Post by warhorse67 on Apr 24, 2008 14:55:40 GMT -6
I found Private Jacob Adams' grave site, which is listed as unknown on www.lbha.org/
Here is his obituary which appeared in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial, May 14, 1934:
Jake Adams, Witness of Scenes of Massacre of Custer's Army by the Indians, Dies Here Sunday.
"Uncle Jake" Adams, Indian fighter, 82 years old, a courier for the regular army in the Custer massacre, and a witness of the scenes on the field of that battle, died at his home, 123 West Eberwine avenue at 8:15 p.m., Sunday.
"Uncle Jake" was widely known in Vincennes. Besides being a war veteran, he had written a booklet about his experiences in the Indian wars during his period of service, 1873 to 1878, when he served on the western plains.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed. As a member of Uncle Sam's regular army who served during the war, "Uncle Jake" will be buried with the flag draped about his body.
Hundreds of Vincennes residents have heard the sturdy old Indian fighter tell of his experiences in the days when "the only good Indian was a dead Indian," and the feeling of the early settlers ran high against the depredations of the red man.
Five Years in Field
His book tells of enlisting at Yankton, Dakota in April of 1873. He spent five years with a field regiment, which served under General Custer. It was the first expedition ever sent into the Black Hills, the wild and unknown territory.
Illustrative of the tales he tells is the story of his getting water, under fire, for the wounded of his expedition.
Burial in City
Burial will be in the Mt. Cavalry cemetery. Survivors are: two sons, Joseph, of Kalamazoo, Mich. and Francis Adams of Vincennes; and two daughters, Maggie Miller of Kalamazoo.
Two brothers are George and Edward, both of this city.
Two sisters, Martha Murphy of St. Francisville and Lula Hoffman of St. Marie, Ill., also survive. Other survivors include 32 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
This is some information that the cemetery manager gave to me, it read:
In the water party with Michael Madden. Pension and death records list birthdate as July 12, 1851. Enlisted on April 13, 1873, at age 21, in Yankton, D.T., by Captain Frederick Benteen. Previous occupation was farmer in Ohio and Indiana. Treated for frostbite at Fort Rice December 12, 1873, and for conjuctivitis of the eye, April 21, 1874. In Captain George Yates' detachment that arrested Rain In The Face at Standing Rock Agency in 1875. The unexecuted part of the sentence of military convict, J. Adams, formerly private, Company H, 7th Cavalry, was remitted on June 21, 1876, and he was restored to duty, per SO 116, Dept. of the Gulf, New Orleons, 1876. Discharged on April 13, 1878, at Fort Rice, D.T., on expiration of service, as a private of excellent character. He had brown eyes, brown hair, fair complexion, was 5'8" tall and was illiterate. Received a pension after May 7, 1885. Resided on Rural Route 12, Kalamazoo, MI, in 1927, and Rural Route 8 and 123 West Ebervine, Vincennes, IN. Died at age 82 at 8:15 p.m. on May 13, 1934, at his home. Causes of death were cardiac asthma and arteriosclerosis. Buried in Mt. Cavalry Catholic Cemetery, Vincennes. Survived by two sons, two daughters, two brothers and two sisters. (His account is in Horace Ellis, A "Survivors Story...," Journal of American History, III, 2:1909; George R. McCormack, "Man Who Fought With Custer," The National Republic, 21:12, March 1934, and Kenneth Hammer, Custer on '76, pp. 121-22. See "Taps For Jacob Adams...," Winners of the West, XII:3, February 1935. Obituary in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial, May 14, 1934.)
Here is Private Adams' account as recorded in Custer in '76:
"I was with the packs, and before we came to the bluffs where Benteen and Reno were, we halted the packs back on the low ground. While lying there we saw a single horseman coming toward us pretty fast, and although we could not tell whether he was a white man or Indian, I said I would go out and meet him and did so. His horse had been running and was about winded. He was a white man about forty-five years old, sandy hair, thick set man, with a goatee and moustache. He said he thought they were fighting up ahead. Said his horse had run away with him and he could not control him. He joined the packs there with us.
I went with Benteen over to Custer battlefield on p.m. of June 27. Down near the river and before we came to any dead men we found three of four dead horses. Custer lay within a circle of dead horses on a flat place at the end of the ridge. Tom Custer lay back of him and not near the horses. Quite a distance east of Custer (down near Keogh and between Keogh and Custer) the dead bodies lay thick, and among these were identified dead men from all the five companies. We came to the conclusion then and there that the fight had been a rout, a running fight.
