Captain Frederick Benteen - H Co.

[rch]

Clair,

What sources say that ther was any sharing of ammo?

What dispositions were made. Which companies of Benteen's battalion did anything more than dismount and stand to horse? McDougall when he came up didn't notice anything in the way of pickets.

What sources are there that Benteen provided horses to Reno's men, except that Hare borrowed Godfrey's horse.

rch

[Gerry]

Jan 31, 2011 13:29:52 GMT -5 @conz said:

1. Provided ammo.
2. Provided physical security against potential threats.
3. Enabled Reno's command to rally more quickly (morale recovers faster with help arrived).
4. Provided fresh horses to replace Reno's lost ones.

That sounds about right.

Only one box of ammo was broke open and distributed, the other ammo would have to be reloaded to move out again.

All three of Benteen's troops put out skirmish lines. Weir D went to the north and blocked those NAs from coming closer. The other two companies were looking down the valley. If they fired a shot to help anyone coming up out of the valley, not sure. Weir's skirmish line probably made the most impact in not allowing a larger group of Indians to gather north of the hill.

Even with skirmish lines laid out on the bluffs overlooking the valley, many troops stayed on the bottom untill the Reno defense on the hill.

Don't know about Benteen giving up any of his horses.

One thing that Benteen did not do, is help with the wounded. He moved forward to Weir and the wounded were left to Company A to try to clean up and move the wounded to the north.

Gerry

[Clair]

Ryan on Benteen: “While stationed at this fort there was one of the company commanders, whose name I shall omit [Benteen] who, after spending a few hours in the sutler’s store, emerged from there inebriated, in other words, he was very much under the influence of liquor. He got as far as the parade grounds, but was unable to proceed any farther. I knew he was not a particular friend of mine from previous encounters, but I found out afterwards by real experience that he was not. I told the first sergeant of his company that he had better go and get his drunken commander off the parade grounds before the guards got their hands on him and ran him in. He must have told the captain what I said afterwards, for I got wind of the fact that the captain was kind of sore on me, and I knew what to expect and was on my guard.”

PTV Windolph on Benteen: “Most of the time we were in the field, Captain Benteen commanded a squadron. Usually he’d have one or two companies, besides his own ‘H’ Company. He was a wonderful officer. He let the First Sergeant pretty much run the company. He wasn’t always interfering and running the details.”

[keogh]

This is a letter dated Feb. 17, 1930, from correspondence between 2 early battle students: W. J. Ghent and Brininstool. Most of the letter refers to certain letters written by Benteen to his son Fred.

Dear Mr. Brininstool,

The Benteen letters to which I referred are not those written to Barry [D.F.Barry, a noted photographer and historian] . They are the ones written to Mrs. Benteen, now in possession of the son. It was to his son that Benteen more than once said Reno was drunk on the night of the 25th. Whether he also said this to a certain officer of my acquaintance to whom in 1877 he told the story of Reno's proposal to abandon the wounded, I neglected to ask. There are various tales about Reno's having been under the influence of liquor while in the Valley, but I never paid much attention to them. They may be all quite wrong. But it is certain that Reno had a supply of whiskey, and it is certain that Benteen excused his proposal to abandon the wounded on the grounds that at the time he was drunk.

The more time I study Benteen, the more I regard him as an unconscionable liar. That is, he could tell the truth with painstaking exactness when he wanted to, but he could also, when he wanted to, lie with ease and fluency. In a number of statements he made before the Court of Inquiry, he flatly perjured himself. His statement that he had never said anything to the discredit of Reno's proposal of abandonment to Godfrey on June 28th on the ride to Custer field, and was prevented only by the coming up of an orderly [Godfrey did not get the full story from him until the summer of 1881] . But in 1877, at Fort Buford, he told it to a young lieutenant, now a retired Brig. Gen., under promise that it would not be divulged during his [Benteen's] lifetime. It was never divulged until about 3 weeks ago. Thus, at the time of the Court of Inquiry, he had told the story to at least one man, and had been prevented from telling it to another only by an accident.

His statement "that there wasn't enough whiskey in the whole command to make a man drunk" was also false. Reno's supply is said to have been a "small keg" -- how small, I don't know, but enough in any case to make several men drunk if more than one had access to it.

