Post by "Hunk" Papa on Nov 27, 2011 15:27:40 GMT -6
herosrest post - DeRudio letter to NY Herald
I had a narrow escape at the battle of the Little Bighorn on the 25 & 26 of June and I will endeavor to give you my experience of Indian fighting. At about 10 A.M. on the 25th June, Gen. Custer's scouts returned and reported that they had discovered an Indian village about 15 miles distant, on the Little Bighorn, and that from what they had seen, they supposed the Indians to be retreating before our advance. We continued our march two or three miles farther
(Lt. Gibson puts it at five miles further in his letter of July 4th 1876)
when a halt was ordered and Gen. Custer began preparations for attacking the. enemy. He detailed Co's. H, D & K, under the command of Col. F. W. Benteen to take the left of our route, with orders, so I hear, to sweep everything in his way: Co's. M, A, & G were put under the command of Col. Reno; and being temporarily attached to Co. A, I found myself with this division. Gen. Custer took Co's. E, I, F, L & C, and occupied the right of the line of attack. The remaining Company, B, was left to guard the packtrain. After marching two or three miles, our command, the center, was ordered to trot and hold the gait until we reached the river, six or seven miles distant. Having reached the river, we forded, and on reaching the plain beyond the opposite bank, we were ordered into line of battle.
............................ From the New York Herald, July 30, 1876. Dated July 5, '76
Read it and weep - even the grown men. [end of quote]
Try and use evidence that is reasonably accurate please. De Rudio has the scouts stating that from the Crow's Nest they had seen the camps retreating but he is confusing it with the later Gerard incident. The command was hardly advancing at the point he describes because the divison into battalions occurs later in his version.
He also has the distances all wrong and I suggest that you compare this letter with his various other versions to see just how ridiculous it is to rely on this sole source of evidence from a notorious story teller.
I read it and wept, because it is so inaccurate.
I had a narrow escape at the battle of the Little Bighorn on the 25 & 26 of June and I will endeavor to give you my experience of Indian fighting. At about 10 A.M. on the 25th June, Gen. Custer's scouts returned and reported that they had discovered an Indian village about 15 miles distant, on the Little Bighorn, and that from what they had seen, they supposed the Indians to be retreating before our advance. We continued our march two or three miles farther
(Lt. Gibson puts it at five miles further in his letter of July 4th 1876)
when a halt was ordered and Gen. Custer began preparations for attacking the. enemy. He detailed Co's. H, D & K, under the command of Col. F. W. Benteen to take the left of our route, with orders, so I hear, to sweep everything in his way: Co's. M, A, & G were put under the command of Col. Reno; and being temporarily attached to Co. A, I found myself with this division. Gen. Custer took Co's. E, I, F, L & C, and occupied the right of the line of attack. The remaining Company, B, was left to guard the packtrain. After marching two or three miles, our command, the center, was ordered to trot and hold the gait until we reached the river, six or seven miles distant. Having reached the river, we forded, and on reaching the plain beyond the opposite bank, we were ordered into line of battle.
............................ From the New York Herald, July 30, 1876. Dated July 5, '76
Read it and weep - even the grown men. [end of quote]
Try and use evidence that is reasonably accurate please. De Rudio has the scouts stating that from the Crow's Nest they had seen the camps retreating but he is confusing it with the later Gerard incident. The command was hardly advancing at the point he describes because the divison into battalions occurs later in his version.
He also has the distances all wrong and I suggest that you compare this letter with his various other versions to see just how ridiculous it is to rely on this sole source of evidence from a notorious story teller.
I read it and wept, because it is so inaccurate.