition of Barron Brown's Comanche, for anyone who's got that) says they were at Lebanon, Kentucky, until March 2nd 1873, and at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, by April 11th 1873. From there they (and Co. D) went straight to the Northern Boundary Survey escort duty, then wintered at Fort Totten. It's all very nicely spelt out in Roger Darling's Custer's 7th Cavalry Comes to Dakota, as well. So they definitely weren't there!
It's just about conceivable that he could have enlisted under a false name in '72 into one of the other ten companies, then transferred into Co. I at some point after the Black Hills expedition -- perhaps when Co. I came to Fort Lincoln (May 4th 1875, says Garlington) -- and then been found out and discharged. But so many people went under aliases that I'd be surprised to learn it was a discharge-worthy offence; there'd have been no troopers left! However, there don't seem to be any likely candidates in the list of dischargees above; and the only deserters from Co. I were in July '74, which is too early. Problematic.
Funny about the plovers. It sounds as if he expects Libbie to remember that -- and it's a detail I'm sure she doesn't mention in the books. Is it possible that he was at Yankton (and maybe on the Yellowstone/Black Hills expeditions too) but in some sort of civilian capacity? As a packer or herder or whatever, perhaps? Still, if he's using that sort of inside knowledge to tell whoppers convincingly, you'd think he'd know better than to pick Co. I as his alleged 7th Cavalry home. Grrrrrrrr. This man is a real puzzle!
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Post by markland on Feb 3, 2007 11:06:49 GMT -6
Right, the book. It is indeed "our" Benjamin: a compilation of his poetry, with a biographical introduction by two of his grandchildren, George E. Whitehouse, Ph.D., J.D., and Meredith Whitehouse Lorenzen. Their respect for their grandfather is admirable, but a little more scepticism wouldn't have been amiss. There's a smack of "tall tales" about some of his adventures (e.g. in the CW, was due to be shot at dawn for disobedience and foraging, but miraculously reprieved to fight off an attack by Mosby's Raiders; when in the post-war infantry, was tied to a stake and tortured for two days by Geronimo's Apaches, but rescued just in time; that sort of thing) and his claims to have served in the 7th Cavalry are riddled with improbabilities. The story in brief is: he was born in South Berwick, Maine, in 1848 … ran away to join the army as a drummer-boy in 1862 … later promoted to bugler … took part in various battles … wounded three times … was with Sherman on his march to the sea … mustered out in 1865. Two years later, enlisted in the regular infantry … service in Arizona etc … discharged 1870. Two years after that, 1872, enlisted in 7th Cavalry … was in the famous Yankton blizzard … when the 7th went to Fort Lincoln, he became Custer's Chief Trumpeter and orderly … was on the Yellowstone and Black Hills expeditions … was with TWC at the capture of Rain-in-the-Face … his term of service expired just days before the LBH expedition set off … he was going to re-enlist, but took a leave to visit his sister in Ohio first, which is how he was saved from meeting the fate of his comrades at LBH … after that, turned to homesteading … active in GAR and other patriotic organisations, leading parades and addressing meetings etc … finally became a showman, telling stories of his military adventures … after a slight stroke at the age of 84, went into the Old Soldiers' Home in Hot Springs, S.D., where he occupied himself with writing poems and memoirs … died in 1936. We've already addressed one difficulty with this: that in his letter to Mrs Custer, he claims to have been in Co. I -- which was not in the Yankton blizzard, and not on either the Yellowstone or Black Hills expedition. Billy has now done some great work among the records, especially on the Chief Trumpeter claim, and has found plenty more discrepancies … So while there's evidence to back up his CW and regular infantry service, the 7th Cavalry element of his story is beginning to look like fiction! Two additional things re: Whitehouse which I had not posted before (or at least a cursory scan did not pick them up.) First, if he had enlisted in the 7th in 1872, he would have had to enlist for a five-year term of service which means that if he was in the 7th and was discharged prior to LBH, his discharge would have had to be for some other reason than expiration of service. Second, the reference to Geronimo smacks of opportunism by Whitehouse as Geronimo, while undoubtedly a known warrior, doesn't come into public view until 1877 when arrested by John Clum. During the time-frame that Whitehouse was in Arizona, the Chiricahua leader was indisputably Cochise and after Cochise went to the reservation, Victorio. Also, as a personal observation, if someone somehow survived two days of torture by the Apache, my thought is that that person would be mentally and physically wrecked for life. Billy
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Post by elisabeth on Feb 3, 2007 12:14:12 GMT -6
To be fair to the old faker, the "Geronimo" stuff comes from his grandchildrens' intro to the book -- and even they mention Cochise first. But it's easy to imagine that once he started hitting the public-speaking circuit, he might have substituted Geronimo for Cochise, just as a bow to his audience's expectations ... Re the chances of being in anything like one piece, physically or mentally, after such an experience: I'm sure you're absolutely right. He was discharged for disability, of course -- but if that's what caused it, he made a remarkable recovery! My guess would be that he was disabled by something totally unromantic, like an ingrowing toenail or whatever, and parlayed it later into this tale of derring-do.
