Congratulations, Fred!

[Tricia]

All--

It appears we have a "celebrity" in our midst--although he is currently on the road--and that's Fred, who has a compelling article in the newest LBHA Research Review. I hope he doesn't charge too much for autographs!

Great job!
Leyton McLean

[Jim]

Leyton,

He's not charging too much -- Just send $10.00 to me and Fred will autograph "WHATEVER" you want on it!

Sein Betriebsleiter!
Jim

[Treasuredude]

jim said:

Leyton,

He's not charging too much -- Just send $10.00 to me and Fred will autograph "WHATEVER" you want on it!

Sein Betriebsleiter!
Jim

I don't know about this Jim. How can I be sure that it's authentic? For all we know, you could be signing Fred's name. ;D

[Jim]

TD,

For that comment, Fred JUST told me to tell you that your autograph just went up to $10.25!?!?

Jim

[d o harris]

Congratulations again, Fred. I just opened the envelope and haven't read your article in the LBHA Research Review, but from a perusal that I do before I read anything, I will agree with what appears to be one of your points: Gerard didn't see anything. He simply re-echoed the information coming from the Ree scouts through Lt. Hare.

One other point I'd make on Gerard, and clearly this is my own unstubstantiated and unconfirmable opinion. When he left Reno to alert Custer he was in fact intent on deserting the mission, of joining Custer as the place of maximum safety.

[fred]

Leyton--

Despite being a denizen of these boards, I never saw this thread until I saw D O's post this evening (3/1/07; (9:20 p.m., EST).

It was very kind of you. Thank you.

Very best wishes,
Fred.

[fred]

D O--

Thank you very much. Coming from you, that is a compliment, indeed.

And I would be very interested in hearing about how you arrived at your theory of Gerard wanting to join Custer's column. What's funny is that in doing the work for this article, my opinion of Gerard rose considerably. I was surprised.

Very best wishes,
Fred.

[d o harris]

As I mentioned, Fred, my opinion regarding Gerard is nothing more than an opinion. But, there is something very peculiar about the incidents that occurred at, or about, ford A.

[crzhrs]

If Gerard was trying to "desert" to Custer . . . he was the only one.

Thompson, Kanipe (possible), and a number of others from Custer's command all seemed to want to get "away" from Custer.

However, Gerard was not a Reno "fan". In fact Reno had fired Gerard and Custer reinstated him.

[d o harris]

Allow me to rephrase. Gerard may not have been anxious to join Custer, but he may have been anxious to unjoin Reno. Again, my opinion, but, without authorization, he did decide to leave Reno's column purportedly to carry information to Custer that likely would have been delivered by Cooke or Keogh.

[crzhrs]

In addition he stayed in the timber rather than making the mad dash to safety. He may have known better than to run from Indians . . . just like Herendeen and Billy Jackson.

Don't know why Dorman and Reynolds decided to run rather than stay in the cover.

[fred]

I don't know, Horse. I think the timber was a real risk and that's one of the reasons I don't condemn Reno for wanting to leave it. Indians were infiltrating, plus they had set portions of it on fire, so I think the guys who stayed behind got lucky. I think many of them got the word late and given their druthers would rather have ridden out w/ the rest of the troops. Reynolds and Dorman were unfortunate. Gerard already had a "price on his head." Sitting Bull knew him and if Sitting Bull did, who knows how many others might have known what he looked like. That may sound far-fetched in 2007, but in 1876, in Gerard's mind, it may not have been. If you missed the first big wave out of the timber, chances were you were not going to make it. What do they say about timing?

Best wishes,
Fred.

[crzhrs]

What I meant was seeing soldiers leaving in a not overly orderly fashion may have led him to believe it would be better to stay concealed rather than fall in at the tail of the fleeing force.

As it was all those who did hide in the timber made it out safely, while those who ran took the brunt of casualties.

Maybe you are right, Girard, et al may have wanted to get out with the soldiers, but being late to hear the word, decided it would be better to lay low.

I believe Herendeen told soldiers who were with him that if they followed his instructions he could get them out safely. Even one of the sgts. said he would shoot anyone who ran or didn't follow instructions.

As for Reno and the safety of the timber . . . if a stout, organized defense was established with disciplined fire, the command would have held out for a while and probably would have been reinforced by Benteen by that time. But the infiltration of a group of warriors firing at Reno & Bloody Knife ended what organization there was.

Timing? Timing is everything . . . and no one at the LBH seemed to be faring very well with timing. Apparently there was no synchronized time frame for coordinated attacks. Reno was to bring them to battle and be supported . . . Benteen was sent out to see what he could find . . . Custer may have altered his support when Crook told him Indians were making a stand, thereby throwing off whatever time frame had been set.

I think the mind-set of of the command was to hit the Indians while they could, but in reality fell into the style of fighting that favored the Indians . . . division of command into small units and be taken out piece meal.

[fred]

crzhrs said:

What I meant was seeing soldiers leaving in a not overly orderly fashion may have led him to believe it would be better to stay concealed rather than fall in at the tail of the fleeing force.

Yep! Agreed.

But there were 2 who either didn't get the word or wouldn't heed it and they died: PVT McGinniss (G) and PVT Armstrong (A).

Best wishes,
Fred.

[d o harris]

Re: Gerard remaining in the woods. It may have happened because he didn't believe the command was attempting a breakout, but a quick charge out to disperse the Indians, and then a quick fall back into the woods.