June 10: Reno's Scout: Anxiety or Futility?

[fred]

General Terry returned to the Powder River camp by 10 p.m. the previous evening, slogging through a downpour that lasted virtually his entire 24-mile trip.

What had he accomplished with Colonel Gibbon and what now, does he plan with Custer?

He orders Marcus Reno out on a scout, despite the objections of Custer and presents the major with the following orders:

Headquarters Department of Dakota
In The Field, Camp on Powder River, M.T.
June 10, 1876
Field Special Order No. 11

… 2. Major M.A. Reno, 7th Cavalry, with six companies (right wing) of his regiment and one gun from the Gatling battery, will proceed at the earliest practicable moment to make a reconnaissance of the Powder River from the present camp to the mouth of the Little Powder. From the last named point he will cross to the headwaters of Mizpah Creek, and descend that creek to its junction with the Powder River. Thence, he will cross to Pumpkin Creek and Tongue River, and descend the Tongue to its junction with the Yellowstone, where he may expect to meet the remaining companies of the 7th Cavalry and supplies of subsistence and forage.
Major Reno’s command will be supplied with subsistence for 12 days, and with forage for the same period at the rate of two lbs. of grain per day for each animal.
The guide Mitch Bouyer and 8 Indian scouts, to be detailed by Lt. Col. Custer, will report to Major Reno for duty with this column.
Acting Assistant Surgeon H. R. Porter, is detailed for duty with Major Reno. By command of Brigadier General Terry.

Edw. Smith, CPT, 18th Infantry
Acting Assistant Adjutant General

Anything missing? What do we think Terry's goal is here? Was this scout necessary or was Custer correct? Why didn't the Seventh's commander want to, either (a) lead the scout, or, (b) think it necessary?

What happens to the rest of the command now?

[elisabeth]

June 10: Godfrey notes in his diary, "It has been a subject of conversation among officers why Genl Custer was not in command [of the forthcoming scout] but no solution has yet been arrived at". Suggesting that the decision was Terry's rather than Custer's.

One striking omission from the above order is any direct ban on going to the Rosebud. True that the route is spelled out in enough detail to imply that Reno shouldn't go anywhere else. But the wording as written does not support Terry's and Custer's later claims that Reno disobeyed an explicit order not to go there.

A curious order. On the one hand, the absence of instructions on what to do if he does find Indians implies that's not expected he will: that it's a "where the Indians are not" exercise. On the other, giving him a Gatling gun implies that action is expected.

[fred]

June 10: Rain ended around noon. By 3:30 p.m., Reno was on the road. Moved 8 miles and went into camp.

[elisabeth]

First known 7th Cavalry use of a pack-train. No particular drama reported.

[crzhrs]

Was this Terry's way of punishing Custer and letting him know who's boss?

Custer's history of going over the head of his commanding officer was well known. Terry may have given Reno the mission just to remind Custer he was not in command, Terry was.

While Reno may not have been experienced as Custer he did have Boyer who was one of the best scouts available. Reno may also have been more cautious and not rush to find Indians and fight them. Terry needed info and time to get all units in the field. Reno's smaller command was more in line to scouting than fighting.

[fred]

(1) Did Terry give the mission directly to Reno or did he do so only after Custer refused to lead it? I have read both sides, but don't know the answer.

(2) How does this order and the subsequent fall-out compare with Custer's orders and what he did, plus what would have befallen him had he lived? This is speculative to a certain extent, but requires an analytical answer, as well.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[elisabeth]

Was this Terry's way of punishing Custer and letting him know who's boss?

That's certainly Roger Darling's view, and it seems to make sense ...

OK, Fred, I'll give it a go.

The orders differ from Custer's in (1) being orders -- a numbered order rather than a letter of intent -- and (2) being prescriptive to the nth degree. None the less, if you weed out all the delicate ego-salvaging "he thinks" bits from the Custer order, an equally clear itinerary is laid down. So the intention may be every bit as prescriptive.

By the way, has anyone considered whether the apparent flexibility of the Custer order may have been shaped by what happened with the Reno scout? For all Terry's indignation immediately afterwards, he must quickly have realised that without Reno's divergence they'd have been heading for the wrong place and looking like idiots. So could this reflect Terry's new-found appreciation that a degree of discretion had to be built in?

Re Reno's order specifically:
(1) Same dilemma as mentioned earlier -- no instructions on what to do about Indians if they found them, yet maximum firepower (the Gatling) sent along. Reno can't know (absent other oral orders not recorded) whether he's supposed to attack anything he finds, or simply maintain invisibility and sneak back to report. The size of his command, six companies, suggests action is the more likely expectation. (In which case, no wonder Custer was cross. Imagine if Reno had carried the day, while Custer was just sitting in camp watching mules cavort around. Collapse of Custer ego and Custer career.)
(2) The presence of Boyer and the Indian scouts perhaps suggests the very flexibility that the rest of the order seems to preclude. Boyer is there because he knows the country, and knows the Indians. His value lies in reading sign, in reading likelihoods, and in giving advice. If Reno's supposed to ignore him, he might as well not be there. There had to be some expectation, spoken or not, that things might develop along the way ...
(3) ... In which case (if that's correct) it could indeed be Reno's failure to engage that wins the most ire. By one account (was it Thompson?) it was hard to dissuade Reno from having a go. And with hindsight, who knows, if his six companies had engaged the "mere" 400 lodges, they might have dealt a decisive blow against the hostiles without ever having to confront the massed villages. Also -- though of course Custer couldn't have known this -- any assault by Reno would have come before the morale-boost of the Rosebud fight, which then might never have happened. Not Reno's fault; he took the expert advice at hand. But the "what ifs" are intriguing ...


