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Post by Melani on Aug 2, 2006 23:34:01 GMT -6
I believe Dr. Porter had a good look at the officers only, and took locks of hair for their families where possible. They would rightly have been more concerned with treating the wounded.
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Post by armand on Aug 3, 2006 1:59:54 GMT -6
I seem to remember an interesting remark by Taylor, reflecting on why Custer's body wasn't brought along when the troops left the battlefield. Apparently,at the time , the survivors of the 7th felt that Custer had abandoned them (quite natural, given the circumstances - could it also have been, 'Hey, he's not the demi-god we believed he was; he got us into this and was rude enough to get himself killed') and were not inclined to take charge of his remains. Taylor and others later changed their minds, but his remarks are indicative of a sort of post-shock resentment.
Has there ever been any project to check Custer's purported remains to determine whether or not they are his? Jesse James recently got the DNA treatment and was properly confirmed as being himself (as well as enjoying a second dress-funeral in Confederate gray), so it would not seem disrespectful. Maybe people are genuinely worried about the results . It could lead, couldn't it, to sifting through all the bones in the mass grave. Interesting, in a few years we might be able to contemplate the faces of the whole battalion. Imagine a reconstruction of GAC's features on a par with those of Lieutenant Dixon's, of Hunley fame.
True, that battlefield must have been horrific: this is something no movie will ever try to depict (unless they get Wes Craven to do it).
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Post by crzhrs on Aug 3, 2006 6:55:57 GMT -6
Custer's "remains" brought back to West Point may in fact be a hodge podge of all who were buried . . . "his" remains were dug up a year later(?) and brought to West Point. More than likely it was a symbolic burial more than anything else.
I read that someone on the expedition to return remains stated that they were upset that they couldn't tell whose remains were whose.
DNA would be great IF the remains were in fact Custer's . . . my opinion is his remains should stay where he fell . . . far more of an effect for all those who go to the LBH.
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Post by Tricia on Aug 3, 2006 8:20:06 GMT -6
Here's kind of a interesting twist. As I recall, TWC and GAC were buried together (though I realise TWC was almost unrecognisable) on the battlefield in a blanket, so perhaps the remains--due to their advanced state of deterioration at the time of the reburial party--at West Point belong to TWC, fulfilling GAC's famous quote, "he should have been the general and I the captain?"
And wouldn't the DNA show it was Custer, but not whom?
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Post by Tricia on Aug 3, 2006 8:27:30 GMT -6
my opinion is his remains should stay where he fell . . . far more of an effect for all those who go to the LBH. Crzhrs-- I'm certain some of GAC is under that obelisk ...
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Post by crzhrs on Aug 3, 2006 8:56:43 GMT -6
Leyton:
I'm also certain "part" of GAC is still buried somewhere on LSH . . . so yes he is still there.
Sorta like "I left my heart in Montana . . ." a la Tony Bennet
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Post by Tricia on Aug 3, 2006 10:13:33 GMT -6
Actually, I think Tom left his heart ...
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Post by crzhrs on Aug 3, 2006 10:59:48 GMT -6
I think Rain-in-the-Face had it smothered in onion and a little chablis . . .
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Post by Melani on Aug 3, 2006 12:08:14 GMT -6
Yuck! you guys are baaad.
Probably there are little pieces of everybody still around the battlefield. Remember Mike Sheridan's comment--"...it's all right as long as they think so." I think he was right. I realize that Victorians set a great deal of store by physical relics and graves and such, but I personally think it doesn't really matter so much which piece of the earth you end up fertilizing as for people to have a place to go to remember you. I wouldn't want to disturb all those guys now just to prove what we can already guess--that everyone is mixed up and scattered.
What worries me a little more is the feeling that their spirits are all stuck there until...what? Total forgiveness on both sides? It's definitely a very haunted place.
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Post by Tricia on Aug 3, 2006 12:46:37 GMT -6
I think Rain-in-the-Face had it smothered in onion and a little chablis . . . Naah, I'd recommend either a Merlot or Cabernet Savignon for the sautee liquid. Perhaps make a nice dark roux before adding the onion and meat. Makes the sauce a little richer. I think some Minibellas would offer a nice flavor and texture ... ;D
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Post by crzhrs on Aug 3, 2006 13:04:57 GMT -6
I've decided to become a vegetarian . . . tofu anyone?
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