Benjamin Whitehouse

[Diane Merkel]

From a website visitor:

We are seeking information on one Benjamin Whitehouse who apparently once served in the 7th Regiment; according to a letter he wrote to Mrs. Custer in 1927 he was in Captain Keogh's Company I; he spoke of the blizzard at Yankton in April 1873; and he mentioned escaping the fate of Company I at the Little Big Horn by having been mustered out of service at Fort Lincoln shortly before the event.

We have perused Benjamin Whitehouse's Civil War and military pension files, but there is no mention in them of his service in the 7th Regiment US Cavalry -- only in Co. C, 1st Ohio Heavy Artillery during the War, and in Co. B, 14th Regiment US Infantry from 1867 to 1870. Would you have any idea why the 7th Regiment isn't mentioned in his pension records? Could he have been employed as a mercenary while in the 7th?

[elisabeth]

Interesting. He could have been enlisted under a false name, as so many were -- but there's something fishy here. Surely he shouldn't have been in the blizzard at Yankton in '73 if he was in Co. I? Because they and Co. D were detached from the rest even as they left Kentucky, and went with Sturgis to ... er ... Fort Snelling, I think? en route to escorting the North-West Boundary Survey party. Sounds to me as if he's making it up.

By 1927, he'd have had ample opportunity to read Libbie's account of the blizzard.

[Diane Merkel]

Thanks for your feedback, Elisabeth. The Blessed Saint Billy checked the regimental returns and discharges -- for four hours, making a multitude of copies and ingesting several Excedrin -- and found no evidence of anyone named Whitehouse from January 1875 through the beginning of the campaign. I believe we can say this case is closed with the assertions proven invalid except, of course, if Whitehouse served under an alias, which we will probably never know for sure.

Poor Libbie. I wonder how many people took up her precious time in this manner.

Thank you Elisabeth and Saint Billy!

Diane

[elisabeth]

Diane, you've really touched on something there. There seemed to be swarms of these people writing to her with improbable stories. What did they hope to gain? An autograph? Money? Her influence to get them a pension? Or was it pathological -- a form of celebrity stalking? It'd make a fascinating book. A nice follow-up to the "sole survivors" one, perhaps!

[Scout]

Liz,

Yes, I would say pathological for sure and the notoriety. Many of these men lived non-eventful and ordinary lives, probably with very little achievement in it. People payed attention when they came out with these stories and a great many had believers. Lorenzo Chapman, who was one of many who claimed to have escaped last stand hill, made appearances at fairs and carnivals signing autographs and even ended up in a silent movie, 'Custer's Last Scout.' Wish I could get my hands on that movie. He was quite sucessful for awhile until Godfrey 'outted' him. Many though, had stories so outrageous that the newspaper covered them just for that reason. There is a book out on the thousands and thousands of men who claim to have fought in Vietnam but weren't even in the service. The actor Brian Dennehy was one of these exposed in the book along with the pastor of the biggest church in Dallas, Tx. Several years ago the manager of the Toronto Bluejays was fired after claiming to be a decorated Vietnam vet, but some research showed he had never been in the service. The 'sole survivor' is the 19th century of the present 'Vietnam vet' stories, just a different era. I suppose they will always be around. The really interesting side of the LBH is the number of men who fought there who made up some real whoppers: Goldin, Kanipe, Thompson, Pigford and several others embellished their roles and what they didn't make up the newspapers did. There were stories in papers that called Martini and White Swan...sole survivors. These men never made that claim, but the papers probably thought it would sell better, so they did it for them.

[elisabeth]

The Vietnam vet book sounds fascinating!

Yes, I suppose it's easy to understand people latching onto LBH as a way of gaining celebrity. And even the chaps who were there embellishing their roles. Something very, very strange, though, about the people who don't go public, but merely write to the grieving widow ... Pretty creepy, really!

[markland]

admin said:

The Blessed Saint Billy...

Diane

The "blessed Saint Billy"? Hear that Fred? I am in-line for beautification (and looking at my face when shaving in the morning makes me hope the line is not too long)! And you? Just another snowbird.