When we found Old Comanche he was sitting on his haunches, braced back on his forefeet. We lifted him up in his feeble condition and he followed us around.
Bodies were mutilated in every conceivable way. One dead body had one leg nicely cut off, as with a sharp knife, at the hip joint. It was done so carefully that the bowels had not come out. Bodies were mutilated in every conceivable way, some being set up on elbows and knees and the hind parts shot full of arrows. On our way back to Reno hill we crossed the river and rode through the village, and on the way we saw horsemen coming. Benteen looked through his glasses and said he thought they were Indians, and Reno told him to command the co. Benteen had us draw pistols, ready for a charge, when we discovered them to be a troop of the 2nd Cavalry.
Lieut. Gibson and I went to McIntosh's body. The fire had run through the grass and scorched it. Gibson wanted me to get a pack mule and take it up on Reno hill, but I disliked the job and told him I knew of no way to pack it, so he decided to have it buried where it lay, and I buried it there.
On the trip over to Custer ridge on June 27 Sergeant Geiger and I were in the rear with a pack mule loaded with ammunition. When Benteen got ready to charge, I rode up and joined the line. Geiger ordered me back and made all kinds of threats, but I told him if they were going to charge through the Indians I proposed to be with the charging party and not in the rear with him and the mule where we would surely be gobbled up."
Says that on the hill Benteen had the heel of his boot shot off. In bottom Isaiah's body lay not farther from timber than 40 or 50 yards. Charlie Reynolds's body lay farther from the timber.
"After we left Pease Bottom, we camped north side of Yellowstone, opposite Rosebud. After we broke camp there I saw a dead soldier and dead horse south of Yellowstone and within sight of Yellowstone- only a few miles from it. The body was then thought to be one of L troop men who had been with Custer and scalped. The carbine was with the body and all equipment, and the leather sling was still over the shoulder. We concluded that both the man and the horse had been wounded and had gotten that far and given out. This find was considered no unusual thing, and I do not suppose one of our officers would have gone to see it is he had heard about it."
I have included the photos of his grave site. In one shot, I draped his stone with a flag he would've known very well! On a side note, the manager told me that his grave is one of the most visited ones in the cemetery! He also told me that he had talked to Private Adams' great-granddaughter only a few months ago, who still resides in Vincennes. I'm going to try to talk to her myself.
Jeff
Here is his obituary which appeared in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial, May 14, 1934:
Jake Adams, Witness of Scenes of Massacre of Custer's Army by the Indians, Dies Here Sunday.
"Uncle Jake" Adams, Indian fighter, 82 years old, a courier for the regular army in the Custer massacre, and a witness of the scenes on the field of that battle, died at his home, 123 West Eberwine avenue at 8:15 p.m., Sunday.
"Uncle Jake" was widely known in Vincennes. Besides being a war veteran, he had written a booklet about his experiences in the Indian wars during his period of service, 1873 to 1878, when he served on the western plains.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed. As a member of Uncle Sam's regular army who served during the war, "Uncle Jake" will be buried with the flag draped about his body.
Hundreds of Vincennes residents have heard the sturdy old Indian fighter tell of his experiences in the days when "the only good Indian was a dead Indian," and the feeling of the early settlers ran high against the depredations of the red man.
Five Years in Field
His book tells of enlisting at Yankton, Dakota in April of 1873. He spent five years with a field regiment, which served under General Custer. It was the first expedition ever sent into the Black Hills, the wild and unknown territory.
Illustrative of the tales he tells is the story of his getting water, under fire, for the wounded of his expedition.
Burial in City
Burial will be in the Mt. Cavalry cemetery. Survivors are: two sons, Joseph, of Kalamazoo, Mich. and Francis Adams of Vincennes; and two daughters, Maggie Miller of Kalamazoo.
Two brothers are George and Edward, both of this city.
