Battle of Washita River | Talk:Battle of Washita River

Background

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Black Elk

Sand Creek Massacre

Medicine Lodge Treaty

Sheridan

Sherman

Custer

Indian raids in Kansas, Colorado, Texas (incl. Little Rock info)

U.S. Army decision to mount winter campaign

The battle

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Major Elliot

Greatcoats

Aftermath of the battle =

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Accounts of the battle

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Reports, books etc.

Contrasting views

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Indian casualties at the Washita

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Indian casualties at the Washita reported by Custer are a continuing matter of controversy.[1] In his first report of the battle to Gen. Sheridan on November 28, 1868, Custer reported that by "actual and careful examination after the battle," the bodies of 103 warriors were found[2][1] — a figure echoed by Sheridan when from Camp Supply he relayed news of the Washita fight to Bvt. Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols the following day.[3] In fact, no battlefield count of the dead was made.[1][4] According to Lt. Edward S. Godfrey, an estimate of the number of Indian warriors killed was not made until the evening of the day following the battle, after the soldiers made camp during their march back to Camp Supply.[1] "On [the] second night [after the battle]," Godfrey told interview Walter M. Camp in 1917, "Custer interrogated the officers as to what Indians they had seen dead in the village, and it was from these reports that the official report of Indians killed was made up. The dead Indians on the field were not counted by the troops then, but guessed at later, as explained."[5] In an account first published in 1928, Godfrey related, "After supper in the evening, the officers were called together and each one questioned as to the casualties of enemy warriors, locations, etc. Every effort was made to avoid duplications. The total was found to be one hundred and three."[6] Captain Frederick W. Benteen stated, in annotations to his personal copy of W.L. Holloway's Wild Life on the Plains and Horrors of Indian Warfare, that "Custer assembled the officers to inquire of each how many dead Indians each had seen; then what each had seen were added. They had all seen the same dead Indians [emphasis in original].[1]

Indian casualties in the Battle of Washita River according to various sources
Source Date of estimate Men Women Children Total
Lt. Col. G.A. Custer, 7th Cavalry[2] Nov 28, 1868 103 some few 103+
Women captives, via interpreter Richard Curtis and New York Herald reporter DeB. Randolph Kleim[7] Dec 1, 1868 13 Cheyenne
2 Sioux
1 Arapaho
n/a n/a 16
Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Division of the Missouri[8] Dec 3, 1868 13 Cheyenne
2 Sioux
1 Arapaho
n/a n/a 16
Black Eagle (Kiowa), via interpreter Philip McCusker[9] Dec 3, 1868 11 Cheyenne
3 Arapaho
many many 14+
Capt. Henry E. Alvord, 10th Cavalry[10][11] Dec 12, 1868
[Apr 4, 1874]
80 Cheyenne
1 Comanche
1 Kiowa
n/a n/a 81
[82]
John Poisal and Jack Fitzpatrick, scouts attached to 7th Cavalry, via J.S. Morrison[12] Dec 14, 1868 20 40 women
and children
60
Lt. Col. G.A. Custer, 7th Cavalry[13] Dec 22, 1868 140 some few 140+
Unidentified Cheyennes, via Col. Benjamin H. Grierson, 10th Cavalry[14] Apr 6, 1869 18 n/a n/a 18
Red Moon, Minimic, Gray Eyes, Little Robe (Cheyenne) via Vincent Colyer, Special Indian Commissioner[15] Apr 9, 1869 13 16 9 38
Benjamin H. Clark, chief of scouts attached to 7th Cavalry[16] 1899 75 75 women
and children
150
Dennis Lynch, private, 7th Cavalry[17] 1909 106 some n/a 106+
Med Elk Pipe, Red Shin (?) via George Bent/George Hyde[18] 1913 11 12 6 29
Crow Neck (?), via George Bent/George Bird Grinnell[19] 1914 11 Cheyenne
2 Arapaho
1 Mexican
10 Cheyenne
2 Sioux
5 31
Packer/She Wolf (Cheyenne), via George Bent[20] 1916 10 Cheyenne
2 Arapaho
1 Mexican
n/a n/a 13
Magpie/Little Beaver (Cheyenne), via Charles Brill[21] 1930 15 n/a n/a 15
Source: Appendix G table, "Aggregate Totals", Hardorff 2006, p. 403. Source table modified by arranging in chronological order,
providing sources for each estimate, and color-coding to differentiate between type of source.
Key: Military estimates Estimates of civilian scouts attached to 7th Indian estimates

