83. GAC to EBC, April 1, 8, 1876, typescript copy, April 10, 1876, GAC to EBC, fragment, n.d., Folder 12, Box 4, MMP; Washington Critic, April 19, 1876; Cincinnati Gazette, April 19, 1876; New York Times, April 5, 19, 1876; Slotkin, The Fatal Environment, 425–26; Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 131, 158–59. A story circulated that F. W. Rice, mentioned by GAC as the intermediary of the payoff given to Belknap, published a card calling GAC a liar, and GAC saw him in the street and gave him a severe beating with a cane. Rice publicly denied the story; Cincinnati Enquirer, April 11, 1876.
84. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 301–11.
85. GAC to EBC, April 1, 8, 10, 1876, Folder 12, Box 4, MMP; Chicago Times, April 9, 1876.
86. GAC to Augusta Ward, April 25, 1876, typescript copy, GAC Papers, USMA; Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 159–61.
87. PHS to Edward D. Townsend, April 27, 1876, Roll 7, PHS Papers, LOC; GAC to EBC, April 8, 1876, typescript copy, GAC to EBC, April 10, 1876, Folder 12, Box 4, MMP; Washington Critic, April 13, 1876; Testimony of Orvil Grant, March 9, 1876, and James W. Forsyth to William W. Belknap, April 5, 10, 1876, reprinted in John Y. Simon, ed., The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, vol. 27 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2005), 67, 71; Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 160–61.
88. William T. Sherman to PHS, April 28, 1876; William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant Jr., May 4, 1876; reprinted in Simon 27: 71–72.
89. William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant Jr., May 4, 1876, reprinted in Simon 27: 71–73; GAC to EBC, April 8, 1876, typescript copy, April 10, 1876, Folder 12, Box 4, MMP.
90. William T. Sherman to PHS, April 28, May 2, 1876; PHS to William T. Sherman, April 29, 1876; GAC to Ulysses S. Grant, May 1, 1876; Ulysses S. Grant Jr. to William T. Sherman, May 4, 1876; William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant Jr., May 4, 1876; Alphonso Taft to Ulysses S. Grant Jr., May 4, 1876; all reprinted in Simon 27: 72–74; Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 161–63. Note that GAC appears to have drafted another article in Chicago; what sounds very much like newspaper copy, referring to GAC in the third person but written in his hand, appears in GAC letter, May 5, 1876, GAC Correspondence, LBH.
91. GAC to William T. Sherman, May 4, 1876 (two telegrams); William T. Sherman to GAC, May 4, 1876; PHS to Edward D. Townsend, May 7, 1876 (Alfred Terry to PHS, May 6, 1876, enclosed); all reprinted in Simon 27: 73–74. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 162, cites Terry’s recollections in writing that Terry “dictated a telegram to send” over GAC’s signature. Likely he advised GAC to write the message and (unlike GAC’s previous telegrams to Sherman) to send it up the chain of command in proper fashion; but the wording of the letter echoes GAC’s prior appeal for clemency in 1861 so closely that it seems unlikely that Terry “dictated” it, even if he did influence its composition.
92. William T. Sherman to Alfred Terry, May 7, 1876, Letters Received by Headquarters, Department of Dakota, 1866–1877, Roll 17, Microfilm Publication M1734, NA.
93. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 163; Merington, 303.
94. PHS to Alfred Terry, May 16, 1876, Roll 17, Microfilm Publication M1734, NA; Wert, 327.
95. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 165–67; Wert, 327–28.
Epilogue
1. The Reno Court of Inquiry: The Chicago Times Account (Fort Collins, Tex.: Old Army Press, 1972), 2–6 (to be called Times Account); Special Orders No. 255, November 25, 1878, and First Day Minutes, January 13, 1879, both in Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry Concerning the Conduct of Major Marcus A. Reno at the Battle of the Little Big Horn River on June 25 and 26, 1876, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
2. Times Account, 2–6, 37; First and Second Day Minutes, January 13, 14, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA; Ronald H. Nichols, In Custer’s Shadow: Major Marcus Reno (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2000), 263–84.
