As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
When I came across the letter of Captain Frederick Benteen, after the mass assassination of the 7th Cavalry in men he knew for years, as nothing more to him than a state of examining promotions, I rightly diagnosed him as a sociopath, as no human could look upon hundreds of dead and rotting men and horses, and sit down and pen a letter to their wife focusing on promotions and telling here to keep the memo to "bring up packs" as it would be worth something.
Yet I found in Following the Guidon, that the officers of the military literally were taught to be sociopaths, and include it in here as evidence.
"One of the edicts which this woman could not quietly accept was the manner in which the Government saw fit to arrange promotion. Until after a colonelcy is reached everything advances by grade. Death, dismissal, resignation, and retiring from illness or from age are the causes that make vacancies. The bride tenderly reared could not reconcile herself to the calm calculation of oflScers who sat down to go over the list of those who ranked them, and to estimate how many years it would take for those in the way to be removed, either by Divine Providence or by dismissal.
With finger on the Army Register they disposed of one after another in something after this fashion: Such a one "will hand in his chips' soon if he don't leave John Barleycorn alone." Such and such a one " is going under from disease contracted during the war, or from an old wound." A third " has had a fortune left him, and he will ' light out' for civil life soon." Still another " begins to totter with age and imbecility, and can't sit a horse any longer; he will be re- tired shortly." Of another who was constantly being tried it was said, " Some court-martial will get him yet and send him flying."
The new-comer listened to all this calculating of chances as to vacancies and promotions with outraged feelings; but her horror culminated when her own husband, a lieutenant, rushed into the quarters one day performing a can-can, swinging his cap, and calling out to her in glee, " Fan, such and such a ship has gone down at sea, so and so is lost, and I'm a captain." I laughed till the tears came, to see her face as she told me of this shock to her sensibilities, and of her astonishment to think that her own husband could manifest such apparent heartlessness; and even though all this occurred years ago, she became rigid with indignation at the recollection."
Elizabeth Bacon Custer. Following the Guidon
It is a reality that most of the officers were not sociopaths, but there was a constant numbering of positions to fill by all, and in that group were people who were nothing but sociopaths, who very well knew at the Little Big Horn that if Custer bought it, with his command, then that drunken coward Reno would get the command, and the prize Captain Benteen would move up in command too, if he just stayed in camp and did not bring up packs.......with a little gratitude from those at the war department for assisting in punishing that General Custer who was informing Congress of all the corruption of the Grant Regime which the old guard in the Army just did not appreciate in being exposed.
There were literal ghouls in the military and they came to it naturally and they were trained to it by association. That is one of the legs of this triad of evil which assassinated the Custer command, along with powerful criminal elite and stupid Indians, who after serving the purpose were swept away faster than General Custer was.
nuff said
agtG