But, busting Fred aside, I am working on a email to you and Elisabeth with the results of the records search. Since I am taking this afternoon off and have gotten my new company credit card, reserved a car and hotel room, I am going to leave soon and hit either the Archives or Leavenworth. If the Archves, I want to hunt down Whitehouse's pension application to see if there is anything scribbled on the index card which may be a clue. I also want to look at his original enlistment data in the Regular Army Enlistments Register.

Now to figure out where the heck Farmington, Missouri is and how you get there!

Billy

[markland]

admin said:

From a website visitor:

We are seeking information on one Benjamin Whitehouse who apparently once served in the 7th Regiment; according to a letter he wrote to Mrs. Custer in 1927 he was in Captain Keogh's Company I; he spoke of the blizzard at Yankton in April 1873; and he mentioned escaping the fate of Company I at the Little Big Horn by having been mustered out of service at Fort Lincoln shortly before the event.

We have perused Benjamin Whitehouse's Civil War and military pension files, but there is no mention in them of his service in the 7th Regiment US Cavalry -- only in Co. C, 1st Ohio Heavy Artillery during the War, and in Co. B, 14th Regiment US Infantry from 1867 to 1870. Would you have any idea why the 7th Regiment isn't mentioned in his pension records? Could he have been employed as a mercenary while in the 7th?

Hmmm, I looked in the 1867 enlistment register today and could not find Benjamin. If he reenlisted under an assumed name, I understand why he did not publicize it as he was discharged from the 14th Infantry due to a Surgeon's Certificate of disability prior to his original (assumption here) 3 year enlistment expiring.

*growl* Benjamin is worrying me to death for some strange reason...I will get back to him next week once the trip for work is completed.

Best of wishes,

Billy

[elisabeth]

Billy, there could be help at hand from an unexpected source -- the mysterious Mr. Whitehouse himself!

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587217112/202-2328632-0452604

This is a book called "Poetry of a Patriot", subtitled "Benjamin Franklin Whitehouse, 1848--1936" (right age, right middle initial), and the cover describes him as "Civil War Veteran, Indian Campaign Veteran, Frontiersman, Homesteader, Poet". And, as a clincher, the cover art shows him as a bugler. This must be our man, I think!!!

P.S. As it's popped up on Amazon UK, I've just ordered it. (It sounds nice, in any case.) Allegedly should get to me 'within 2 business days". Maybe it'll solve the mystery!

[elisabeth]

Right, the book. It is indeed "our" Benjamin: a compilation of his poetry, with a biographical introduction by two of his grandchildren, George E. Whitehouse, Ph.D., J.D., and Meredith Whitehouse Lorenzen.

Their respect for their grandfather is admirable, but a little more scepticism wouldn't have been amiss. There's a smack of "tall tales" about some of his adventures (e.g. in the CW, was due to be shot at dawn for disobedience and foraging, but miraculously reprieved to fight off an attack by Mosby's Raiders; when in the post-war infantry, was tied to a stake and tortured for two days by Geronimo's Apaches, but rescued just in time; that sort of thing) and his claims to have served in the 7th Cavalry are riddled with improbabilities.

The story in brief is: he was born in South Berwick, Maine, in 1848 … ran away to join the army as a drummer-boy in 1862 … later promoted to bugler … took part in various battles … wounded three times … was with Sherman on his march to the sea … mustered out in 1865. Two years later, enlisted in the regular infantry … service in Arizona etc … discharged 1870. Two years after that, 1872, enlisted in 7th Cavalry … was in the famous Yankton blizzard … when the 7th went to Fort Lincoln, he became Custer's Chief Trumpeter and orderly … was on the Yellowstone and Black Hills expeditions … was with TWC at the capture of Rain-in-the-Face … his term of service expired just days before the LBH expedition set off … he was going to re-enlist, but took a leave to visit his sister in Ohio first, which is how he was saved from meeting the fate of his comrades at LBH … after that, turned to homesteading … active in GAR and other patriotic organisations, leading parades and addressing meetings etc … finally became a showman, telling stories of his military adventures … after a slight stroke at the age of 84, went into the Old Soldiers' Home in Hot Springs, S.D., where he occupied himself with writing poems and memoirs … died in 1936.

