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Post by elisabeth on Jan 23, 2007 10:16:26 GMT -6
Good point, crzhrs -- there's a more recent Tom Goodrich book of the same name (which I presume is the one you're referring to?).
For rch: if you're after the Edgerly stuff, make sure it's the George M. Clark book you go for.
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Post by crzhrs on Jan 23, 2007 11:39:26 GMT -6
Elizabeth:
Yes it is Tom Goodrich and I would recommend the book to all interested in many of the topics we discussed.
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Post by PhillyBlair on Jan 24, 2007 7:00:41 GMT -6
I stumbled across a reference in a book stating that Libbie had done an interview with Collier's in 1927. Has anyone seen this article? Anyone know how to get a copy of it -- original or otherwise?
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Post by Tricia on Jan 24, 2007 22:29:57 GMT -6
Elisabeth--
Interesting scenario! But regarding Captain Weir, I'm guessing--since it was still so soon after the battle--Libbie might have held the fellow at arm's length, perhaps for two different reasons (I know I'm speculating here--and rankly):
1) Given her widow's devotion and penchant for idealising Autie in her writings, I would think that she might have--finally--taken his earlier, written cautions regarding the fellow seriously ... at least in public.
2) Yet, given Whittaker's almost rabid approach to the captain, one might be able to extrapolate that Libbie was very much interested in what he had to say, and a third party--in the guise of the biographer--was simply her tool for The Truth; Whittaker saved her from what might have been an inappropriate situation given the rigid onstraints of mourning.
We'll never know what important information he had to impart upon the Wounded Thing, but maybe it was--finally--an announcement of his romantic intentions? Hmmm ... that would have been a real let down for students of LBH, so perhaps his untimely end was--historically speaking--for the best. And to compound the problem, perhaps Weir would be reacting to what had been an innocent flirtation on the part of Libbie years before--something that seemed to define both sides of the Custers' pushmepullu marriage, especially around 1870 ...
Just my thoughts. LMC
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Post by elisabeth on Jan 25, 2007 3:44:56 GMT -6
Leyton,
I'm sure you're right that she'd have avoided like the plague any risk of embarrassment in the romantic-intentions line, especially so early on. Not sure if Weir was still carrying a torch for her by this time, unless in a harmless Knight in Shining Armour way; in Summer on the Plains, he's pursuing Annie Roberts pretty devotedly. Who knows who else, later. But yes, safer by far to keep him at arm's length.
Makes a lot of sense, though, that Weir's hints to her of extra knowledge might have been what made her sic Whittaker onto him! Poor Weir; however much of a loose cannon he may have been, he didn't deserve to have his last days plagued by the phony "captain" beating his door down ...
Blair,
I don't know about the Collier's one; but there's one she did for the New York Herald, dated June 25th 1926, that I'm sure I've seen in full somewhere on the web. (It's quoted very briefly in Frost's General Custer's Libbie.) Spent some time yesterday Googling for it, but fruitlessly, so can't give you a link; but maybe somebody else knows? I wouldn't swear that it wasn't posted on this board at one point, but I can't seem to find it. (It didn't have any revelations, but was quite a sweet picture of Libbie in her little-old-lady persona.)
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Post by douglas on Jan 25, 2007 21:09:43 GMT -6
Elizabeth, other than Whittaker being pro Custer, which I suppose is sufficient reason for you, what makes him a phony captain? He was a captain in the 6th New York Cav during the war.
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Post by elisabeth on Jan 26, 2007 4:13:13 GMT -6
Douglas, I haven't made it up -- honest! He was in fact mustered out at the end of the war as a 2nd Lieutenant. He started claiming a brevet captaincy some years later (around the time he began writing for the Army and Navy Journal) but apparently no record of him receiving one exists. It appears he brevetted himself. Here's the first source that comes to hand, citing references: www.niulib.niu.edu/badndp/whittaker_frederick.htmland I understand there are a number of others.
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Post by douglas on Jan 26, 2007 12:44:06 GMT -6
Elizabeth, your information is better than mine. I should have expected it. However, both Gregory Urwin and Louise Barnett refer to Whittaker as a captain, so I was misled.
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Post by rch on Jan 26, 2007 15:10:39 GMT -6
Blair,
Thank you for your very nice offer to send a "loaner," but like any other addict I'll latch on to any excuse to buy another Custer book. The word "free" does intrigue me though. Who can we contact for free stuff at Georgetown?
Elizabeth,
In addition to brevets in the U. S. Volunteers, at least some states issued brevets. I don't know for sure that NY did so, but this may explain the letter from the state senator.
re. Keogh
It would be great to know what provoked Edgerly's reference, which seems to be in response to a question or statement, but it's hard to see what issue of command would arise on the day of the battle.
rch
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Post by PhillyBlair on Jan 26, 2007 16:56:55 GMT -6
rch -- I recall Googling "Edgerly" and "Letters" -- or something like that. It led to the Hein letters at Georgetown (I'm almost sure it was there). I'm not at home now, so I can't check the letter to be sure. I seem to recall other letters, but I'm not positive about that. I know I emailed the university and they sent it to me for free -- no questions asked.
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Post by markland on Jan 26, 2007 17:12:10 GMT -6
rch -- I recall Googling "Edgerly" and "Letters" -- or something like that. It led to the Hein letters at Georgetown (I'm almost sure it was there). I'm not at home now, so I can't check the letter to be sure. I seem to recall other letters, but I'm not positive about that. I know I emailed the university and they sent it to me for free -- no questions asked. Philly & RCH, I think this it. www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/fl/f214%7D1.htmBilly
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Post by elisabeth on Jan 27, 2007 3:10:50 GMT -6
rch, you have a good point there -- hadn't thought of state-conferred brevets. Maybe no researcher has yet checked the New York State Senate archives. If he is genuine, my apologies to his shade. It just seemed so likely, somehow. Whittaker wouldn't be the first or last to embroider his past a little ... (There's that delightful story Utley tells in Custer and Me about turning up one summer to LBH to discover that Captain E.S. Luce had suddenly brevetted himself "Major" with no explanation and no apparent embarrassment!)
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