Show 10 A en 5 oes 07 the uster rabea 15 sa s1 k 7 1 V 3 41 1 1 11 1 I 1 14 1 11 7 all 1 7 f the custer battlefield battle field today heny wry on foj 3 lk ih W i 1 5 V naton dy by ELMO SCOTT WATSON SIX years have passed since tha career ot of gen george armstrong ouster custer came to its dramatic close yet tho the of his bis name has baa kept alive for or more than half a century the memory of that tragedy while other battles battled much more important historically have have been nil all but forgotten Of scarcely treely a month passes without there appearing in the news of 0 the day some echo of ei custers austers Ou last battle to recall to our minds what took place on the little big horn river in montana on that fateful day in june ISTO 1870 it imay bo be an item referring to one of tho the last survivors of tl tha ie ouster custer battle who have bobbed up with such regularity during the last five decades and who have co BO easily been proved to be takes fakes As a matter of fact there were many survivors of the ouster custer battle if the term ouster custer battle battla la in interpreted to menn mean the whole action which took place pace on tho the little big horn on art june 28 25 1870 those were the officers and men who were in the detachment of of the seventh cavalry commanded by maj marcus A reno capt frederick W benteen and capt thomas mcdougal when ouster divided his command to attack the indian 6 they were the members at troops A 0 and M under reno troops D n H and K X under benteen Bent cen and troop n D wilch which was guarding the pack train under mcdougal but 0 of troops 0 E 1 I r F and L which were were under the tha immediate command of ouster custer and which were BO quickly surrounded surround e d b by y the indians there was ono one and ONLY ONE su sur clyor ot cuse austers ousters Ou last stand and that wits was not a man but a horse orse that authentic sole sur alvor was Coman comanche Cb manche dhe the eldy claybank bank sorrel which wail ridden into the battle by capt myles W keogh of troop L I 1 two days after tho the battle he be was found wandering about tho the battlefield pierced by seven bullets and so wea weak k and emaciated that at first it 11 was d decided ec that the ifie only humane thing to do was t to 0 kill him but 11 II 1 I nowlan I 1 lan field quartermaster on general terrys terry as blare 1 aff add a d an intimate captain keogh prevailed upon the soldiers to spare Coman life ilia 1119 wounds were dressed and he cwm so BO well cared for on tho the steade par far west which carried the other wounded of ol 01 custers Ou command back to fort Ali abraham raham lincoln that ahn he Is through and lived to the igo ago of twenty eight years years when he ha died in 1892 the seventh was stationed at fort utley karl kan and dyche a naturalist con necked with the university 0 of kansas mounted the thea kin and today there stands in the dyche museum at the university ty 0 of kansas the lifelike ot of tho only authentic survivor of custer Ou last las t stand 0 or r it may be an item about abou some one who fought with ouster duster and who escaped the massacre because he be was wag detached from the regiment at the time in nine cases out of 0 tw such euch individuals within several veral hun dred miles of the little ill big g horn 0 that day and haye have no more right to claim that they fought with ouster Custer than have s eral hundred bundred other men who were in the nr ar lies les in the field against ahe the bo hostile attle indians durl the campaign ot ct 1870 1876 then T ben arain again it may e an item referring to some bome one who asserts assert 18 t at t he b was 8 a ouster custer scout although the nan ot of belr every way man who has a legitimate claim to i lat at tillet to li well known nud and till all of them with tae t e possible exception of some odthe ot tho indian I 1 I 1 iian scouts tiled ouster custer on his last lasi 1 expedition are now dead 1 considering them amount iino of publicity that has keen been time to time to fo all these last survivors J ouster fighters and ouster custer scouts lp it seems B 8 ail ft the inore moro that so 0 o little n air a bald recently to he fie parsing ot of cn one important and genuine actor in the custer 4 h i an A e ll 11 tragedy por for when brig gen edward S godfrey U 8 A retired died at his home in cooks town N J X last april jt t marked tho the end of the last ot of custers Custer 8 troop commanders on the day that ouster custer perl perished shed general godfrey was lieutenant godfrey commander of troop troops K of the seventh cavalry and troop K X was a rrt part of the battalion commanded by capt W benteen the senior captain in the Sev seventh nth when custer divided the regiment to make his attack on the indian village strung along the banks of the little big florn not only did m general godfrey play anim an important por part in the fighting which took place after Bentee Bent cens Ws command joined forces with tho the detachment tach ment commanded by maj marcus A reno beno but la in later years yeal s he became beca tite known knevin as aa the ithe ledding leading authority on the custer battle and the chief calef de defender feilder of custer when the question was raised as aa to whether or not the disaster on the little big horn was due to custers Ou disobedience of the orders of his superior gen den alfred H terry not the least of general godfreys godfreyh God freys services vices to the memory of his dead commander was in refuting the slander that ouster custer had committed suicide when he be saw that the destruction of hla his command was inevitable and not the least of his contributions to the truthful history of the custo battle was ana his part in showing up as impostors the various last survivors and custer scouts who sought notoriety through the rejected gory of custers Ou name and who enjoyed for a 11 little atlo while their spurious tame 1 general godfrey was born bora in ohio and enlisted in the union army at the outbreak of the die civil war viar serving in the twenty first ohio infantry from april to august 1801 1861 ne ile became a 1 cadet in the united states military academy at west point t july 1 1803 and was graduated in june 1 1807 7 being immediately appointed a second lieutenant in the seventh cavalry he was waa promoted to first lieutenant felt february ar y 1 1808 and while holding that rank took part in various indian campaigns of the seventh