The 1872 date is curious. If he'd really had anythng to do with the cavalry, he'd have known about the five-year term; if he hadn't, you'd think he'd choose 1873 for his story, on the basis of infantry practice. The grandchildren are pretty shaky on dates, however -- and on facts generally -- so I'm not sure that's conclusive. More so is his total absence from the rolls. If he'd enlisted under an alias, that surely would have given him yet another dramatic story to tell, so I do very much doubt him.
By the way -- reading back over this thread, I think you're right about his "Chief Bugler" claim. That has to refer to his earlier, infantry, service. If he was claiming that role in the 7th Cavalry, he'd be calling himself "Chief Trumpeter". (Assuming he knew that.) And re the plovers: I'd read it at first as referring to the Yankton days -- but it could be read as referring to Fort Lincoln. He's saying he hasn't yet been back to Yankton. Which leads to the thought that maybe he was a civilian in Bismarck at the time? E.g. driving wagons to the post, herding cattle, or whatever? That way, he might know about any plover-breeding programme. Custer and his minions would have been very stern about people riding over their nests. (They're ground-nesting birds.) So maybe that's where he picked up whatever information he had ...
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Post by cwhitehouse on Apr 18, 2017 21:07:29 GMT -6
Hi, I'm related to BF Whitehouse. He was a Bugler. His things and papers were donated by the family to a university museum in South Dakota, I believe. Here's a link with some of his info. He's my great-great grandfather. nsudigital.org/bfwhitehouse
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Post by Diane Merkel on Apr 20, 2017 7:54:01 GMT -6
Thank you for the link.
Diane
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echoe
New Member
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Post by echoe on Jul 27, 2023 20:41:07 GMT -6
Hi. I'm Benjamin Whitehouse's Great Granddaughter. I want to addresss some of the things said here, with the hopes of helpoing things a little.
1. it is' KNOWN by all the family members, including my late aunt Meredith and my late uncle George (Whitey) that their grandfather exaggerated. He awas PAID to be a storyteller. There were ZERO performers (still aren't) who don't exaggerate their exploits/talents to some extent. The biographical beginning was provided by the two of them in order to give readers an idea of who they knew as their grandfather, not to pretend that all of the writings were based 100% in fact without embellishment.
2. Not all records were complete in the era spoken of, and plenty of enlisted members didn't get their names on record for various reasons.
3. to enlist in Custer's army as a FIRST time enlistee one had to agree to a five year term. However, this was not the case for those who'd already served and were temporarily enlisting for whatever reason. Over half of the archives for just Kentucky were destroyed in 1943, others have been lost and damaged as well. The records are incomplete.
kind of to sum things up here, MOST historical records have been exaggerated or have eliminated crucial truths (such as women's contributions, what is the Native Ameircan account of the ethnic cleansing etc? MOST of the men who fought Native americans (Savages) at that time bragged of the number they killed when in fact many may not have killed that many other than in mass shootings after a round up of natives. it is to be expected that at least SOME of his accoujnts are exaggerated, but the letters which were turned over to the museum are a very valuable and crucial part of the mental mechanisms of that time period. People who laud Abe LIncoln, for example< for his freeing of the slaves do not in any way understand his absolute hatred of Native Americans but the account is clear in the letters Mary Todd wrote to my great grandfather.
I would pay more attention to the way in which he speaks. In that era, one did not have to fake a name, he would not have been known having come from the east coast, except in military circles. IF, (and he never mentioned having to change his name to elude anyonen or anything) he had changed his name, well the account of George Mooney actually sounds more likely, because his son's first name was George, his grandsson's first name was also Geroge (the one who contrubuted to this collection) and the family that all of them interacted with were the Mooney's. In fact, my mother (one of the whitehouse sisters) and her youngest sister both married brothers whose last name was Mooney. but what I just said is PURE specuation and not based in any known fact. more likely is that my grandfather had names his son George after Custer. My grandfather (George Whitehouse) died of a stroke when I was 6, I don't remember stories he used to tell, only his big shiny new car with automatic windows (when they did not have them.) He did not tell me stories of his father.
it IS however, worthy of note that Eliizabeth Custer MOSTLY stayed ON the army bases with her husband. she MET WITH most of the men. The buglers in particular as it was their job to play the orders of the leader of battles, and they rode WITH the generals and colonels in order to convey the orders told them via bugle to the rest of the following company. they were not many and they were always front and center. The fact of her writing to my great grandfather lends to the letter being legitimate, as she would have noticed if the man wasn't in the same camps that she was in and would not have written to a man asking after him in a friendly way if she didn't know him as a man who rode next to or near her husband.
