Post by herosrest on Aug 22, 2023 3:19:39 GMT -6
Ducemus
Nov 26, 1741 13:14:52 GMT -6 @Beavis III of Oriskaney said:
Spock,This may help you somewhat...
1920s—Joe Blummer found Springfield cartridge cases. In a 1928 letter, Blummer wrote, “I found 17 shells on the east side of this small ridge… strung out for about 150 yards and all on the east side of the ridge about 10 feet from the top. This ridge is about three-fourths of a mile southeast of the southeast corner of (the) battlefield fence” [Trinque, “Elusive Ridge,” Research Review, p. 3].
1938—COL Elwood L. Nye and R. G. Cartwright checked the same site and discovered many more cases. These locations are on Blummer/Nye-Cartwright Ridge.
Through an analysis of the letters Superintendent Edward S. Luce wrote describing the artifacts he and others found, Bruce Trinque concluded that Richard Fox’ “West Ridge” is the real Luce Ridge and it is this area—north to Nye-Cartwright—that the troops traversed. More than 100 cases were found by Luce, generally three to four yards apart, indicating dismounted skirmishers. As the trail of cases continued, the spacing changed to about nine yards indicating mounted skirmishing.
Jerome Greene claimed 214 empty carbine cases were found on or near Nye-Cartwright Ridge [Smalley, More Little Bighorn Mysteries, FN 29, p. 16 – 14; Greene, Evidence and the Custer Enigma, p. 45].
(A) Along the front side of Butler Ridge which faces the LBH, were found: [Richard Fox claims this is where Custer himself and Yates watched the action at Ford B. Gregory Michno feels Custer remained with Keogh’s battalion on East Ridge, then Luce, then Nye-Cartwright. My own personal feelings are that Fox is correct and Michno is wrong.]
• Ten .45/55-caliber bullets
• Four .45/55 cases
• Two unfired .45/55 cartridges
• Two Colt .45 bullets
• One .50/70 cartridge
• Three .44 Henry cases
• Three .50 Spencer cases
• Four brass cavalry insignia
• One arrowhead
• Two half horseshoes
• One metal ring
• Brass grommets
• Iron snaps
• One Winchester rifle
(B) In the north fork of MTC, below and along the south and southeast face of Luce Ridge—traditional Luce Ridge is East Ridge—roughly parallel to East Ridge:
• Four .45/55 cases
• Three .50/70 cases
• Fourteen .45/55 cases, plus an additional undetermined number
• At least three horse skeletons, plus additional horse bones
• At least three human skeletons, plus additional human bones
• A saddle and bridle, saddle leather and pommel rings, and horseshoes
• Much of this was probably from the battle with the southern half of Wolf Tooth’s band.
(C) In the lower ground, north and northwest of Butler Ridge, east of Deep Coulee:
• Two .45/55 cartridges
• A horseshoe, harness buckle, and straps
• A leather boot
• A leather scabbard
• An arrowhead
• Two human skeletons
• Numerous horse bones
(D) On the southern slope of Nye-Cartwright Ridge, directly behind the LBH face of Butler Ridge:
• Four .45/55 cases
• Four .45/55 cartridges
• Six .56 Spencer cases
• Twenty-four .50/70 cases
• Fifteen .44 Henry cases
• Nine .44 Henry cartridges
• An Indian bridle
(E) All along the Nye-Cartwright/Luce Ridge complex. This is now behind all of the previous (Letters), including (B):
• Upwards of 480 .45/55 cases and cartridges
• Several .50/70 cases
• An undetermined number of additional shells
• Saddle and tack parts
• Uniform buttons and buckles
(F) Behind Nye-Cartwright along a dry ravine of South Branch:
• Three .44 Henry cases
• This was probably from the skirmish with the northern half of Wolf Tooth’s band.
(G) Below the western edge of Nye-Cartwright, in what appear to be a series of gullies or ravines leading to, but before, Deep Coulee:
• Three human and three horse skeletons
• Various bridle and saddle parts
(H) Northern part of Deep Coulee on its west side, toward Calhoun Hill and the Henryville area:
• Human bones and two horse skeletons
• Eight .45/55 cases
• Two .50/70 cases
• Two .50- and one .56-caliber Spencer cases
• One .32 rimfire case
• Two .44 Henry cases
• One Winchester rifle
From Michno, Lakota Noon, map on p. 226—
(A) Henryville, on the Deep Coulee side: 32 Indian cartridge cases.
(B) Henryville, on the Calhoun Hill side: 13 Indian cartridge cases.
(C) Across Calhoun Hill, roughly from west to east: nine Indian cartridge cases.
(D) All along the ridges and gullies east of Battle Ridge and the Keogh Sector: 108 Indian cartridges, including .50/70’s, .44’s, and .56’s.
(E) Along the south side of Finley Ridge: nine Indian bullets.
(F) Across Calhoun Hill, roughly north to south: 5 Army cartridge cases.
“Shell cases have been found for nearly a quarter mile along the crest [of Blummer-(Nye) Cartwright Ridge]. Hank Wiebert [sic] reported he found a number of shell cases along the crest of Blummer (Nye)-Cartwright Ridge. However, Joseph Blummer wrote to Robert Cartwright in a 1928 letter that he found a number of shells along the northern slope of this ridge about 10 feet from the crest” [Liddic, Vanishing Victory, p. 116].
Michno, The Mystery of E Troop, pp. 51 – 52. He breaks the 1984 – 1985 archeological finds into 12 main areas. Furthermore, “All areas had a mix of both Indian and army relics, while some had a predominance of one type over another to mark it as either a soldier or Indian position.”
1. Greasy Grass Ridge, particularly in the southern portion (173 artifacts); northern portion (32 artifacts): Indian positions.
2. Henryville (114): Indian.
3. Today’s cemetery (53): Indian.
4. The “bend” of Deep Ravine (34): Indian.
5. North of Custer Hill (45): Indian.
6. Soldier positions were strongest at Custer Hill (80) and to a lesser extent at Calhoun Hill (63).
7. Mixed areas were in Calhoun Coulee (43), Finley Ridge (23), the Keogh Sector (86), and the South Skirmish Line (169). The latter two areas show considerable mixed activity.
The archeological survey conducted by Fox and Scott in 1984 found that at least seven “of the Indian weapons which were used to break the soldier’s line on Finley Hill were also fired against Calhoun’s position from Henryville Ridge, southeast of this hill” [Liddic, Vanishing Victory, p. 151]. Liddic correctly suggests the reason for this was because at 700 yards away on Greasy Grass Ridge, the Indians’ fire was not effective against troops on Calhoun Hill, but at the shorter distance of about 350 yards from Henryville, the Henrys and Winchesters were lethal.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
FWIII
You gotta fight for your rite to par three!
one of that innumerable fraternity obsessed by the Little Bighorn -- invited me to visit him at his home in Lead, South Dakota. R. G. Cartwright, "Cartie," was athletic coach at the Lead High School, and he devoted much of his spare time and energy trying to unravel the mysteries of the Little Bighorn.
Cartie took me to visit Charlie Windolph. We sat on his front porch as the old man reminisced about his immigration from Germany and his years as a trooper in the Seventh Cavalry; about his troop commander, Captain Benteen; and about those bloody two days on Reno Hill when the Sioux and Cheyenne, having wiped out Custer, almost overran the rest of the regiment. On June 26, 1876, Benteen gave Charlie Windolph a battlefield promotion to sergeant. And here I was, seventy years later, actually talking with a veteran of the Little Bighorn.
Charlie Windolph died three years later, almost a hundred years old, the last army survivor of the Battle link
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