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Post by elisabeth on Apr 17, 2007 4:12:08 GMT -6
Some fun stuff on the Beecher Island fight. Seems LBH isn't the only event that can be told in any of a hundred conflicting ways ... tinyurl.com/2jr39g
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Post by Scout on Apr 17, 2007 5:12:35 GMT -6
Interesting stuff Elizabeth. I did see a lot of questionable stuff in the account. The Indians made off with Lt. Beecher's body along with the others? Can't say for sure if the narrator actually fought in the battle, it being early morning and me being to lazy to look it up. Usually more men claimed to have fought in these battles than were actually there. I read a great book awhile back on the second battle of Adobe Walls and the author had uncovered some 35 to 40 men who claimed to have fought there but were nothing more than wannabes. A lot of these impostors wrote articles and books about their so called 'adventures.' Jeesh, that sounds kinda familiar doesn't it? And of course, everyone knew Calamity Jane.
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Post by elisabeth on Apr 17, 2007 5:24:48 GMT -6
As a rule, accounts that take the stance that "everyone else is lying, I alone can tell you the true story" are as dodgy as any -- so I don't know how far we can trust this chap. I do like his take on Sharp Grover, though; it sounds entirely believable. Nice to have the gossip about Col. Bankhead, too ...
Somehow this tale of shambolic incompetence rings much more true than the usual "gallant relief party to the rescue" version!
By the way -- you know the story that's often told about someone from the Indian ranks being heard to shout out in good English? Something along the lines of "There's the last damn horse gone, anyway"? In another account, I came across the suggestion that "some historians think" this was a renegade 7th Cavalryman named Jack Clybor. I've not heard this before. Anything known of him, I wonder?
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Post by Dark Cloud on Apr 17, 2007 8:57:29 GMT -6
The young kid Schlessinger wrote a terrific piece later on. He had no qualifications but nagged Forsythe till he was included.
Bear in mind so soon after the Civil War and with high numbers of new name Southerners in the ranks, nobody was thrilled to be rescued by a black cavalry unit in any degree. Proves nada, but bear in mind.
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Post by elisabeth on Apr 17, 2007 11:51:44 GMT -6
You could be right. Though the aspersions here are being cast on the white unit, the 5th Infantry. For interest -- a list of the Forsyth Scouts (Lockard does not appear to be among them) and Carpenter's after-action report: abuffalosoldier.com/forsyth.htm#aacarp
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