His statement that during his movement to the left he had no knowledge of the location of the Little Big Horn Valley is explicitly disproved by Lieutenant Gibson's letter to Godfrey, August 8, 1908. It was a rather silly, and quite unnecessary falsehood, but it is important as an illustration of Benteen's glibness in saying the thing that wasn't true.

(to be continued)

[keogh]

Ghent's letter to Brininstool (part II):

In one of the letters in your collection Benteen rather boasts of having concealed an important matter at the Court of Inquiry. I asked a West Point graduate -- one who knows virtually nothing about the battle or its participants -- what he thought of such an act, and he replied that it would have been impossible on the part of one who had experienced the ethical training given at West Point. I think he overestimated a bit the conception of honor inculcated in the cadets, because a good deal of uncandid testimony comes up in courts martial and courts of inquiry, but his reply was significant of the ideal entertained by West Point graduates, even if in practice they do not always attain it. His view is that had Benteen been a graduate he would have concealed nothing.

You are quite right in saying that in their testimony the officers generally did not tell all they knew or felt. Whittaker had acted with great tactlessness in making his charges, with the result that the witnesses deemed themselves called upon to protect the honor of the regiment. Even the conscientious Godfrey would say nothing more severe against Reno than that his conduct showed "nervous timidity." Hare, who had told Godfrey that Reno was "all in, and of no further use," or words to that effect, tempered his words very considerably when he testified. The general testimony, except Godfrey's, was in a sense, cut and dried. Reno's rooms in the hotel, well stocked with whiskey and cigars, were the gathering place for every officer except Godfrey, who repeatedly refused to visit there. The late W.M. Camp said that he was told by one of the officers that the testimony to be given was not only talked over in detail, but REHEARSED.

(to be continued)

[keogh]

Ghent letter to Brininstool (Part III):


The Benteen letters in your possession I consider, as in part, of great value, and in part, valueless. Here in Washington, Benteen is well remembered. He is acknowledged to have been conspicuously brave. But his diatribes against Custer will gain no credence, even among men more or less unfriendly to Custer. His frequent strictures on other officers will also be completely discounted. He was often drunk, and at such times would say pretty much anything that came into his head. Very likely, some of these letters were written either while he was in that state, or just recovering from it. On the other hand, parts of his letters wherein he is apparently trying to tell the truth, furnish a valuable commentary on the battle. I do not know whether or not, in these letters, he endorsed Goldin's story of having carried a message from Custer to Reno. If he did in fact, it will further count against him. I have talked to no one who does not believe the story to be false; and the conclusion among informed readers would be that Benteen knew enough of what had happened to recognize that the incident was impossible, but was willing to use Goldin as an avenue through which he could disseminate ill stories against Custer and others.
Sincerely yours,

W. J. Ghent

[keogh]

Below, Benteen describes some actions taken by him independently on the bluffs at LBH on June 26th:

Part of Benteen's letter to Captain Edward Field, from Fort McKinney, WY, Feb. 8, 1886:

The facts of obtaining the water on the 2nd [day] of the fight are these: The portion of the line held by my troop was very long, and for prudential reasons, the left flank of the line was drawn in after dark of the 1st day; that portion that was drawn in protected us from getting a raking fire from the left front; but if it had been undertaken to retain possession of it during the night, those men so holding would have been cut off from succor on the next day should the Indians remain; or they could have been easily captured during the night without possibility of preventing it. As supposed, the Indians had possession of these points before daylight of the 2nd day, and kept up such a murderous fire therefrom that I determined to undertake to drive them from those positions; therefore, without saying anything to Reno of my intentions, I gathered up all the skulkers who were hiding among the pack mules (some 16 or 18), compelled them to carry pack-saddles, sacks of bacon, boxes of hardbread, &c. to the left flank of my Troop, and with the miscellaneous collection of "Stuff," built a small breastwork; I then turned the men I had so gathered over to my First Lieutenant, telling [him] that I intended taking the Troop and drive those indians out of the ravine; that he must hold that position no matter what became of my party, and to shoot the first man that showed the slightest disposition to "flunk"; then the men were notified what I expected of them, and away we started. Well, as you know, there was [with us all] duck or no dinner case; why, of course, we busted them out, and if you saw indians turn somersaults -- and scramble.

