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Post by BrokenSword on Nov 23, 2007 19:22:24 GMT -6
I might add that the closest Aunt Sally came to combat was using her wooden spoon to smack the back of some trooper's hand who tried to snatch one of her fresh baked biscuits.
She was also the first female to file a gold mine claim in the Dakota Territory - near Deadwood. During the small pox epidemic there, Aunt Sally nursed and tended the children who fell ill with the disease (Calamity Jane tended ill miners) when, out of fear, nearly all others stayed away from the sick.
She is buried near Deadwood in Galina.
M
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Post by BrokenSword on Nov 23, 2007 20:24:01 GMT -6
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Post by rch on Nov 24, 2007 16:04:46 GMT -6
Diane,
Strikers were differnt from orderlies and orderly trumpeters.
For instance at the RCOI, Davern, who was Reno's orderly on 25 Jun 76, was asked if McIlhargey was Reno's striker and if "striker" meant body servant. He answered "yes" both times. The questions also suggests that the term striker may have been on the way out even in 1876.
Burkman was Custer's striker and was with the pack train. Martin and Dose were orderly trumpeters, Martin did not replace Burkman.
Reno went into the valley fight with a striker, an orderly, a cook, and I think he might have had an orderly trumpeter to sound any calls he might personally order. And since McIlargery was free to be used as a messenger, some other soldier might have been taking care of Reno's spare horses with the pack train. By the WWII I don't think officers, except generals, were allowed enlisted servants, and for generals servants the term "striker" appears to have been replaced by "orderly." I think this is the source of some of the confusion.
Aside from the trumpeters duty to sound calls the duties of orderlies and orderly trumpeters seem to have been the same. A. F. Mulford wrote that trumpeters were used as hitching posts, while Davern at the RCOI was questioned about why he didn't hold Reno's horse when they dismounted in the valley. I think both could be used to carry messages.
Orderlies were usually (but not always) assigned on a temporary basis.
Mrs Custer wrote about the orderlies who would be chosen at the daily Guard Mounts, who would then spend a good part of the day in the hall of the Custer house waiting to be called upon.
In addition to Martin and Dose, Custer might also have had an orderly assigned for the day.
rch
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Post by harpskiddie on Nov 24, 2007 16:33:14 GMT -6
Theodore Goldin.
Gordie, MC who would also have ben an orderly, but his horse gave out....................................
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Post by Scout on Nov 24, 2007 19:33:42 GMT -6
BS...I meant just the 'Custer female orderly' cover up part. Has anyone told Oliver Stone about this?
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 24, 2007 20:58:07 GMT -6
Thanks, rch. My statement about Burkman/Martin was a sloppy simplification because I know that is what a lot of the online info has. If he ran a Google on the topic, he'd see those two names, both referred to as orderlies. I do understand the differences you stated and appreciate your correction, but I could not have explained it as well.
Oh, my stars . . . . I just Googled "Custer's orderly" to make sure that my statement above was correct. The first entry is "www.littlebighorn.info - Custer's orderly was female." THAT is very unfortunate! I just hope people read the entire thread so that we don't perpetuate this myth!
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Post by bc on Nov 24, 2007 21:26:33 GMT -6
I did a word search for 1876 in the McCarthy transcripts and only came up with a page number.
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Post by Rabble on Nov 24, 2007 21:54:17 GMT -6
I did the same, using 1876, Custer and Bighorn without any results - except the page number! Rabble
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 24, 2007 22:01:12 GMT -6
The link Broken Sword provided is for the Executive Sessions. If the original story is true, it sounds as if it took place at the public hearings, and I can't find a transcript of those online.
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Post by bc on Nov 25, 2007 1:33:44 GMT -6
I just looked online at the historical dictionary of the US Army. It uses the term "dog robber" which is used interchangably with striker. A striker was an enlisted man hired as an officer's household servant for an extra 5 or 10 dollars a month at frontier posts due to the shortage and instability of civilian domestic servants. Hiring servants from the ranks was outlawed in 1870 but the practice continued into the 1890s. The soldiers who scorned the strikers refered to them as dog robbers as it implied a willingness to scavenge from animals if necessary to procure needed materials.
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Post by Scout on Nov 25, 2007 8:03:42 GMT -6
To late Diane...another myth has just been born. People will say its true because they read it on the Little Bighorn website!
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Post by BrokenSword on Nov 25, 2007 9:17:20 GMT -6
Sorry if the McCarthy hearing transcripts were a goose chase. I didn't bother looking into them for the 'Top Secret' exchange. Didn't want to deny Scout the thrilling adventure of discovery. Besides, I'm lazy. If the exchange happened (no reason to believe it didn't), it was probably from the McCarthy-Army Hearings. They were covered live on television by ABC and the Dumont Network. Over a month of hearings and two-million words - questions and answers. They probably exist in the form of archived video and, like Diane, I haven't found them transcribed and on the Internet. My research found that there was only one 'Top Secret' file still in existence involving George Custer at the time of the Senate hearings. It was declassified in 1957 and concerned the Major Annie Jones incident (my personal favorite character in the whole Custer saga) that occurred in the American Civil War period. We kicked the whole Major Annie escapade around on some thread here -- somewhere. That was probably the file referred to during the hearings. Given the extremely serious nature of the hearings and the trivial and totally irrelevant nature of the file's contents, it's conceivable that the Secretary's explanation for the classified status wasn't thought by him to be of any importance or interest at all. So, the facts in the file, as he outlined them, were perhaps sloppy in delivery. As the Secretary pretty much said, it was hardly worth the effort required to declassify it. Here's a repeated link anyway: capecodconfidential.com/cccanniejones011230.shtmlM
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 25, 2007 9:57:34 GMT -6
That's got to be it.
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Post by lusty1923 on Nov 25, 2007 15:03:40 GMT -6
I discern a great deal of disbelief about the facts of my posting. I can understand that. However, I can assure you that my memory is quite clear on the subject and that the facts as posted are indeed true. The conclusions of course are up in the air.
I had some reluctance to posting these matters. I had no desire to kick the dead lion. However, I finally concluded that they were a fascinating footnote to history that should not be lost. Since I am getting up to an advanced age and no one else seems to recall the information, I thought I better post it somewhere before it is lost forever with my demise.
It was my hope that someone out there would pick up the baton to confirm and further develop the basic facts.
If anyone out there wishes to carry on this discussion in private off forum, my Email address is Lusty1923@aol.com. I would be glad to hear from you.
Lusty1923
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Post by BrokenSword on Nov 25, 2007 15:20:48 GMT -6
Lusty-
Not doubting your recollections at all. LOTS of the members here are serious student of history types. Many of them have devoured everything written of the Custer subject and believe me - there's nothing they love better than some new info on the subject.
In short they just want to see something in the way of documentation on matters of historical 'record'. As far as theories or ideas based on someone's thinking - they love a new theory. Usually to see if they can shoot it apart. If they can't - they love it better.
Don't hesitate to add anything you know of, or feel you understand about it all. I've taken flight with a number of ideas or statements and had these guys 'wing' me, or shoot me down pretty quickly. It actually doesn't hurt if you really want to learn more about Custer, the Little Bighorn and all things related to it.
I'm a good bit younger than you and would feel priviledged to hear all you know.
Stick around. You did good. VERY good.
M
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