We've already addressed one difficulty with this: that in his letter to Mrs Custer, he claims to have been in Co. I -- which was not in the Yankton blizzard, and not on either the Yellowstone or Black Hills expedition. Billy has now done some great work among the records, especially on the Chief Trumpeter claim, and has found plenty more discrepancies …

So while there's evidence to back up his CW and regular infantry service, the 7th Cavalry element of his story is beginning to look like fiction!

[markland]

Well, one thing that had bothered me was the 1867 enlistment so I went back through it and discovered that the one extremely faded out entry which I had looked over was in fact dear Benjamin. Here is his 1867 enlistment data:

Benjamin Whitehouse, age 21 years, enlisted June 22, 1867 in Portsmouth, Maine and his place of residence is South Berwick, Maine. His former occumpation is given as a painter. He had grey eyes, light colored hair and a fair complexion. His height was 5 feet and [unreadable] 3/4 inches. He was assigned to Co. "B", 14th Infantry. The disposition of his enlistment was that he was discharged due to disability on March 25, 1870 from Chattanooga, TN with the rank of Musician.

The pension card for Whitehouse only lists his service in the 14th Infantry.

As far as being chief trumpeter to the 7th, if he served, he obviously had a different name. I went through the "Losses" portion of the 7th's Regimental Returns to determine which men had left the regiment prior to LBH and selected the trumpeters/musicians. Here are the results from newest to oldest.

Here is the naming convention I use for regimental returns: Regimental number, initial of the branch of the Army, RR [regimental return], month, date. Thus 7CRR0575 equates to 7th Cavalry Regimental
Return for May, 1875.

As far as the claim of being discharged prior to the expedition's leaving, I went through the 7CRR0676 return and picked up the losses, which were:
Corporal John F. Cody, Co. "A" discharged due to expiration of service on June 22, 1876 from Ft. Lincoln. Two troopers obviously swapped companies:
Pvt. William [H.?] Chapman from Co. "B" to Co. "E", 7th Cav.
Pvt. Michael Crowe from Co. "E" to Co. "B", 7th Cav.

In Chapman's case, out of the frying pan into the fire!

On the 7CRR0576, the losses for discharge, etc. were:

Sgt. Patrick Corrine?, Co. "A" discharged due to expiration of service on May 29, 1876 from Ft. Lincoln.
Pvt. Clarence F. Day, Co. "D", same reason, May 18, 1876 from Ft. Lincoln.

The following were discharged due to disability-which given Whitehouse's previous service may be worth looking into:

Pvt. Edwin Grant, Co. "A", May 8, 1876 Ft. Lincoln.
Pvt. Rufus C. Pickering, Co. "A", May 11, 1876 Ft. Lincoln.
Pvt. Charles Hayward, Co. "A", May 14, 1876 Ft. Lincoln.
Pvt. James McElroy, Co. "D", May 8, 1876 Ft. Lincoln.
Pvt. John Boggs, Co. "H", May 15, 1876 Ft. Lincoln.
Pvt. John F. Dessauer/Dessaner, Co. "I", May 14, 1876 Ft. Lincoln. Note: He was a former Commissary Sgt. who was demoted by General Court-Martial.
Pvt. Peter Jacobs, Co. "K", April 18, 1876 Mt. Comb City [state not given].

Discharged due to general court-martial was:

Pvt. Charles A. Steck, Co. "C", May 10, 1876 Ft. Lincoln pursuant to G. C. M. O. #49, Dept. of the Dakota, 1874 [sic]. He must of been serving some stockade time prior to his being discharged.

Discharged by order:

Pvt. Charles DeMoss, Co. "A", May 14, 1876 Ft. Lincoln.

Also on the 7CRR0576 return, Henry Voss is appointed chief trumpeter of the 7th Cav. on May 8 per General Order 67. I assume that the G. O. originated in the 7th (the issuing headquarters was cut-off while copying).