[Sorry, posted while you were posting the above.]

[crzhrs]

According to Godfrey:

Major Reno was ordered to scout to the forks of the Powder, then across to Mizpah Creek, follow it down to near its confluence with. the Powder; then cross over to Pumpkin Creek, follow it down to the Tongue River, scout up that stream and then rejoin the regiment at the mouth of the Tongue by the time his supplies were exhausted; unless, in the meantime, he should make some discovery that made it necessary to return sooner to make preparations for a pursuit. A supply depot was established at the mouth of the Powder, guarded by the infantry, at which the wagon-train was left.

________

Nothing about attacking, but if he found Indians to return to make preparation for a pursuit.

According to Godfrey Custer marched to the mouth of the Tongue where he camped until the 19th.

Still haven't found why Custer objected or didn't take command for the scout.

[woggiedoug]

Couple of opinions and then a couple of questions

Opinions
The orders called for a recon mission, any such mission has to have the prospect of contact with the enemy but the orders most certainly are not to engage the enemy.

The size of the force seems to be saying 'there are a lot of hostiles somewhere' so 6 companies ... what is that 500 men and some rapid fire artillery ... should be enough to get the job done and not suffer heavy casualties.

Questions
Just what was Custer's objections, was it to Reno or the scout?

Why one large recon force, why not three smaller scouts that would cover more territory?

Is the single recon saying 'we know roughly where they are, just not sure where?'

[woggiedoug]

Agree about the orders not saying anything about an early return neither does it say anything about seeking out the camp and attacking it.

Reno's scout had been out for nine out of the twelve days and yet Custer is less than a day away, that almost makes the scout the advance guard

When Custer arrives at Reno's camp he does not order the regiment on but stays in place. That sounds like a unit taking some R&R.

[crzhrs]

Reno did return after discovering a large village without doing anything about it. One can say his orders did not specify attacking any Indians, but only to scout.

The size of the command, 6 companies, was far less in size than anyone else's in the field including Crook and eventually Custer.

In Custer's later orders Terry eventually said to do as you saw fit: which means scout, fight, attack, come back and report, etc.

Reno had specific orders to scout, nothing about doing anything else.

The gatling gun may have been more for defensive purposes rather than offensive.

When Reno returned Terry chewed him about about jeopardizing the command by going further than ordered. Seems to me, Terry intended Reno to scout and nothing more.

[fred]

harpskiddie said:

In my view, an officer given an independent field command, under orders or not, would be expected to engage the enemy if he found them, unless his orders specifically precluded him from doing so.

Completely agree.

[crzhrs]

True . . . if Reno came across Indians he would engage . . . however, from the orders the primary mission was to scout.

[AZ Ranger]

Shavetails and Bell Sharps
The History of the U.S Army Mule

By Emmett M. Essin

Reno leave with 66 trained pack mules and 24 shavetails (or worse wagon mules)- therefore contained most of the reliable pack mules.

["Hunk" Papa]

I have never read anywhere that Custer was offered the scout but refused. What is the source for that? If that was so then it makes his vitriolic attack on Reno in the last of his New York Herald dispatches totally inexplicable.
In his 'Sad & Terrible Blunder', page 50, Roger Darling writes, "Custer's disappointment at Reno's selection caused him to protest to Terry, '...in no uncertain terms', as one observer put it." Darling quotes no source for this remark, but if it was overheard it refutes the idea that Custer was offered the scout first.
On the same page, Darling also quotes from Godfrey's Diary that the 7th's officers were puzzled that Custer was not commanding the scout.
As there has been some speculation on this thread concerning whether or not Custer was asked and refused it is interesting to compare this verbal scenario with Custer's written orders/instructions of June 22nd.
Without knowing the exact words used by Terry we can only surmise what they might have been:-
Terry: Custer, I (the Brigadier-General Commanding) would like you to lead a reconnaissance of the Powder River, blah, blah.
Custer: Sir, I respectfully decline to do so.

Surely in such a scenario Terry's words are as much an order as what was written in Custer's orders/instructions on June 22nd. If Custer did refuse in these circumstances would he not be accused of refusing a direct order from a superior and liable to a court-martial?
On the other hand, if he is allowed in these circumstances to go against Terry's wishes, why would the same yardstick not apply to the June 22nd document?

As I understand it, an order is an order, verbal or written and if the argument is that Terry was being polite in the way he couched his 'orders' of June 22nd, then however gentle the words were when he approached Custer to lead the scout, they must be construed in the same way as if those that were later written.