That was the time of having seen what I was forced to give up (as I said before, for prudential reasons) the first night, and holding the key to the water, I sent word to Reno to have all the camp kettles, pots, pans, anything that would hold water gotten together, and that the men could get all the water that was needed; that is about all of the story; as a matter of course, it was no picnic to get the water, as [at] the creek there was a flat of perhaps 30 feet in width, with [the] creek running 2 feet below it, which [flat] first had to be crossed, then drop on your belly, dip down the kettle, jump up and run [back] to [the] ravine, all under volley fire from the indians from Reno's front and left flanks; but we got it -- as you know -- my dear old comrade, and I think, rather impressed the indians that we were there to stay.... That was the manner in which the fire of the indians was drawn, and in which manner the water was secured.

Very truly yr. friend,

Benteen

[Clair]

Was the Reno discussion because Benteen wanted reinforcements other than his own company to make the maneuver? On one of those charges, CPT French was told to take M Co and make a charge under Benteen.

Clair

[keogh]

Oct 28, 2011 11:29:57 GMT -5 Clair said:

Was the Reno discussion because Benteen wanted reinforcements other than his own company to make the maneuver? On one of those charges, CPT French was told to take M Co and make a charge under Benteen.

Clair

Clair, Benteen used troops from other companies on his 2nd charge that day, not his own, as that charge was made from the northern perimeter of their defense, opposite his own position. Here is Benteen's testimony from the RCOI regarding this matter:

Benteen: After driving those Indians out and securing the place I wanted to have the day before but could not get on account of the length of the line . . . . I went over to Major Reno and told him I was being annoyed very greatly by the fire -- I received a cross fire from every quarter -- and was entirely unprotected save for the breastworks we threw up on the 26th; and asked him if I might drive these Indians away who were annoying me.

Q: State what followed or what was done.

Benteen: He said yes I could; and we did it.

Q. Were the troops who drove the Indians from that place . . . men of your own company or from other companies?

Benteen: None of my own company, I believe.

Q. Who gave the order for the troops . . . to drive the Indians from the place you spoke of last?

Benteen: I told them to go, that was all; and I went with them.

Q. Did Major Reno go along?

Benteen: I don't think he did.

[Clair]

Private Roman Rutten wrote of this fight:

"Benteen came over and told [Reno] how rapidly he was losing his men and that if he did not get assistance soon, he could not hold his hill...who finally said he might take one of the companies on that side, and Benteen, without discussing which one he was to have, said: 'All right, I will take French.' French was informed about this and immediately went along the line and told his men to be still but ready, when he would give the word, to jump up and run for Benteen's line. Benteen's line, being on the highest ground in the vicinity, the men going to his assistance would clearly be exposed for some 100 yards while going up the slope. At French's word all the men present, but not all the available men in the company, leaped to their feet, scattered, and started up the hill."

Private Hugh Moore wrote:

"In going over was where we lost the most men. Soon as we got over we had four or five men shot as we were going over, and four or five men were shot as soon as Captain French formed the line. Shortly after the line was formed the Indians charged the line, and when Captain French said I want every man to stand the company did stand. That was the only thing that stopped the Indians coming in because that was the strongest point, or where the Indians made the strongest attack."

MacLean writes: "PVT Rutten estimated that the company ran toward the warriors for at least 100 yards. Some of the Company M troopers grumbled that the reason Company H was in this predicament (that required a charge) was that Company H had failed the night before to extend and fortify their positions."

I wonder what version is most accurate?

Clair

[keogh]

Thanks for posting up those accounts Clair.

keogh

P.S. I wonder why Benteen did not request Moylan's company to join him in this charge, as his company was adjacent to his own on the line. Perhaps he could not be easily found.

[Clair]

I've never attempted to model the Reno defense, nor the details of the Weir advance preceding that. Been too busy with the rest of the battle! Co M's part of the Reno defense according to MacLean in Custer's Best:

"...with Company M facing west toward the steep gullies leading from the hill to the Little Bighorn River..."

"...Captain French, 1SG Ryan, and six men charged toward an Indian marksman and probably killed him..."

"...Without changing his gait, [Edgerly] looked towards the Indians and angrily shouted at them, 'Damn you! You will have to shoot better than that to get me!."

"During the evening's fight, at least one mule with an ammunition pack ran away from the position and reached the river, only to have the warriors capture its valuable cargo."

"On the morning of June 26 on Reno Hill, Captain French redeployed his company a little to the south to better support Captain Benteen's position on the southern tip of the perimeter; Company M would assist that morning in Benteen's counterattack against close-in Indian positions, one of which was a low bluff only 100 yards away."