3. Times Account, 39; Second Day Minutes, January 14, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
4. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 169–77; James Donovan, A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn—the Last Great Battle of the American West (New York: Little, Brown, 2008), 172–76. For an example of a hammer-and-anvil operation during the Civil War, see Stiles, Jesse James, 86–87. There have been decades of debate over every aspect of the Little Bighorn Campaign, some of it centering on the question of whether GAC had authority to attack without awaiting Gibbon’s arrival from the north. Rather than relitigate this often-disputed question, I have simply stated in the narrative my view of the plans for this operation. I agree with Utley that Terry intended to grant GAC discretion to attack when he found an opportunity. Indeed, it would have been extraordinary if Terry had believed that two columns approaching from opposite directions and lacking any means of communication with each other, secure or otherwise, could execute a simultaneous attack without prior discovery by the Lakotas.
5. Donovan, 191; Second Day Minutes, January 14, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
6. Times Account, 46–47; Nichols, 284.
7. Wallace’s testimony has been drawn from Third Day Minutes, January 15, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
8. Third Day Minutes, January 15, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA. On Wallace’s dishonesty, see for example Donovan, 306, 361–63.
9. Fourth and Fifth Day Minutes, January 16, 17, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
10. Donovan, 363; Times Account, 64–65, 112–13; Fifth Day Minutes, January 17, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
11. Fifth Day Minutes, January 17, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA. On the Battle of the Rosebud, see Neil C. Mangum, Battle of the Rosebud: Prelude to the Little Bighorn (El Segundo, Calif.: Upton and Sons, 1996); John F. Finerty, War-Path and Bivouac, or, The Conquest of the Sioux (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977 [orig. pub. 1890]); Donovan, 214.
12. Fifth and Seventh Day Minutes, January 17, 20, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA; James E. Mueller, Shooting Arrows and Slinging Mud: Custer, the Press, and the Little Bighorn (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013), 22.
13. Fifth and Seventh Day Minutes, January 17, 20, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA; Donovan, 237–41.
14. Sixth Day Minutes, January 18, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
15. Donovan, 344–82; Nichols, 239–90.
16. Donovan, 307–11.
17. I have represented this order as it was actually written, not as it was recorded in the transcript of the hearing. See Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 186, and 18th Day Minutes, February 1, 1879, Roll 2, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
18. 18th Day Minutes, February 1, 1879, Roll 2, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
19. Frederick Benteen to Robert N. Price, March 6, 1879, in W. A. Graham, ed., The Custer Myth: A Source Book of Custeriana (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2000 [orig. pub. 1953]), 325–26. The number of enlisted men with Elliott at the Battle of the Washita is variously described as seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. See Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 68; Wert, 275.
20. W. M. Dunn, Judge Advocate General, to George W. McCrary, February 21, 1879, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M592, NA.
21. Mueller, 44; Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 196–97.
22. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 194–212. Note that I make no claim to originality in any of my assessments of the battle.
23. Mueller, 43–45, 56–64; Donovan, 324–25.
24. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 194.
25. See Utley, The Lance and the Shield; Thomas Powers, The Killing of Crazy Horse (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010).
26. Eliza Brown Davison to EBC, October 24 [1885], Other Sources, LBH.
27. Nancy P. Allan, “Standing Up for Liberty: Eliza Brown Davison and the Custers,” Research Review: The Journal of the Little Big Horn Associates 17: 1 (winter 2003), 2–12; Eliza Brown Davison to EBC, June 6, 1886, Other Sources, LBH.
28. EBC, Boots and Saddles; New York Times, December 18, 1883; Probate Court Inventory, Petit
ion to Probate Court by Emil Justh, and GAC Will, Folder 1, Box 9, GAC Collection, MCHMA; “Emil Justh v. Benjamin Holliday [sic],” Reports of Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, Sitting in General Term, from May 25, 1882, to October 29, 1883 (Washington, D.C.: John L. Ginck, 1884), 346–60; Leckie, 198–212, 234.