7CRR0276 shows Trumpeter Lewis W. Hill, Co. "B" as being discharged from Shreveport, LA on February 1, 1876 due to expiration of service.

Hmmm...on 7CRR0176 they had this interesting tid-bit about Voss. "His resignation as Chief Trumpeter 7th Cav. accepted. He was transferred [to Co. "E"] per G.O. Hd. Qrs. 7 Cav. 1876."

On the 7CRR0775 returns I had copied "Gains" to the regiment. They received as a recruit from the recruiting depot one trumpeter: George A. Mooney who was assigned to Co. "E" while in the field on July 1,
1875. Another trumpeter, Thomas McElroy re-enlisted in Co. "E" at Ft. Randall, D. T. on July 3, 1875. Also, we had Trumpeter William J. Kline, Co. "L" disharged due to expiration of service on July 19, 1875 from Ft. Lincoln, D. T.

7CRR0675 has three new trumpeters arriving from the recruiting depot on May 14, 1875. Their names,assigned companies and company locations are: William G. Hardy, Co. "A", Ft. Randall, D. T.; John McGucker, Co. "I", Ft. Lincoln, D. T.; Christian Schlafer, Co. "K", Colfax, LA.

Trumpeters galore on 7CRR0575! We have discharged due to expiration of service Cassius R. Carter, Co. "F", from Ft. Lincoln, D. T. on May 23, 1875 and, for the same reason, Asa Boynton of Co. "G", from Shreveport, LA on May 30, 1875. Another trumpeter, John Rubin, Co."M" was
discharged by sentence of General Court-Martial on April 24, 1875 from Newport Barracks, KY.

Voss again. The 7CRR0475 indicates that he was appointed chief trumpeter on April 24, 1875 at Ft. Lincoln, D. T. His previous assignment had been listed as "Unassigned".

7CRR0175 has one Henry Fredericks, Trumpeter, Co. "E" discharged on January 13, 1875 due to expiration of service. He was discharged while in Opelika?, AL.

7CRR1174 indicates that Chief Trumpeter James Ryan was discharged due to expiration of service from Ft. Lincoln on November 12, 1874. Trumpeters Thomas Nolan and Frank Chacon were also discharged due to expiration of service; respectively from: Co. "C", November 9, 1874 from Ft. Rice and Co. "M", November 9, 1874 from Ft. Rice.

7CRR0974 is a ugly copy. Trumpeter Charles Pfeffer?, Co. "F?" was discharged due to expiration of service on Sept. 9, 1874 while in Ft. Lincoln, D. T.

7CRR0874 indicates that Trumpeter Thomas McDonald, Co. "A" deserted on August 11, 1874 from St. Louis, MO while awaiting trial?-sorry, that portion cut-off of copy.

7CRR0774 has one trumpeter, Henry Wilson, Co. "F" transferring on June 23, 1874 from the 7th Cav. to Co. "D", 3d [Cav.?-cut-off on copying again...]. Also, Trumpeter Henry C. Searles, Co. "I" deserted on July 17, 1874 from Box Elder Creek, Montana Territory. Note: three other men deserted on that date from the same location. Three of the four were from Co. "I" and the other man was from Co. "D".

7CRR0674 shows Trumpeter John Ruben, Co. "H" deserted on June 20, 1874 from Ft. Rice, D. T.

7CRR0574 has Trumpeter Frederick Eckart of Co. "A" being discharged due to expiration of service from Ft. Lincoln, D. T. on May 19, 1874.

Lordy, a bunch of stuff from 7CRR0474. Trumpeter Francis Brocard, Co. "K" was discharged upon expiration of service from Ft. Lincoln, D.T. on April 15, 1874. Chief Trumpeter Peter Wilson was discharged by reason of disability from Ft. Lincoln, D. T. on April 29, 1874. Trumpeter Willis K. Kendig was discharged "by order" from Ft. Bayard, NM on April 3, 1874 per Special Order 72, Adjutant General's Office. Finally, Trumpeter Peter Bouchard, Co. "B" died from "brain fever" on April 18, 1874 at Ft. Lincoln, D. T.