"Benteen decided to charge and M Company came over from the north to reinforce him. They charged and drove the enemy back."

"Benteen discussed the matter with Reno, who finally said he might take one of the companies on that [western] side, and Benteen, without discussing which one he was to have, said: 'All right, I will take French.'

"The charge by Company H and part of Company M occurred at 9 a.m. Rutten estimated that the company ran toward the warriors for at least 100 yards."

[keogh]

Captain Benteen is credited (although it might also have been his close friend Robert Price) with writing a very moving passage that was published in some newspapers several years before the Little Big Horn. In this vividly descriptive passage, Benteen may have had a premonition of what would occur at the Little Big Horn. The words describe what may have been the final thoughts of the troopers and officers on Battle Ridge & LSH as they looked in vain for support from Benteen's own troops posted atop the Weir Peaks:

Who can describe the feeling of that brave band, as with anxious beating hearts, they strained their yearning eyes in the direction in whence help should come? What must have been the despair that , when all hopes of succor died out, nerved their stout arms to do and die? Round and round rushed the red fiends; smaller and smaller shrank the circle; but the aim of that devoted, gallant knot of heroes is steadier than ever, and the death howl of the murderous redskin is more frequent. But on they come in masses grim, with glittering lance and one long, loud, exulting whoop, as if the gates of hell had opened and loosened the whole infernal host. A well directed volley from their trusty carbines makes some of the miscreants reel and fall, but their death-rattles are drowned in the greater din. Soon every voice in that little band is still as death; but the hellish work of the savages is scarce begun, and their ingenuities are taxed to invent barbarities to practice on the bodies of the fallen brave, the relation of which is scarcely necessary to the completion of this tale.

Benteen continues with his descriptions of a different engagement, but with a few small changes in wording (made in yellow), his words would seem to describe the situation on June 25th 1876 better than all others I have yet read:

And now, to learn why the anxiously-looked for succor did not come, let us view the scene . . . scarce two short miles away. Light skirmishing is going on all around. Savages on flying steeds, with shields and feathers gay, are circling everywhere, riding like devils incarnate. The troopers are on all sides of [the Weir Peaks] looking on and seizing every opportunity of picking off some of those daring riders with their carbines. But does no one think of the welfare of [General Custer] and party? It seems not. But yes! A squadron of Cavalry is in motion. They trot; they gallop. Now they charge! The cowardly redskins flee the coming shock and scatter here and there among the hills secure away. But it is the true line -- will the cavalry keep it? No! No! They turn! Ah, 'tis only to intercept the wily foe. See! A . . . troop goes on in the direction again. One more short mile and they will be saved. Oh, for a mother's prayers! Will not some good angel prompt them? They charge the mound -- a few scattering shots, and the murderous pirates of the Plains go unhurt away. There is not hope for that brave little band; the death doom is theirs, for the cavalry halt and rest their panting steeds [and await the arrival of the pack train].

Ironic indeed.

garryowen,

keogh

[keogh]

Many LBH Battle students have no idea that Benteen was actually cashiered from the US Army as a result of being court-martialed in 1887. This sentence was reduced by President Grover Cleveland to a year's suspension at half pay, but Benteen never served again in uniform, retiring from the service on a disability. For those interested in the details of his court martial, the following article, date and author unknown, was found in the Frost Collection of the Monroe Public Library in Michigan:

A little known facet of Frederick W. Benteen's Army career is the manner in which his active duty was actually terminated. In 1882, while on a tour of recruiting duty in New York City, Benteen was promoted to Major and transferred to the Ninth (Colored) Cavalry. Just 15 years earlier, Benteen had been offered this same slot and turned it down -- possibly a throwback and prejudice due to the fact that his father had been a slave owner in Virginia and Missouri before the War of Rebellion.

By 1886, Benteen's detachment of the 9th Cavalry was stationed at Fort Duchesne, Utah Territory, which post was then under construction, and Benteen's seniority made him Commanding Officer. Throughout his life, and to his dying day, Benteen had a fondness for spirituous beverages that was difficult for him to satiate. Utah had not been admitted to the Union because the Mormons still practiced polygamy, and while under the influence of alcohol, Benteen habitually cursed the local Latter Day Saints. He flaunted his wealth and high born station, and one day, in the sutler's establishment, Benteen blurted out to some of the indigenous barflies, "G*ddamn you! I'll make the Star-Spangled Banner wave over you before I leave here." Shortly thereafter, Benteen pointed to two locals, who for some reason had looked at him kinda funny-like and said, "I think you are both G*ddamned Mormons, and the Mormons are a G*ddamned set of sons of bitches."