29. Leckie, 233–49.
30. EBC, Tenting on the Plains, 44–48, 480–83. As noted previously, when quoting EBC’s rendering of Eliza Brown Davison’s speech, I have standardized nonstandard spellings that provide no real information about vocalization and tend to belittle Davison’s speech (e.g., “wuz”).
31. Leckie, 198–249; Shirley Leckie correspondence with the author. See also Frost, General Custer’s Libbie, 244–325.
Primary Source Bibliography
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT AND MICROFILM COLLECTIONS
Miscellaneous Collections
James Barnes Papers, Naval Historical Society Collection, New-York Historical Society, New York, N.Y.
Isaac Coates Journal, Denver Public Library, Denver, Co.
Elizabeth Bacon Custer Collection, Microfilm Publication, Little Bighorn National Battlefield, Crow Agency, Mont.
George Armstrong Custer Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Dr. Lawrence A. Frost Collection, Monroe County Library System, Monroe, Mich.
Jacob Greene Papers, U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pa.
Benjamin Henry Grierson Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago, Ill.
Charles H. Lothrop Papers, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Shirley A. Leckie Notes, Elizabeth Bacon Journal, privately held
Northern Pacific Railway Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn.
Unidentified Author, Diary, Mss 5:1 W2767:1, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.
William E. Walsh Diary, Special and Archival Collections, Philips Memorial Library, Providence College, Providence, R.I.
Libraries and Archives with Multiple Collections
Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.
George Armstrong Custer Deposition, October 8, 1875, Atlantic Publishing Company v. George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer to Capt. Andrew J. Cohen, AAG, Cavalry Corps, May 28, 1863, ni 77
George Armstrong Custer to Amasa E. Dana, September 8, 1864, CW 77
Samuel L. M. Barlow Papers
Leonard Herbert Swett Papers
Swett Family Correspondence
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Zachariah Chandler Papers
Christiancy and Pickett Families’ Papers
George Armstrong Custer Miscellaneous Manuscripts
Edward S. Godfrey Papers
Abraham Lincoln Papers
George B. McClellan Papers
Alfred Pleasonton Papers
Philip H. Sheridan Papers
William T. Sherman Family Papers. Copy of Original at University of Notre Dame
Alfred H. Terry Papers
Monroe County Historical Museum Archives, Monroe, Mich.
General George Armtrong Custer Collection
Dr. Lawrence A. Frost Collection of Custeriana
National Archives, College Park, Md.
Department of Justice, Letters Received from the State of Kentucky, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M1362
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Manuscripts:
Record Group 393:
Entry 1: Post 198, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Vol. 2: Letters Sent, Part 5
Entry 2: Post 198, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Vol. 2: Endorsements, Part 5
Entry 3: Post 198, Elizabethtown, Kentucky: Telegrams Sent and Received, Part 5
Entry 7: Post 198, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Vols. 1–2: Special Orders, Part 5
Entry 1593: 3rd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, Letters Sent August 1863–June 1865, containing Old Book 89, No. 71, Part 2
Entry 3099: Special Orders Issued, June 1865–January 1866, containing Old Book 48, Volume 17/48, DTex, 2nd Cavalry Division, Department of Texas, No. 198, Part 2
Entry 4794: Special Orders Issued, August 1865 to August 1868, Department of Texas and 5th Military District, No. 1, Part 1
Microfilm Publications:
Frederick Benteen Reference Microfilm
George Armstrong Custer Reference Microfilm:
House Report 3328
George A. Custer Application Papers to the U.S. Military Academy, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1783–1917, Record Group 94
1861 Court-Martial Trial of George Armstrong Custer, Records of the Office of Judge Advocate General, Record Group 153
1867 Court-Martial Trial of George Armstrong Custer, Records of the Office of Judge Advocate General, Record Group 153
Personnel Files, Office of the Adjutant General, Record Group 407
Marcus Reno Reference Microfilm
Secretary of War, Register of Letters Received, Roll 125, Microfilm Publication M22
Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry Concerning the Conduct of Major Marcus A. Reno at the Battle of the Little Big Horn River on June 25 and 26, 1876, Rolls 1–2, Microfilm Publication M592
Office of the Adjutant General (Main Series), Letters Received, 1861–1870, Roll 722, Microfilm Publication M619
Office of the Adjutant General, Letters Received: 1871–1889, Roll 122, Microfilm Publication M666
Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1869, Unregistered Letters Received, 1865–66, Roll 17, Microfilm Publication M821
Headquarters Records of Fort Dodge, Kansas, 1866–1882, Unregistered Letters Received, Roll 11, Microfilm Publication M989, NA
Department of Texas, the District of Texas, and the 5th Military District, Letters Sent, Roll 1, Microfilm Publication M1165
Division of the Missouri, Special Files of Headquarters Relating to Military Operations and Administration, Rolls 1, 7, Microfilm Publication M1495
Department of Dakota, Letters Received, Rolls 14, 17, Microfilm Publication M1734
General Court Martial of General George Armstrong Custer, 1867, Microfilm Publication T-1103
Eighth Census of the United States, 1860
Ninth Census of the United States, 1870
Tenth Census of the United States, 1880
Tax Assessment List, Division 10, District 1, Michigan, 1862, Internal Revenue Bureau
Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library, Astor Lenox, and Tilden Foundations, New York, N.Y.
