Was TWC with HQ?

[elisabeth]

DC --

Overinterpretation very possibly; or overspeculation. I did say "maybe". Just testing the ground for other explanations for TWC reporting than his being ADC.

However, what's the difficulty with GAC being "a crappy commander"? Yes, he had started out on the 22nd saying let's work together -- and it so astonished everyone that Wallace said "I do believe the General is going to be killed". This was not his normal style at all.

As early as 1867 Barnitz is describing him as "the most complete example of a petty tyrant I have ever seen" and lamenting his "cruelty to the men, and discourtesy to the officers" -- and he'd started out as a Custer fan.

Agreed, of all the people likely to be scared of Custer, Keogh and Yates come way down the list, as they'd both known him "in the egg", as it were ...

[queensown]

I would imagine it very unlikely any of the officer class would be 'afraid' of Custer, some of the younger officers might have been wary or in awe of him depending on their viewpoint but after all even Custer at his supposed worst would draw the line at maltreatment of a fellow officer.
The enlisted ranks did of course have to tread carefully but that was probably the case in whichever regiment a trooper happened to be serving in.
Sure there were officers that couldn't abide the man but there were also quite a few who got along and indeed were close friends.
Custer could be quite difficult to live/serve with at times and probably those in the 'Custer Clan' were those who were most likely to indulge his more erratic behaviour or turn a blind eye. There were probably also some who would rather keep their own counsel, anything for as peaceful a life of possible, but chose not to have much to do with their commanding officer outside of duty.
Then there are also those types of people who feel they can't ignore or put up with the 'bluster', Benteen been one of the candidates I suppose, which could lead to confrontation.

[blaque]

This may be just another interpretation, as valid as any, but I think the matter about Cooke’s refusal to report the new packtrain escorting of Benteen had nothing to do with fear to the CO. According to Gray’s Horses & Mules to the LBH, "when Captain F. Benteen’s company and two others were cited as least efficient, Custer detailed them to the rear guard the next day, with strict orders to remain behind the very last mule (my emphasis). The testy captain obeyed to the letter, although he grumbled…" Later on, however, he choose to disobey orders (true, offering sound reasons) and ‘escape’ the punishment imposed by his commander. As this left Benteen in a delicate situation, instead of going directly to Custer he first asked Cooke to do the job for him, telling to the adjudant that the report of his infraction of orders "might be sandwiched in as it were in conversation with the commanding officer of the regiment" (Benteen’s Narrative). Cooke refused to perform as Benteen’s shield, hence his sharp reply, Tell him yourself!
It’s my impression that Cooke was not afraid of reporting bad news to Custer, just like Keogh or Yates. The most likely and simple explanation would be that TWC reported the hardtack incident because it was his duty as ADC.

[Dark Cloud]

Was he an ADC? By whose authority, and how long the posting? Did a mere Lt. Colonel merit one? Did it make sense in such a small regiment to fluff out "headquarters" when the companies needed officers?

This is, again, an attempt to backtrack and justify TWC's presence outside his company. Might be true, but damns Custer if it is. There's no evidence.

Most likely, Custer just wanted blood about him, is all. And TWC was his creature regardless of assignment or rank.

[blaque]

I think we should better say that there is compelling but unconclusive evidence on TWC’s attachment to headquarters. Foremost as an “evidence” would be his deathplace, among HQ/left wing officers, widely separated from fellow officers of his own wing and his company’s NCOs. Of course there is another, simpler explanation (other than HQ attachment) to Tom’s presence at LSH: he deserted his wing and his company, either before or after panic set in among Keogh’s command. It is a valid explanation, but we are entitled to question it because TWC himself wrote a letter in May stating he had joined headquarters; because sergeant Hanley of C company told Camp (when questioned about Reno’s scout) that Harrington commanded the troop; because another soldier of C, Thompson, wrote in his account that from the start of the campaign “the captain of our company, Tom Custer, was on his brother’s staff […] and this left Lt. Harrington in command of our company”. Finally we have a letter by Harrington’s daughter, telling of TWC’s assignment to HQ and of his father’s being in command of the troop.
Of course this would be an unofficial, ad hoc appointment, as irregular as those of Boston and Reed and perhaps made with the same purpose: let the family enjoy together the safari (even the Custer women tried to join the expedition!). But if true, it would provide a plausible –and unembarrasing– explanation to the finding of Tom’s body, as well as to some of his actions during the march of the column.

