who was left in the timber

[glennv]

  When Reno ordered his battalion to "charge to the rear', but passed the word by companies instead of using a bugler, several men were left behind...  a few could not find their own horses, a few did not get the word, a few, by time they got out of the timber were forced back by the incoming Indians following after the battalion... these are often listed, including three or 4 of the Scouts/interpreters like Herendeen, Gerourd, Dorman, maybe Billy Jackson... but I see in Fred Wagner's "Participants" book that there were a few of the Ree Indian scouts also there, that I have never seen listed or counted.   Also, in the Reno Inquiry testimony, they said they lost so many men in the valley and getting up the hill... did that number include the men who later got out of the timber?  The number was something like 26 or 29.
   So, how many men were actually lost in the valley, and how many were left in the woods- including the Ree Indians?  If they lost 26+ men and left 16 in the timber (plus a few Rees) out of the 112 or so troopers they started with, Reno was seriously hurt!  Has anyone bothered to count the Ree's in the timber... or who stayed on the Line instead of going after horses?   Some of them seemingly made it back with the battalion to the hill, and some were left in the woods to make it back later...   Probably few people could identify any of the Indian scouts, so they just mentioned a few were there... and could not get a count, and with some leaving, maybe no one ever got a count of those on the hill at some point with Reno...


Your servant,
Glenn
   

[AZ Ranger]

The charge was to breakout and the direction is determined by what is the weakest place in a surrounding force. The charge ended when the Indians gave way. The Indian accounts confirm the charge worked. After a charge there is a rally. This is where things went bad. This has to do with the battle readiness of these particular soldier. They could not ride with an independent seat, they could not shoot while mounted, and they had no CQB skills while moving. Take the running horse out of the needed skillset and Sgt Ryan states they held their own at the river. If the soldiers were battle ready like Captain French who shot 4 Indians we could expect to see different results.

I think we should understand tactics and know what a retrograde is and what tactics can be used. Chesty Puller was ordered to retrograde in Korea and he did it very well.

Knowing tactics also requires battle ready troops to be successful.

Regards

AZ Ranger

[wild]

The purpose of Reno's manoeuvre was to break contact with the enemy.
The fluidity of the situation rendered formal positional descriptions such as rear flank front meaningless.

Hi AZ
Hope you are staying safe . I have not been outside my apartment for the last 6 weeks with only the elevator to talk to and that having only a very limited vocabulary Im slowly going mad.
Cheers
Richard

[wild]

"Who was left in the timber"?
The question more accurately should be "who choose to remain in the timber"?
To ensure that all troops received the order all orders were repeated by the men in that unit.
Reno gave 4 orders to the battalion ....mount, dismount, mount, follow me.
I find it hard to believe that these orders given by the CO and repeated along the line and accompanied by much commotion failed to reach each and every trooper.
Those who remained in the timber should have been charged with desertion.
Cheers