Corporal Charles Coleman, Co. F

[Diane Merkel]

From a website visitor:

Is there any record of Coleman's body being identified or found on Last Stand Hill? Coleman was killed on June 25th, and I am attempting to pinpoint location if possible along with any other info on this trooper. Any information as to family, etc., will also be appreciated.

[sholem]

Diane -
I'm a new member to the Board and just found your post.
I am also interested in Corporal Charles Coleman who I believed
enlisted in or is from Terre Haute, Indiana. Any data that you
found regarding him would be very interesting to me. I'm trying
to determine if "Charles Coleman" is actually an alias of
my ancestor.
Please contact me to discuss and share info: [e-mail]
Best,
Dan Sholem

[tubman13]

May 9, 2014 20:39:48 GMT -6 sholem said:

Diane -
I'm a new member to the Board and just found your post.
I am also interested in Corporal Charles Coleman who I believed
enlisted in or is from Terre Haute, Indiana. Any data that you
found regarding him would be very interesting to me. I'm trying
to determine if "Charles Coleman" is actually an alias of
my ancestor.
Please contact me to discuss and share info: [e-mail]
Best,
Dan Sholem

Dan, I can only add his date of enlistment date, 9/9/73. Fred Wagner's book might give you some more.

Regards,

Tom

[fred]

There were two Colemans at the Little Big Horn...

Coleman, CPL Charles—b. Terre Haute, IN, 1851 – d. June 25, 1876, killed at the Little Big Horn. Company F, corporal. Blue eyes, dark hair, ruddy complexion; 5’ 5¼” tall. Enlisted on September 9, 1873. In all likelihood he was killed on Last Stand Hill with his unit. Listed number 93 in “June Returns, Alterations… Killed in action.”

Coleman, PVT Thomas W. — b. Troy, NY, December 25, 1849 – d. Sawtelle, CA, November 30, 1921. Company B, private. Gray eyes, brown hair, fair complexion; 5’ 5 1/8” tall. Enlisted from some time in 1861 in 5th MI Volunteers as an assistant to the surgeon. Enlisted from June 4, 1864 to May 31, 1865, in the U. S. Navy. Enlisted June 4, 1872, in Seventh Cavalry. In Yellowstone and Black Hills expeditions. Coleman kept a diary of the 1876 campaign and recorded much earlier times than LT Wallace’s official times. Claims to have buried LT Hodgson on June 27, 1876, east of the LBH under a cedar tree on a knoll overlooking the river. Close—the description appears on the money—but Coleman is not mentioned by McDougall to Walter Camp as being one of those who helped bury Hodgson. Wrote that Custer always intended to cross the LBH at Ford D: “(Custer) ordered ‘Reno to charge the village at the upper end and he would go down and ford it at the lower end in order to cut them’” [Liddic, Vanishing Victory, p. 147]. Liddic says this had to be second-hand information, at best. Buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery.


The best we can do is place him on Last Stand Hill, because that's where the majority of F Company troopers were killed. I have done a study of the markers and bodies, and I have placed him at marker 61... but be aware, that is an arbitrary placement. In my opinion, it is the best we can do.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[justvisiting]

May 9, 2014 20:39:48 GMT -6 sholem said:

Diane -
I'm a new member to the Board and just found your post.
I am also interested in Corporal Charles Coleman who I believed
enlisted in or is from Terre Haute, Indiana. Any data that you
found regarding him would be very interesting to me. I'm trying
to determine if "Charles Coleman" is actually an alias of
my ancestor.
Please contact me to discuss and share info: [e-mail]
Best,
Dan Sholem

Dan, I've looked in the various returns as well as the Letters Received by the Adjutant General's Office and have found no mention of Sholem. I took a look in the 1870 U.S. census and there is a Charles Coleman aged 22 in, I seem to recollect, Vigo County. Anyway, the final statement of Corporal Coleman can be downloaded in PDF format from this link: freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~familyinformation/Custer/Charles_Coleman_Final_Statement.pdf

Regarding the various A.G.O. numbers given, they are a dead-end. My suggestion to you would be to contact the National Archives to see if they have records from the Second Auditor's Office regarding payments of his withheld pay to a claimant.

Best of wishes,

Billy