John Poisal and Jack Fitzpatrick, mixed-blood scouts attached to the Seventh Cavalry,[1] gave a different report of the number of Indian casualties at Washita to scout J.S. Morrison when they arrived with the Cheyenne prisoners at Fort Dodge.[22] In a letter to Indian Agent Col. Edward Wynkoop on December 14, 1868, Morrison wrote, "John Smith, John Poysell [Poisal], and Jack Fitzpatrick have got in today. John S. was not in the [Washita] fight, but John P. and Jack were. They all agree in stating that the official reports of the fight were very much exaggerated; that there were not over twenty bucks killed; the rest, about forty, were women and children."[12] The Cheyenne prisoners themselves, interviewed by Gen. Sheridan at Camp Supply, reported thirteen Cheyenne men, two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed at the Washita,[1] a figure which Sheridan subsequently reported to Bvt. Maj. Gen. Nichols.[8] The journalist DeB. Randolph Keim also interviewed the women prisoners with the help of interpreter Richard Curtis, obtaining actual names of the killed and arriving at the same figure of thirteen Cheyenne, two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed.[7] Later information from various Cheyenne sources, most of them independent of each other, tended to confirm the figures given by the Cheyenne women prisoners.[1] Few of the military reports discussed casualties among the women and children; however, Custer acknowledged in his report that "In the excitement of the fight, as well as in self-defence, it so happened that some of the squaws and a few of the children were killed and wounded...."[2]

After the December visit to the battlefield by Custer and Sheridan, Custer revised his initial estimate of 103 warriors killed upward, writing from Fort Cobb that "The Indians admit a loss of 140 killed, besides a heavy loss of wounded. This, with the Indian prisoners we have in our possession, makes the entire loss of the Indian in killed, wounded, and missing not far from 300."[13] Hoig points out that if this were true, it would mean that virtually everyone in the village was killed or captured[4] Greene states, "Custer's figures were inflated, and the specific sources of his information remain unknown.[23] Hardorff greets Custer's revised total with skepticism. "This new number was based on information obtained from two imprisoned Kiowa chiefs at Fort Cobb who faced death by hanging," says Hardorff. "In view of their predicament, it seems likely that these men would have said anything to avoid the gallows. But such skepticism is not warranted in the case of the Washita prisoners. The Cheyenne women were allowed to mingle freely with the officers and knew many of them on an intimate basis. They were assured good treatment and had no apparent reason to distort their statements about dead kinsmen."[1]

Greene appears to find Indian estimates most reliable, stating that "As might be expected, the best estimates must come from the people who suffered the losses" though noting that "even these do not agree."[23] Utley, however, writes, "Indian calculations — a dozen warriors and twice as many women and children killed – are as improbably low as Custer's are high."[24] Hoig writes, "Even though the number 103 was not arrived at by a precise battlefield count, it is a definite figure which has already been placed on historical markers of the battlefield. Since it will likely never be proved absolutely incorrect, the figure will undoubtedly remain accepted as the number of Indians killed by Custer at the Washita. History should make it clear, however, that the dead were by no means all warriors who were met in open battle and defeated."[25]

Several of the Cheyenne accounts provide actual names of men killed at the Washita.[7][18][19][20][26] In his book, Jerome Greene provides an appendix of "Known Village Fatalities at the Washita," which compiles from these sources a list of all unique names, for a total of 40 men, 12 women (of whom 11 are unidentified), and six unidentified children. Greene notes that some individuals might have more than one name, so entires might be duplicative.[27] Using the same sources, Richard G. Hardorff has compiled a "Composite List of Names," which partially reconciles multiple names (or multiple translations of the same name) in the different sources — for example, the Mexican Pilan with his Indian names White Bear and Tall White Men, or Bitter Man/Cranky Man also known as Bad Man. Writes Hardorff, "Some of the dead may have been identified by their birth name by one informant and by their nickname by anotehr. Variations in the translation of personal names add to the confusion in the identification...."[28]

Prisoners

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"The prisoners have go in today; they consist of fifty-three women and children. One boy is an Arapaho; the rest are all Cheyennes. Mrs. Crocker is among them; she is badly wounded; she says her child is killed."[12]

Mrs. Crocker identified in note: "Mrs. Crocker was a full-blood Cheyenne named Ne-sou-hoe. She was the wife of a Lieutenant Crocker, who served with the Second Colorado Volunteers. Ne-sou-hoe and her young daughter, Jennie Lund Crocker, were visiting relatives in Black Kettle's Washita village when Custer was killed during the fighting. Charles J. Kappler, Indian Treaties, 1778-1993 (New York: Interland, 1972), 889."[29]

Battle or massacre?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Washita_River&oldid=36651218

Richard White book

The question of white captives

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Clara Blinn

According to Ben Clark, who was Custer's chief of scouts in the winter campaign of 1878-1879, "We found Mrs. Blinn's and her child's body where an Arapaho village had been camped at the time of the attack on Black Kettle's camp. The Arapaho village stood on the east side of the river, 4 or 5 miles below the Black Kettle village. It was afterward said that in the excitement of the Indians hurrying to get their families out of danger, one of the Indian women killed her."[30]

"Clara Blinn and her son, Willie, were killed in Yellow Bear's Arapaho camp on the morning of Custer's attack. During the rush to take down Yellow Bear's lodge, the little boy was in the way of the women and was killed along with his mother, who refused to leave her son's remains behind. Undated Star clipping, Blinn collection."[31]

See also notes Hardorff 2006, p. 236 about the disposition of the Blinn remains and about Richard Blinn.

