Custer Made Last Stand without Long Hair or title of General June 25, 2010

Custer Was Not A General For Long

Little Big Horn Battlefield Map

On this Date in History:  In 1875, the Native American nations in the western United States were in the process of being rounded up and forced onto reservations.  Needless to say, for people used to roaming the plains, this was not too well received.  So, a group of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians left their reservations in defiance.  The United States sent 3 columns to make a coordinated attack in an effort to  force the Indians back to the their reservation.   One of the columns was the 7th Cavalry under the command of George Armstrong Custer who was ordered not to attack without the support of the other columns.  But, on this date in 1876, he found a Sioux Indian village.  When he saw a nearby group of about 40 warriors, he decided to disobey orders and attack before the smaller group could alert the larger body of the Army’s presence.  Then he made one, if not two more mistakes.  He divided his forces into three groups with the intention of attacking from three directions in order to prevent an escape.  Beyond dividing his forces though, he failed to get a good report of the lay of the land.  The seemingly simple movement of his troops was thwarted by a series of bluffs and ravines of which Custer was unaware. 

Little Big Horn Survivors in 1886

He also was wrong about the enemy’s strength.  As it turned out, he was attacking a force that outnumbered him by about 3-1 and he was doing so with a divided army.   In the end, some of Custer’s men escaped but the column commanded by Custer himself was eventually surrounded and all the men were killed.  After the battle, the Indians stripped and mutilated the bodies because they believed that the soul of a mutilated body would be forced to wander the earth aimlessly and not get to heaven.  But, Custer’s body was stripped but otherwise not touched.  Some accounts suggest it was because the Indians respected Custer as a great warrior.  But, that seems unlikely because Custer was not in uniform. He was wearing a buckskin outfit which seems like it would be pretty hot.  So, they more than likely did not think that he was a soldier and that is why they spared him.   Another possibility is that, since Custer had cut his famous long blond locks very short for battle, that they did not bother scalping him since due to the lack of hair on the scalp.  No one really can say for certain why Custer’s body was left unmolested but it is not likely that the Indians knew that the body in question was that of George A. Custer. 

Guidon Worth 2 to 5 million dollars?

The Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana was one of the worst defeats in US Army history.  Including scouts, some 268 men were killed though 380 US soldiers survived.  One might think that this battle would be a forgettable part of US military lore but, on this date in 2010, it was announced that a momento of the Battle of Little Big Horn would be put up for auction.  The item is a flag that looks more like  pennant or a swallow-tail designed American flag.   Its real name is a guidon and it was found after the battle folded under a dead soldier.  In June 1895, the artifact was sold to the Detroit museum of Art for $54.  Today, the Detroit Museum of Art is known as the Detroit Institute of Arts and it is putting the guidon up for auction.  What was valued at $54 115 years ago is now expected to fetch somewhere between $2 million and $5 million.   After all of this time…why sell it?  Money for one and also, the museum has determined that they collect art and this battle flag is not art.  It sure wasn’t a good luck charm either for the 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Colonel Custer. 

Lt Col Custer Laying With Dog While Resting During Civil War Peninsula Campaign

You see….George Custer was not a general officer at the Battle of Little Big Horn.  He was a West Point graduate and was a Captain when the Civil War began.  He had many daring and successful escapades in the Civil War with great success at places like Gettysburg, Winchester and Cedar Creek.  He was given brevet promotions for his actions. 

Custer's Crow Indian Scouts Gather in Rememberance At Little Big Horn Grave Site

Eventually, Custer was breveted to the rank of Major-General of the volunteers.  He accepted the initial flag of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and was present at Appomattox Courthouse when General Lee formally surrendered to US Grant.  He was the youngest General to serve in the Union Army.  But, after the war, he was commissioned as a Lt. Colonel in the regular army, given his position with the US 7th Cavalry.   Thus…”General Custer” only existed from about October 1864 to March 1866 when he mustered out of the volunteer army.  He became a Lt. Colonel in the regular army in 1867 and between the time of his new commission and the end of his life, he survived a court martial and year long suspension.  If the army had instead discharged him, the name of George Custer might never have been so well recognized today, which might have suited Custer whose long list of gallant actions and brilliant success has been totally overshadowed by his big blunder at Little Big Horn.

Pancho Villa and the Ides of March March 15, 2010

Doroteo Arango Said, "Et tu, Uncle Sam" On the Ides of March

Caesar's Last Moments with Marlon Brando Looking on March 15, 44 BC

On This Date in History:   It’s March 15.  If it weren’t for William Shakespeare, most people would probably have never heard of the Ides of March.  Of course, the Ides of March is when Julius Caesar was stabbed to death my several members of the Roman Senate.  Even now, most people probably don’t even know that there are ides of other months.  Believe it or not, there have been other significant events of the day.

Doroteo Arango

In 1878, Doroteo Arango was born in Mexico.  Through his early years, he witnessed the ascent of the wealthy in Mexico and the difficulties of the poor.  Conditions have improved since Arango’s early days but, even today, the Mexico class structure is one in which nearly 25% of the population is in poverty with a 2008 per capita income of less than $10,000. (World Bank Data)  However, the unemployment rate in 2008 was just 3 percent.  To make things worse for the Arangos,   the patriarch of the family died when Doroteo was 15 and he became a sharecropper to support his mother and siblings.   In 1894, the 16-year-old Doroteo returned from a day in the fields to find the owner of the hacienda attempting to sexually assault his 12-year-old sister.  So, the teenager grabbed a pistol and shot the wealthy owner.  That sent the teenager on a life of eluding the law.

