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N0KFQ > TODAY 27.11.16 21:55l 55 Lines 2579 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 14414_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 27
Path: IW8PGT<F1OYP<F4DUR<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 161127/1301Z 14414@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1868
Custer massacres Cheyenne on Washita River
Without bothering to identify the village or do any
reconnaissance, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads
an early morning attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living
with Chief Black Kettle.
Convicted of desertion and mistreatment of soldiers earlier that
year in a military court, the government had suspended Custer
from rank and command for one year. Ten months into his
punishment, in September 1868, General Philip Sheridan reinstated
Custer to lead a campaign against Cheyenne Indians who had been
making raids in Kansas and Oklahoma that summer. Sheridan was
frustrated by the inability of his other officers to find and
engage the enemy, and despite his poor record and unpopularity
with the men of the 7th Cavalry, Custer was a good fighter.
Sheridan determined that a campaign in winter might prove more
effective, since the Indians could be caught off guard while in
their permanent camps. On November 26, Custer located a large
village of Cheyenne encamped near the Washita River, just outside
of present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Custer did not attempt to
identify which group of Cheyenne was in the village, or to make
even a cursory reconnaissance of the situation. Had he done so,
Custer would have discovered that they were peaceful people and
the village was on reservation soil, where the commander of Fort
Cobb had guaranteed them safety. There was even a white flag
flying from one of the main dwellings, indicating that the tribe
was actively avoiding conflict.
Having surrounded the village the night before, at dawn Custer
called for the regimental band to play "Garry Owen," which
signaled for four columns of soldiers to charge into the sleeping
village. Outnumbered and caught unaware, scores of Cheyenne were
killed in the first 15 minutes of the "battle," though a small
number of the warriors managed to escape to the trees and return
fire. Within a few hours, the village was destroyed - the soldiers
had killed 103 Cheyenne, including the peaceful Black Kettle and
many women and children.
Hailed as the first substantial American victory in the Indian
wars, the Battle of the Washita helped to restore Custer's
reputation and succeeded in persuading many Cheyenne to move to
the reservation. However, Custer's habit of boldly charging
Indian encampments of unknown strength would eventually lead him
to his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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