Black Elk's responsibility for raids

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Cultural references

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Washita Battleground National Historic Site

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References (add)

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hardorff 2006, pp. 78-79, note 15.
  2. ^ a b c Custer, George Armstrong. (1868-11-28). Report to Maj. Gen. P.H. Sheridan. In U.S. Senate 1869, pp. 27-29; U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp. 162-165. Reproduced in Cozzens 2003, pp. 394-397; Hardorff 2006, pp. 60-65.
  3. ^ Sheridan, Philip H. (1868-11-29). Report to Brevet Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols, Acting Adjutant General, Military Division of the Missouri. In U.S. Senate 1869, p. 32; U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp. 146-147.
  4. ^ a b Hoig 1980, p. 200.
  5. ^ Camp, Walter M. (1917-03-03). Interview of Lt. Edward S. Godfrey. In Hardorff 2006, pp. 130-131.
  6. ^ Godfrey, Edward S. (1928). "Some Reminiscences, Including the Washita Battle." The Cavalry Journal 37(153): 481-500 (October). Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, p. 132-147. The quotation is found on p. 145. See also: Godfrey, Edward S. (1929). "The Washita Campaign." Winners of the West 6(5-8) (April-July), reproduced in Cozzens 2003, pp. 339-354; an almost identical statement appears on p. 352.
  7. ^ a b c Keim, DeB. Randolph. (1868-12-24). "The Indian War." New York Herald. (Dispatch written from Camp Supply, December 1, 1868). Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 297-398.
  8. ^ a b Sheridan, Philip H. (1868-12-03). Report to Brevet Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols, Acting Adjutant General, Military Division of the Missouri. In U.S. Senate 1869, pp.34-35. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 275-277.
  9. ^ McCusker, Philip [U.S. interpreter for Kiowas and Comanches]. (1868-12-03). Report to Col. Thomas Murphy, Superintendent for Indian Affairs. In U.S. Senate 1869, pp. 33; U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp. 7-8; Hazen 1925, pp. 310-311.
  10. ^ Alvord, Henry E. (1868-12-07). "Summary of Information Regarding Hostile Indians, Semi-Weekly Report No. 5." In U.S. Senate 1869, pp. 35-37; U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp. 151-153. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, p. 268.
  11. ^ Alvord, Henry E. (1874-04-04). Letter to W.B. Hazen. Hazen 1925, pp. 310-311. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, p. 269. Here, Alvord added one warrior killed to those originally estimated killed in his December 1868 intelligence report.
  12. ^ a b c Morrison, J.S. (1868-12-14). Letter to Col. Edward W. Wynkoop. Reproduced in full in Brill 2002, pp. 313-314. Reproduced in part in U.S. House of Representatives 1870, p. 11 and Hardorff 2006, pp. 283-284.
  13. ^ a b Custer, George Armstrong. (1868-12-22). Report to Brevet Lt. Col. J. Schuyler Crosby. In U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp. 155-162. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 66-79.
  14. ^ Grierson, Benjamin H. (1869-04-06). Letter to John Kirk. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, pp. 286-287.
  15. ^ Colyer, Vincent. (1869-04-09). Inspection report to Felix B. Brunot, Commissioner, April 9 entry. In Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 41st Congress, 2nd session, Executive Document. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, pp. 367-371.
  16. ^ Clark, Ben. (1899-05-14). "Custer's Washita Fight" (interview). New York Sun. Reproduced in Hardoff 2006, pp. 204-215; casualty estimate on p. 208.
  17. ^ Camp, Walter M. (1909-02-08). Interview of Dennis Lynch, private, 7th Cavalry. In Hardorff 2006, pp. 184-188.
  18. ^ a b Bent, George. (1913-08-28). Letter to George Hyde. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 398-399.
  19. ^ a b Grinnell, George Bird. (1916-10-03). Letter to W.M. Camp. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 399-400. Grinnell's letter states his information comes from a letter from George Bent "written two or three years ago." The Mexican, White Bear, "was a Mexican captive, purchased by William Bent" (George Bent's father). According to Hardorff, White Bear, also known as Pilan, was married to a Cheyenne woman and may have been a trader working for Fort Cobb post trader William Griffenstein. Hardorff 2006, p. 210 note 9.
  20. ^ a b Bent, George. (1916-12-04). Letter to W.M. Camp. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 400-401. The name of the Mexican killed was here given as Pilan. According to Hardorff, Pilan, known to the Cheyenne as White Bear, was married to a Cheyenne woman and may have been a trader working for Fort Cobb post trader William Griffenstein. Hardorff 2006, p. 210 note 9.
  21. ^ Magpie [Cheyenne]. (1930-11-23). Interview by Charles Brill et al., September 17. Daily Oklahoman. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 302-311. Casualty estimate on p. 310.
  22. ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 282.
  23. ^ a b Greene 2004, p. 136.
  24. ^ Utley 2001, p. 70.
  25. ^ Hoig 1980, p. 201.
  26. ^ Hyde 1968, p. 322.
  27. ^ Greene 2004, pp. 212-214.
  28. ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 402.
  29. ^ Hardoff, 2006, p. 283n.
  30. ^ Clark, Ben. (1903-05-01). Letter to Frederick S. Barde. Oklahoma City, OK: Frederick S. Barde Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 235-236.
  31. ^ Hardorff 2006, pp. 235-236, note 50.