On 7 January 1887, Benteen was court-martialed "for being drunk on duty and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman by using obscene and profane language and taking off his clothes and exposing himself." One of the more telling quotations from the transcript was that:

"Benteen said to Lt. Baily's wife, 'Your husband must have a hell of a time with you.' She asked him what he meant. He replied that any woman with her eyes would make it lively for any man. He then stepped around a corner of the wall tent, not going more than ten feet from where the ladies were sitting and urinated on the tent, so that we all heard."

In spite of this episode, Benteen had surprisingly asked Lt. Bailey to act as his defense counsel and, what is even more surprising, Lt. Bailey accepted.

The court-martial itself was a complete farce in that Benteen objected to everything and everyone. All the witnesses against him were portrayed as prejudiced Mormons or officers he had reprimanded at one time or another. As a matter of fact, it was difficult for Benteen to obtain any defense witnesses. He had to go so far as to call his own niece, who quietly stated that her uncle was not a drunkard and the irrelevant fact that she was an Episcopalian.

After a rather lengthy trial, Benteen was found guilty of:

1. Being drunk on duty on 25 and 27 September, 10 October, and 10, 11 and 12 November 1886.
2. Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
3. Using obscene and profane language.
4. Taking off his clothes but not guilty of "exposing his person."

He was sentenced to be dismissed from the service, this after 26 years of active duty, but President Grover Cleveland, after castigating Benteen for his utter disregard for duty, and insubordination at his court-martial, took note of Benteen's excellent record during the War of Rebellion and Indian War successes, and mitigated the sentence to one year's suspension from duty at half pay.

To the independently wealthy Benteen, this sentence hurt his pride more than his pocketbook, and during this one year's suspension, Benteen applied for and received a medical disability discharge. As an aside, Benteen suffered from spinal meningitis, and had passed this on to all but one of his sons, who died from it. The claimed that he "could no longer ride like a cavalryman, see like a cavalryman, or drink like a cavalryman." Taking everything into account, the medical survey board decided he did indeed have bad eyes, a bad bladder, and a bad back, all service connected, and that he was unfit for further active service.

Benteen was then ordered before a retirement board presided over by General Wesley Merritt, who made General the same day that Custer had, and in 1879, had sat on Major Reno's Court of Inquiry. Benteen was retired in 1888.

Benteen continued to drink heavily, wrote voluminous letters, and applied for the brevet rank of Brigadier General. This was granted to him by the Army and in June, 1898, Benteen died of paralysis in a private sanatorium. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

[Clair]

This is my favorite CPT Benteen action, and shows him to his best potential, I think. This version out of Michno's Encylopedia:

"13 August 1868

Elkhorn Creek (Lincoln, KS)

More than 200 Cheyennes, Arapahos, and Lakotas, under prominent warriors such as Man-Who-Breaks-The-Marrow-Bones, Tall Wolf, Porcupine Bear, and Bear-That-Goes-Ahead, moved north from their villages in central Kansas and descended on the settlements along the Saline and Solomon Rivers...On 10 August, they raided the farms along Spillman Creek in Grant County, raping three women.

"CPT Frederick W. Benteen, with Company H, 7th Cavalry, and LT Owen Hale, with Company M of the same regiment, were sent from Fort Larned to the scene of the attacks, about 80 miles away. Benteen took a detachment of H and moved rapidly, reaching Fort Harker in two days. From there, he took 40 men from his company and several he rounded up at the fort and moved north.

"Benteen's party arrived at the farmhouse of a family called Schermerhorn on Elkhorn Creek, about five miles southeast of Lincoln, Kansas, where 50 Indians were threatening a family. After dropping off ten men with the pack mules, Benteen and his men 'were into that gang of astounded reds before they were aware of it.'

"The 30 soldiers chased what turned out to be nearly 200 warriors down the Elkhorn and up the Saline toward Spillman Creek. The troopers got so close, said Benteen, they were 'almost trampling on their 'gee-strings.' During the 20-mile romp the Indians abandoned two captured girls, Maggie and Ester Bell, who were rescued the next day.

"The cavalrymen put their repeating Spencers to work, killing three Indians and wounding ten; Benteen lost not a man."

Clair