Two sisters, Martha Murphy of St. Francisville and Lula Hoffman of St. Marie, Ill., also survive. Other survivors include 32 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
This is some information that the cemetery manager gave to me, it read:
In the water party with Michael Madden. Pension and death records list birthdate as July 12, 1851. Enlisted on April 13, 1873, at age 21, in Yankton, D.T., by Captain Frederick Benteen. Previous occupation was farmer in Ohio and Indiana. Treated for frostbite at Fort Rice December 12, 1873, and for conjuctivitis of the eye, April 21, 1874. In Captain George Yates' detachment that arrested Rain In The Face at Standing Rock Agency in 1875. The unexecuted part of the sentence of military convict, J. Adams, formerly private, Company H, 7th Cavalry, was remitted on June 21, 1876, and he was restored to duty, per SO 116, Dept. of the Gulf, New Orleons, 1876. Discharged on April 13, 1878, at Fort Rice, D.T., on expiration of service, as a private of excellent character. He had brown eyes, brown hair, fair complexion, was 5'8" tall and was illiterate. Received a pension after May 7, 1885. Resided on Rural Route 12, Kalamazoo, MI, in 1927, and Rural Route 8 and 123 West Ebervine, Vincennes, IN. Died at age 82 at 8:15 p.m. on May 13, 1934, at his home. Causes of death were cardiac asthma and arteriosclerosis. Buried in Mt. Cavalry Catholic Cemetery, Vincennes. Survived by two sons, two daughters, two brothers and two sisters. (His account is in Horace Ellis, A "Survivors Story...," Journal of American History, III, 2:1909; George R. McCormack, "Man Who Fought With Custer," The National Republic, 21:12, March 1934, and Kenneth Hammer, Custer on '76, pp. 121-22. See "Taps For Jacob Adams...," Winners of the West, XII:3, February 1935. Obituary in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial, May 14, 1934.)
Here is Private Adams' account as recorded in Custer in '76:
"I was with the packs, and before we came to the bluffs where Benteen and Reno were, we halted the packs back on the low ground. While lying there we saw a single horseman coming toward us pretty fast, and although we could not tell whether he was a white man or Indian, I said I would go out and meet him and did so. His horse had been running and was about winded. He was a white man about forty-five years old, sandy hair, thick set man, with a goatee and moustache. He said he thought they were fighting up ahead. Said his horse had run away with him and he could not control him. He joined the packs there with us.
I went with Benteen over to Custer battlefield on p.m. of June 27. Down near the river and before we came to any dead men we found three of four dead horses. Custer lay within a circle of dead horses on a flat place at the end of the ridge. Tom Custer lay back of him and not near the horses. Quite a distance east of Custer (down near Keogh and between Keogh and Custer) the dead bodies lay thick, and among these were identified dead men from all the five companies. We came to the conclusion then and there that the fight had been a rout, a running fight.
When we found Old Comanche he was sitting on his haunches, braced back on his forefeet. We lifted him up in his feeble condition and he followed us around.
Bodies were mutilated in every conceivable way. One dead body had one leg nicely cut off, as with a sharp knife, at the hip joint. It was done so carefully that the bowels had not come out. Bodies were mutilated in every conceivable way, some being set up on elbows and knees and the hind parts shot full of arrows. On our way back to Reno hill we crossed the river and rode through the village, and on the way we saw horsemen coming. Benteen looked through his glasses and said he thought they were Indians, and Reno told him to command the co. Benteen had us draw pistols, ready for a charge, when we discovered them to be a troop of the 2nd Cavalry.
Lieut. Gibson and I went to McIntosh's body. The fire had run through the grass and scorched it. Gibson wanted me to get a pack mule and take it up on Reno hill, but I disliked the job and told him I knew of no way to pack it, so he decided to have it buried where it lay, and I buried it there.
On the trip over to Custer ridge on June 27 Sergeant Geiger and I were in the rear with a pack mule loaded with ammunition. When Benteen got ready to charge, I rode up and joined the line. Geiger ordered me back and made all kinds of threats, but I told him if they were going to charge through the Indians I proposed to be with the charging party and not in the rear with him and the mule where we would surely be gobbled up."
Says that on the hill Benteen had the heel of his boot shot off. In bottom Isaiah's body lay not farther from timber than 40 or 50 yards. Charlie Reynolds's body lay farther from the timber.
"After we left Pease Bottom, we camped north side of Yellowstone, opposite Rosebud. After we broke camp there I saw a dead soldier and dead horse south of Yellowstone and within sight of Yellowstone- only a few miles from it. The body was then thought to be one of L troop men who had been with Custer and scalped. The carbine was with the body and all equipment, and the leather sling was still over the shoulder. We concluded that both the man and the horse had been wounded and had gotten that far and given out. This find was considered no unusual thing, and I do not suppose one of our officers would have gone to see it is he had heard about it."
I have included the photos of his grave site. In one shot, I draped his stone with a flag he would've known very well! On a side note, the manager told me that his grave is one of the most visited ones in the cemetery! He also told me that he had talked to Private Adams' great-granddaughter only a few months ago, who still resides in Vincennes. I'm going to try to talk to her myself.
Jeff