Villa Spent Much of His Life on A Horse On the Run

He went to the mountains and after a couple of years of difficult survival, he joined up with a group of bandits and he quickly became thier leader.  They stole cattle, robbed various forms of transit carrying money and generally committed crimes against the wealthy.   By giving some of the spoils of their trade to the poor, Arango and his compadres saw themselves as modern day Robin Hoods as did many in the general population.  Authorities, however, viewed them as nothing but hoods and stepped up the attempts to apprehend Arango and the banditos. 

Heroic Image of Pancho Villa

As his imfamy rose, it seemed like a good time to create an alias.  Now, some say that Arango took the name of a fellow bandit he had met along his journey.  Others say that the name Francisco Villa was a derivative of his grandfather’s last name.  But, either way, Doroteo Arango became Francisco Villa.  Since, “Pancho” is a popular nickname for “Francisco,” Franciso Villa quickly became Pancho Villa.  Now, while the authorities were not too enthused at Villa’s propensity for avoiding capture and escaping seemingly impossible odds, one group took an interest.  That would be a political group of revolutionaries who thought that Villa had the skill set to lead guerilla operations.  Porfirio Diaz was the President of Mexico and many of the poor blamed their plight on him.  His political opponent, Francisco Madero, came to the forefront on a promise of change.  He called for big changes to help the poor and, presumably, adversely affect the rich.  That seemed like a good idea to Villa so he agreed to be a leader of Madero’s revolutionary army.

End For Villa Not Pretty or Heroic

He did pretty well for a couple of years but abrutly resigned his position in 1911 following a dispute with another revolutionary commander, Pascual Orozco, Jr.  Madero became Mexican president and, not long after he resigned his position, Villa got married and tried  to settle down to a life of normalcy.  But, that was not to be.  Seems that Orozco was not included in the new president’s governmental plans so, he started his own revolution in 1912.  Villa agreed to join forces with a general in support of Madero but the general accused Villa of stealing his horse and ordered him executed.  While, Villa escaped the gallows with a reprieve, he was left in prison for 6 months until at the end of 1912 when he did what he was good at doing: he escaped.

Villa and Pershing in 1914...Before They Became Enemies

Now, this general, General Victoriano Huerta, switched allegiances and turned against Madero.  On George Washington’s birthday in 1913, Huerta killed Madero and named himself as president.  As part of the pattern, Villa joined up with another person opposed with the president.  This time it was Venustiano Carranza and Villa had a string of victories across much of North Mexico where he redistributed land and tried to stablize the economy.  I dunno…maybe Carranza got jealous or maybe he was afraid of the power his partner was gaining…but for some reason, Villa and Carranza went from friends to enemies and a Civil War between the two factions continued for a couple of years.  Enter Uncle Sam, who decided it was time to support Carranza after initially backing Villa.  Villa responded on March 9, 1916 by crossing the border and attacking Columbus, New Mexico.  Now, that old arbitor of peace and law, President Woodrow Wilson, was not about to let the first attack on American soil since the War of 1812 go unanswered on his watch.  So, on this date in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the invasion of Mexico by 12,000 US troops led by General John J. ”Black Jack” Pershing in an attempt to kill or capture Villa.

Recruiting Poster to Join US Army to Capture Villa

   As part of the American Expedition was a young George S. Patton, Jr.  After a year, the United States Army failed to capture Villa and Carranza was assassinated.  Interim Mexican President Adolfo de la Huerta negotiated a peace that involved Villa retiring to a nice hacienda in Chihuahua.  Villa enjoyed himself until in 1923, he was gunned down while sitting in his car.  They made a movie about the Death of Pancho Villa in 1974

So, you see, in the early 20th century, the United States invaded a sovereign nation to kill or apprehend an individual who had orchestrated and participated in an attack on US soil.  While history really doesn’t repeat itself, the early 20th century and the early 21st century do have some interesting parallels.

NAM calls for clearing at 700 mb by 2pm Monday

Weather Bottom Line:  Everything is pretty much running down the line.  The weekend was as gloomy as I said it was and the temperatures in the 40′s felt a little chillier now than it would have a couple of weeks ago because last week we had highs in the low 70′s.  Now, the low behaved as expected and therefore there is no reason to think that it won’t move off to the northeast with clouds over our area on Monday before things improve.  In general, we should begin to warm up slowly as the week progresses but, there is one fly in the ointment.  Midweek, both the GFS and NAM call for an upper low to drop down, cut off from the main flow, over the Ohio Valley.  Its my guess that we may be a little cooler on St. Patrick’s Day than some forecasts suggest.  Otherwise, we move toward the 60 degree mark by the end of the week.  There is some indication of a trof late next weekend that may keep us in the 30′s on Sunday and some models are trying to throw out snow…though at this point, ground temperatures won’t support much accumulation and I’m not so sure we will get cold enough for it anyway.  But, it’s something to file away.