There, more than anyone ever wanted to know.

Billy

[Diane Merkel]

I have been given permission to post the letter which started all of this! Many thanks to John Kruesel of John Kruesel's General Merchandise & Auction Company in Rochester, Minnesota.

Frederick S.D. Sept. 1927

My Dear Mrs Custer, it done my old heart good to reseive your kind letter dated July 30th. It found me pretty well considering but I sinserly hope this will find you well. About a year ago I had a light stroke of Paralysis. While I feel better I am not well. Still I try to be cheerful and look on the bright side. I do not do enny work and have plenty of time to reflect. I seem to live in the past and love to think back over my past life, and recall some of the old comrades i once knew in the 60s and 70s. But most of them are gone, and can not seam to find any one that was with me in the 70. Of coarse my company, I, Capt. Keogh was distroyed in the Big Horn battle, and I would have met the same fate if I had not been discharged at old Fort Lincoln a short time before. Sergent John Ryan of troupe M Capt French used to write to me quite often. He died, I have been told, at his home near Boston, Mass. a year or two ago. You must have known him for he was with the 7th ten years. I reseved a letter from Zell Godfrey some time ago in answer to a letter I had written to him whear he said, he was pleased after reading my letter to find I was not setting myself up as a hero, for it was an honnor to have belong to the Regiment. I agree with him. I am sorry I could not have been with him at the 50th anversey of the Battle. I was unable to travel. You would hardly know Dakoties now. As for me I feel grateful that I have lived to see all this change in 50 years from a howling wilderness to cultivated farms, towns and cities. I would liked to have gone over to the Black Hills this summer but did not feel able to travil. I have not been there since the experdition in 74. I am in hopes I can go up to Bismarck N.D. this fall. I would like to go down to old Fort Lincoln. There is nothing their now, so I have been told, but the site. Bismarck is the capitol of N.D. and is quite a large city now. You remember old Captain Marsh who used to run on the star of the west. I saw him about five years ago. He died since. I don’t suppose you would know anyone in Bismark now. If I go up their this fall I will be the guest of North Dakota Historyacal Society.

I may go down to Yankton S.D. and visit the spot whear we had such an offul time in that Blizzard in April seventy three. The plover that we bred to have with us must be all gone, for I do not see them anny more. Mrs. Custer I could go on writing but I do not want to tire you. Allthough eighty years of age, I still can sound Boots and Saddles and other calls, and have my doubts if there is annother Civil War veteran that can do it. I still have the same old trumpet. I have written a few verces about it and at reunions I give the old boys those verces with cavalry calls (My Old Battered Bugle). Will send them to you when I hear from you again. Hoping to get a letter from you shortly, I remain as ever your obeident Servant,

B.F. Whitehouse

P.S. It seems to me sometimes I can hear that old fermilier call (orderly).

Chief Bugler

Dept of South Dakota

G.A.R.

[Scout]

Wow.....Great stuff Diane! and he spells as well as I dew...it does kinda tug at the old heartstring , dosen't it?

[markland]

Hmmm, this just struck me rereading the letter but I think that when he says "Chief Bugler", he is referring to his position within the Grand Army of the Republic chapter he belongs to. However, as much as I want to believe him (and for some strange reason, I really do), the duration of service issue, i.e., joined the 7th in 1872 and was discharged before the LBH campaign (which is a year too early as the cavalry enlisted for five years) as well as the blizzard statement (I will take Elisabeth's word on that!).

But, playing Devil's Advocate for a moment. He was discharged due to disability from the 14th Inf. in 1870, approximately two months short of the end of his enlistment. He states that he enlisted in the 7th Cav. in 1872. To avoid getting caught, he would have had to enlist under a false name. It is possible that he was caught out and discharged by order prior to the campaign.

By the way, can someone tell me what he meant with the following sentence? "The plover that we bred to have with us must be all gone, for I do not see them anny more."

Best of wishes,

Billy

[johnny47]

Plover (rhymes with "lover") = a kind of short-tailed bird with a bill like that of a pigeon; a shorebird