Robert S. Ellison Collection
Marguerite Merington Papers
Samuel J. Tilden Papers
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Austin Blair Papers
Victor E. Comte Papers
James H. Kidd Papers
Special Collections and Archives, United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
William Winer Cooke Papers
George Armstrong Custer Papers
Register of Delinquencies, 1856–1861
Ulysses S. Grant Papers
Charles William Larned Papers
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Arthur Brigham Carpenter Papers
Elizabeth Bacon Custer Papers
George Armstrong Custer Letters to “Dear Mollie”
George Armstrong Custer Papers
Henry Leighton Morrill Papers
Alfred Sully Letters
PUBLISHED PRIMARY SOURCES
Congressional Reports and Executive Documents
House of Representatives Report 30, 1st Session, 39th Congress
_____. Report 799, 1st Session, 44th Congress
_____. Executive Document 1, 2nd Session, 40th Congress
_____. Executive Document
1, 2nd Session, 41st Congress
_____. Executive Document 240, 2nd Session, 41st Congress
_____. Executive Document 1, 2nd Session, 42nd Congress
Senate Report 59, 2nd Session, 41st Congress
Senate Executive Document 13, 1st Session, 40th Congress
_____. 13, 3rd Session, 40th Congress
_____. 18, 3rd Session, 40th Congress
_____. 36, 3rd Session, 40th Congress
_____. 40, 3rd Session, 40th Congress
_____. 32, 2nd Session, 43rd Congress
Books and Articles
Agassiz, George R. ed. Meade’s Headquarters, 1863–1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman, from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1922.
Ames, Blanche Butler, ed. Chronicles from the Nineteenth Century: Family Letters of Blanche Butler and Adelbert Ames. Vols. 1–2. Clinton, Mass.: n.p., 1957.
Barker, Malcolm E., ed. More San Francisco Memoirs: 1852–1899: The Ripening Years. San Francisco: Londonborn, 1996.
Barnard, John G. The Peninsular Campaign and Its Antecedents. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1864.
Barrett, Lawrence. “Personal Recollections of General Custer,” in Frederick Whittaker, A Complete Life of Gen. George A. Custer: Major-General of Volunteers Brevet Major-General U.S. Army, and Lieutenant-Colonel Seventh U.S. Cavalry. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1876, 629–43.
Beale, R. L. T. History of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry in the War Between the States. Richmond, Va.: B. F. Johnson Publishing, 1899.
Bergeron, Paul A., ed. The Papers of Andrew Johnson. Vols. 11, 16. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1994, 2000.
Boutwell, George. Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs. Vol. 2. Boston: McClure, Phillips, and Co., 1902.
Boynton, Edward C. History of West Point, and Its Military Importance During the American Revolution and the Origins and Progress of the United States Military Academy. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1864.
Brininstool, E. A., ed., and David L. Spotts. Campaigning with Custer and the Nineteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in the Washita Campaign, 1868–69. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988 [orig. pub. 1928].
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