cavalry which lidded added so much luster to custers Ou reputation as ak indian fighter appointed a captain of the seventh devent h in december 1870 1876 godfrey took part in the campaign against chief joseph and hla his nez perces forces the next year tear and at the battle of the bear paw mountain on september 30 1877 he woo won the brevet bravet of major and the tha medal of honor for most distinguished gallantry in leading his commard command into action where he was wa severely wounded at the tha time of his death he was not only the only surviving troop commander of custers Ou regiment but he was also said eald to have been the tha oldest living graduate from west point mention of west point recalls the fact that another echo of the custer tragedy was heard beard recently when president hoover re appointed fre y pictures picture of lieutenant harrington courtesy united states military academy miss grace alleen aileen harrington as postmaster at the united states military academy cadets cabets at the academy know miss harrington as the diminutive lady on whose kindly face there Is ii always a smile as she passes out their mall mail to them but to others familiar with west point history she bho Is the symbol of one of the roost most tragic episodes in the greater tragedy of the ouster custer battle for she Is the daughter of henry bloore harrington a subaltern in capt tom custers Ou 0 troop of the seventh cavalry who died on the little big norn born A native of new york barrington was graduated from west point in 1808 his first duty was in north carolina but desiring more active service he was transfer erd to the seventh cavalry la in 1872 and joined that regiment in time to participate in several minor indian fights he was on leave in 1873 1870 when the seventh cavalry waa w ordered to loin join general terrys army which was to be sent into tie the field against the hostile sioux and upon hearing of this harrington immediately telegraphed that he was giving up hla his leave and rejoining his troop so bo h he was one of those who rode roda away from fort abra abrica Ab riia lincoln in north dakota and took the tha trail w which led to the little big horn to death and to utter mystery as to his bis end for lieutenant carrington was one of the three officers the others being lieutenants lieu tenants james fames 13 11 porter of I 1 troop and james it IL sturgis of 10 troop whose bodies were never found at least not identified after the battle of them a noted authority on indian history D U A brininstool in his book A trooper with ouster custer writes nothing was ever learned of their fate and while it has always been supposed that they were killed but possibly not identified yet it to Is not beyond reason that all or one of them may have escaped badly wounded to die in some out of the way place some writers have insisted that they were doubtless captured alve and tortured to death that night in the indian village which was flushed with its ita bloody victory over ouster custer the sioux however always have maintained that they took no prisoners on the occasion of the little big horn fight not only Is the ignorance of her fathers fate one of the tragic incidents in the life of the woman who Is postmaster at west point where so BO many of custers Ou officers were once cadets cabets but there Is another tragic memory which she has carried through life a memory of her moth er who suddenly disappeared several years after the ouster custer battle amnesia it would be called nowadays miss harrington says but rt at that time it was ascribed to grief and the uncertainty of what had bad happened to my father several times we heard from indians indiana that a lady dressed in black had bad been seen on the battlefield other reports came from indian territory we investigated all these rumors anil and finally after two years we found her in texas where a severe attack of pneumonia had served to bring back her memory so that she knew who she was but she wits was never able to give any account of her wanderings while the was gone or why she was theral tragedy also stalked through the life of allen HarAng tons grett great aunt miss blanche berard who was postmaster at west point tor for almost BO years appointed by president Vies Ident polk in 1847 she served in that post until 1897 As an a young girl she was engaged toon to on an officer one afternoon officer brought his horse to the post office to show nay my great aunt miss capr ri rington agton tells the story while abile exercising exercising h hanl and demonstrating his good points the opet officer wp was thrown aind and killed this aunt never married 1 rezil remaining true to the memory of her first t 84 an only love one big thrill did tome come to td her la lahet her later life while on leave of absence from the th post office which she spent in europe miss alsa berard bea had the honor of being presented to tojun Queen victoria I 1 I 1 I 1 the war record odthe of the harrington family dates beck back to the birth of the united states for among the family famili papers appers la miss bliss possession Is the honorable dis discharge darge of her great great gibat grandfather niles who was A a soldier in the continental army this historic document Is signed by george Vas washington dashington hington in the civil war members of her family participated in manz many engagements a as volunteers over miss harrington Is dest desk in luthe the tee hang bang two pictures there lq la the busy turmoil ur noil of rap for the 1260 cadets cabets lai nt the academy a and an an equal number of regular cera and eold lers era Is a constant reminder of devote n to duty auty tua ali cornerstone of miss harring nna wit ufa life ald and that of her distinguished a an ira oneo of them Is a picture of lof her father as t 1 cadet and th the other a picture of him as an ofaf r in ille tho regimentals ot 0 the oct lSe seventh car cavalry thet tha uniform worp ifan his ha disappeared tore fore fer the picture pre of him fin ln cade uniform li is p donod in a frame made of beads e adi wid and these beail beald were obtained e by b y her er mother ma luiei fram ln in alanis allahl in dakota dako ta perhaps from bembera df the caffe sail tribe whose warriors rod fode over the troopers it if f ouster custer and his and his a ants ti in n a red wave of savage triumph that felp f day on the attle big ecru fiftysix fifty six agol aby ta western newspaper union |