Post by plainsman on Jul 25, 2012 17:54:58 GMT -6
I'm reading the RCOI in the Nichols edition. (BTW, Fred kindly warned me off the paberback edition but due to some complicating factors I ordered one anyway. It began to come apart immediately and is now in separate sheets. Caveat emptor.)
The RCOI is for the most part pretty dry stuff, but occasionally there are some flashes of the human touch. Whiskey is a subject often returned to, of course, as Reno had been accused of being drunk. Benteen is probably his greatest supporter in refuting those charges.
At one point [p. 478] Benteen says... "...there was not whiskey enough in the whole command to make him drunk." [Of course, this may also be seen as a wry comment on Reno's known capacity!]
And then this exchange... [also on p.478]
Q. If he had been drunk between 9 and 10 o'clock that night would you know the fact?
A. I would have known something about it. I did not know he had any whiskey or I would have been after some.
I like Capt. Benteen a good bit.
The RCOI is for the most part pretty dry stuff, but occasionally there are some flashes of the human touch. Whiskey is a subject often returned to, of course, as Reno had been accused of being drunk. Benteen is probably his greatest supporter in refuting those charges.
At one point [p. 478] Benteen says... "...there was not whiskey enough in the whole command to make him drunk." [Of course, this may also be seen as a wry comment on Reno's known capacity!]
And then this exchange... [also on p.478]
Q. If he had been drunk between 9 and 10 o'clock that night would you know the fact?
A. I would have known something about it. I did not know he had any whiskey or I would have been after some.
I like Capt. Benteen a good bit.