[crzhrs]

Maybe another clue regarding TC's position with his brother at the LBH is: what was his status at the Washita?

OR . . . maybe TC had the priviledge due to his relationship with GC to be able to go where and when he wanted.

PS: Who was older: TC or GC?

[Tricia]

GAC was five and one-half years older, Crzhrs. TWC was born in 1845. Tom would have been a lieutenant at Washita ...

[crzhrs]

Leyton:

So big brother George may have been looking out for little brother Tom and wanted him close by "just in case" . . . even though Tom won the MOHs and from all accounts was not a shrinking violet.

Or maybe Tom just wanted to be where the action was . . . up front with his brother leading the charge . . . and George OK'd it.

Nepotism sometimes overrides protocol, even in the military of that time.

[Tricia]

Yikes ... I totally forgot that TWC was born on the Ides of March! But I don't think there is an actual letter where TWC came out and flatly said he'd "joined headquarters." I believe the missive in question can be interpreted as such, as he said he'd moved his tent to HQ's line, but like all things Custer, there's enough wiggle room to consider other possibilities ... even if that means TWC fleeing the debacle in Henryville.

Yes, Crzhrs, nepotism was alive and well in the Seventh, just like everywhere else. This taboo against nepotism is a relatively modern concept.

[elisabeth]

You're dead right on the "wiggle room"; as blaque said, the evidence is compelling -- but inconclusive.

Did ADCs get paid extra? Because if they did, I think we can bet our boots that TWC's appointment would have been made official. Both Boston and Reed were along not just for the ride, but on the payroll: Boston as a scout (!), and Autie Reed as a herder. So maybe there's something in the financial records that would settle it once and for all: back pay awarded to whoever TWC's heir was, or similar ...?

[blaque]

Elisabeth,
As already pointed out by DC, it seems unlikely that there were “ADC posts” to be filled in a regimental HQ. Usually, ADCs serve in an Army, Corps or Brigade staff, so I suspect we would find nothing if we checked Army financial records. But this brings another possible explanation to Tom’s unusual appointment. Perhaps, when Custer was offered the command of the Dakota column, he made public that Tom wouldn’t be eating dust during the march, but would be next to him as ADC to the Commander in Chief –no doubt with an extra pay for this! Then things went wrong in Washington and he lost command of the expedition; but anyway (fraternal love or wounded pride?) he stuck to his promise and kept Tom at his side, as a sort of unofficial aide.

[Tricia]

Then why would GAC have waited until nearly ten days into the campaign to "promote" Tom to HQ?

[blaque]

Leyton,
The fact that Tom wrote a letter to his niece on May 25, telling of his joining headquarters, doesn’t mean necessarily that the event happened on that very day. But really I don’t know, I’ve not read the letter, only Greenpheon's post about it. Thompson, however, plainly stated that TWC was absent from his company since the start of the campaign.
But let’s speculate! He stayed the first 8 days with his company to check that everything ran smoothly under Harrington.

[Tricia]

Blaque--

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, just pondering aloud. The entire text of the letter to Emma Reed (pertaining to this particular discussion) is located on one of these threads, and the movement of TWC's tent--and that is all that was said, with delicious interpretations--was done along the campaign's route, as I recall.

And as for PT, well, I try to believe him ... a friend of mine would kill me if I didn't!

Regards,
Leyton McLean

[sonofacavalryman]

Researchers have always dismissed GAC's disrespecting TWC in front of Red Star when that scout brought word to Custer of the village from the Crow's nest. However, there is no mention of anyone laughing or that what GAC said was a "joke". Yeah, yeah, I know they played jokes on one another, put that aside for the moment.

I think Custer was dead serious (no pun intended) in the words he spoke to Tom, Red Star, and Bloody Knife that night. I think the two brothers had a falling out, I don't think Tom supported his brother's "plan". I think Custer kept him close for a reason, you may recall his warning during the encampment on the Rosebud that no "grumbling" would be tolerated. Tom was with HQ, no doubt, and not just because GAC wanted "blood" near him. He wanted to keep Tom on a close leash.

Son of a Cavalryman