I had carried the family copies (each brother and sister recieved a copy of all the letters along with notes from other family members) to my history professor, a friend of Ken Burns. My former professor heads up the Iowa Historical Society. He talked indepth with me about much of the writings, and stated that fact OR fiction, the letters from the Lincolns and the Custers were a true rare gem of findings. Also it was worthy of note that there is a "Uncle Joe" spoken of by B F Whitehouse, and a strong (not as of yet verified) likelihood that this Uncle Joe, also from Maine, was likely the one who was the diary keeper for the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Here's whawt I DO know: my mother and both of my aunts did EXTEENSIVE geneology research along with records research to verify that B. Whitehouse had been to the places he said he had been to. He was part of a circuit of enertainers (think Wild Bill Hickock and Buffalo Bill Cody) because once the west was "won" they dodn't have a whole lot to do. He sang, he gave oration and he did demonstrations of his derring do. Entertainment certainly contains exaggeration for effect.
Once you'd served full time in the armed services in those years, you could join for less than the stupulated timem after that term. It was also a time when a person could serve in the place of another if they were paid by the family who did not want their son joining a military or if the person themselves didn't want to be in the company they were joined to. You could finish the remainder of that person's time. Because the position was paid by the other person or their family, the name was not struck from records and the replacement person't name was not entered in their stead.
we actually HAD the bugle and the musket that he used. We donated it to the museum in his honor in South Dakota along with all of the papers and letters B. Whitehouse entrusted to the family. Prior to that, it hung on the mantle of Aunt Meredi's fireplace. (also a family argument started over who should get to have it.) It had no keys like trumpets have, to change notes. the note changes were solely done on the bugle by embouchere.
There was a family argument regarding who should have the papers, so they were turned over to the museum. My aunt Meredith was a journalist and was working on the papers, but not fast enough for my uncle George who was a law professor, and also a journalist and who himself served many many years in the Air Force retiring as Lt. Colonel and having fulfilled all of the requirements to be buried at Arlington. Their other brother (my uncle) Jack, is also buried at ARlingtong also havoing served until hew as retured as Lt. Colonel for the air force. (they competed as brothers.) Jack, also taught the Blue Angels out of Pensacola after retirement for many years. The family is deeply military.
The letters were verifed as legitimate by experts regarding Abe Lincoln, Mary Todd LIncoln and Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon Custer, who was no idiot, she was a speaker, and an author. She had met Benjamin Whitehouse WHILE HE SERVED. There were few correspondents left towards the end of Benjamin Whitehouse's life, and he had planned on turning over the bugle and musket to Mrs. Custer for historical preservation purposes, but she died before my great grandfather. She passed away in 1933, and he passed away in 1936. My mother, Evelyn (nee) Whitehouse, was born 2 years after B.J. Whithouse and was the most vocal of skepticism. However, Meretith was 10 yaers my mother's senior and had an 8 year old's memory of her grandfather. Whitey, (my uncle George) also had a young child's memory of his grandfather. Both however, were very good with research and acknowledging errors of fact (many papers were eliminated for that reason from donation or from the copies the family received.) Meredith had a strong sense of journalistic integrity. I remember clearly the year they set off on the literal multi0country journey to track down the family geneology history. I was living in Connecticut and they stayed with me on their way to Maine to verify the records in South Berwich.
as for the titles: trumpeterr vs. bugler. no, in fact they were called buglers. taps is played by a bugler. The army has, to this day, a bugle corps. they have an orchestra too, but that is not part and parcel to the bugle corps. They also have a drum corps. If it is a band member, it is called ARmy Cornet or Trumpet Enlisted.
lastly, while I don't believe the accoujnt of having been tortured by apaches (Benjamin Whitehouse's account) it is completelyh untrue that people could have been mentally or phusically incapacitated after torture. Loads of people suffer tortures of various kinds and still manage to live a semblance of a normal life. One has only to go to a refugee camp to hear the stories of torture. Or even speak with Jews who survived the concentration camps (they're not many now, but the children who were in camps and suffered torture do still have their accounts to talk about.
I've met with many war veterans (my grandfather in law was part of the french resistance in WWII and had his own lively talkes wtith which I kept an ear out for the embellishment, but my grandmother in law would verity much (not all) and shew as a stickler for the truth. People survive torture. and they don't necessarily become incapacitated for an every day existence, it doesn't mean thy don't suffer mental or physical scarring, but it doesn't mean that they are permanently incapable of employment or normal existence.
thank you. I still havea great deal more of my own research to do. There remain only 2 Whitehouse grandchildren on the George Whitehouse side of the family (not Jr. which is the one who wrote the biography introduction.)
The book was never meant as a historically factual recording of the Indian Wars, but as a collection of OUR Benjamin) and compliation of his songs, poems, and writings, as well as the remarkable letters from the wives of notable leaders, and the president of the U.S. at the time.
Echoe LaCaille (I was nee Mooney) Great Grandaughter of Benjamin Franklin Whitehouse.
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echoe
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Post by echoe on Jul 27, 2023 20:49:10 GMT -6
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Post by Diane Merkel on Jul 28, 2023 8:48:46 GMT -6
Echoe,
Thank you very much for taking the time to post all of that information. It will take a while to digest it all.
I didn't remember this thread at all, but it made me sad. Several who posted here -- Elisabeth Kimber, Scout (Mike Nunnally), and Billy Markland -- were great contributors to these boards and are missed by all who knew them. This thread was started when the boards were at their best.
Best wishes, Diane
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