There is an interesting and damning quote from the Crook Campaign of 1876 after the mass murder of the George Custer command at the Little Big Horn and it follows in this quote:
Their tents were brightly lighted and comfortably furnished. Even the Seventh Cavalry were housed like Sybarites to our unaccustomed eyes. "Great guns!" said our new major, almost exploding at a revelation so preposterous. "Look at Reno's tent—he's got a Brussels carpet!"
Charles King. Campaigning with Crook and Stories of Army Life (Kindle Locations 922-924).
The command body of Gen, George A. Custer was mass assassinated on June 25, 1876 on a Sunday afternoon. Those immediately responsible were Maj. Marcos Reno and Capt. Frederick Benteen.
One must comprehend Gen. Custer in he always fought with pack mules and the 7th was always lightly loaded to pursue Indians. It is why with the broken down Army mules of that year, that he did not pack a Gatling Gun nor a mountain howitzer.
The General preferred mobility and surprise.
Now though look at what was found in the Gen. Terry camp, which was Custer's superior at his death. Now recall that a national tragedy as large as 9 11 had just taken place. Two armies had been called out to fight these Indians in concert.
Ask yourself in knowing that, how the command was equipped in June of 1876 on bare essentials, but within weeks it was in allowing the Indians to escape across Terry's front, now though with Terry and Reno in command, the vital focus had not been on war preparations, but had used the resources to literally make it a junket, complete with Reno had a European carpet in his tent.
These luxuries overflowing had come up by logic on the very paddle ships which had carried the news of the massacre and the wounded to Fort Abraham Lincoln.
Literally, orders had to have been given in the crucial days following the massacre, not to punish the Indians immediately, and certainly not to bury the dead Troopers respectfully, but instead had gone to ordering up carpets and all sorts of debauchery.
The Sioux were highly mobile and the Terry wagons were not ever going to be able to catch the Sioux. Gen. Crook who is suspect in all of this as he retired from the field, went hunting at the Big Horn Mountains and a dispatch was sent there by Terry to inform him of the Custer mass murder, was in the field with Gen. Carr with packs and saddles, exactly as Custer outfitted the 7th.
Due to this, the Indians literally evaded Terry. The logic is that Terry allowed this for purpose and points to his collusion in the matter in creating the situation where the Indians who did the deed for the Grant regime were allowed to escape to Canada.
The only commander in this who actually went after the Indians was Nelson Miles, in command of the infantry and friend of the Custers.
I return to the reality of this in the astonishment of the other Cavalry in seeing what the 7th had degraded into in licentiousness.
With 1/3rd of the 7th laying rotting above ground not over 100 miles to the east, Marcos Reno and Gen. Terry were living like kings on a holiday. In psychological profiling, that is guilt over what too place in compensation, but note there was no remorse in the least from any of these people..
There was time for bringing in carpets by ship and resources to waste hauling those carpets in wagons, but none to bury the dead nor to follow Indians which were known to be in front of Terry's command.
Those are the spoils of assassination and it is the reality of asking those questions again in who was behind all of this, as no rebuke came to Terry and nothing was noted, even if the 5th Cavalry was wide eyed at all the goodies the entire Terry command was packing.
The expose' continues.
agtG
