Show DID E 1091 fil M 10 CUSTER 0 u g n S T E IN li ff alq ASPIRE at A b 04 r 0 j 1 1 tr N B E K r E 54 1 r E N TO 41 u a A new chapter in the story ol of a glamorous american uy by ELMO SCOTT WATSON nele asea by western newspaper union FOUR years SEVENTY ago cleveland ohio was the scene of a moo meet ing unique in american polities politics the johnson soldiers and sailors convention ol of 1866 although a relatively minor incident in president andrew johnsons historic struggle with thaddeus stevens and the other radical re publican leaders this convention has particular interest because one of 0 its promoters and outstanding figures was a man whose name Is glamorous in our military ennals ila ho was george armstrong ouster custer the boy general with the golden locks the murat ot of tho the american army and the indian fighter par excellence until a sioux bullet ended his spectacular career in what is commonly known as the custer massacre custer biographers arc ara strangely concerning his part in the cleveland convention yet it was nn important milestone in his career for it wets was his first venture along a path which there Is reason to believe ho hoped might lead him to the presidency of the united states I 1 wile the story of that phase in the career of george armstrong custer la Is hero told for the die first time that mint custer was an active promoter of the johnson soldiers end and sailors convention is indicated by an editorial which appeared in the august 24 1860 issue of the semiweekly semi weekly edition of horace greelegs greeleys Greel Gree leys cys new york tribune headed the johnson soldiers this editorial began generals custer dix etc urge their fellow soldiers in the late civil war to unite with them in holding hald ling it a convention in cleveland cl ev eland to pave bave the way for a rebel cop triumph in the approaching election tho the tribune was one of the leading administration anti organs but granting the bias of its eltor editorial lal policy custer must have been unusually active in lohn johnsons sons behalf else he would not have been singled out for special notice as lie he was in the tribunes coverage of the convention the cleveland convention opened in a big tent on the lake front of the ohio city on september 17 the first dispatch sent back to the tribune by its special correspondent refers to custer incidentally misspelling his atme thus tn in looking around on tho the members of th this I 1 convention as they mey assembled for business b us I 1 saw many whose histories stories bi aati saed me ot cf their object in being here the tha most prominent and was custar ins caliber Is 13 explained by th tho remark ot of an ohio delegate who said custar Is a man with a deal of 0 hair but vezy very latue brains custar has been supporting the president v vigorously 1 const go 0 u sly since his evidence before tho the re reconstruction ruc tion committee and his reward was a promotion mation from captain to lieutenant Er colonel I 1 onel A convention will be per manent ly organized tomorrow to morrow morning gens granger and custar aro are spoken ot as permanent president so also Ls Is cousseau seau and stee dinan there are a see seeking icing tho the position in case ot of a quarrel mr dolittle mo little senator from wisconsin garrel will aiu settle matters custar Is his bla man n that red necktie I 1 but as it turned out custar gen john E wool a veteran of the war of 1812 as well as the mexican and civil wars and the oldest major gen oral cral in the united states army was made temporary president then according to the tribune correspondents next dispatch gen cen Wool w a ol 01 poor foolish old man called cauca th the e C to order on hl hi ag right sat young curly haired custer who was easily distinguished by a bright red neck tio he he wore gen gordon bordon granger was made permanent president ot of the conven convention uon young custer too was vas ambitious to have the honor conferred on him but gracefully yielded at tho the suggestion of senator doolittle custer felt hurt V urt at this slight ht and called it ingratitude ile iio felt vt that he was the chief spirit ot of the con vencon vent lon and the one who first originated the scheme but doolittle sleeked georgias flaxen curls and told him it was the presidents wish that an older man should be selected so the quarrel was compromised by putting custer on tho the committee to present res ent the proceed d ings inga of the convention conven t fa n t to n hla his excellency E c benc this will give georgae a chance I 1 to aply VP fox for the vacant brigadier generalship in the regular army even though custer was denied the presidency of the convention he continued to be one of its leading spirits during the two days meeting the tribune tribuna dispatches repeatedly mention dimand him and by this time tim a its correspondent had evidently learned to spell his name correctly correct lyl I 1 they also mention frequently his red scarf that bright which had been in tho the forefront of many a thundering cavalry cava ua charge euring curing the civil war apparently custer was acting as a sort of secretary of the convention ven tion fo for r there is also frequent mention of his receiving messages brought to the tent by the telegraph boy one of t these hese telegrams ams and the conven action which resulted from it created a furore later it came from memphis term tenn and it was RE f 4 R T GEN GE GEORGE ORGE A CUSTER in this photograph taken by brady in 1865 custer wears the picturesque costume of the boy generall General wide felt hat blue flan nel shirt anti and scarlet tie tic according to the tribune correspondent spon dent signed by the rebel gen N B forrest of guerilla and fort pillow fame gen chalmers of hoods old army an and col galloway of that notorious rebel sheet the memphis ava lanche stating that the late rebel soldiers the same who massacred negro soldiers at fort pillow and again more repent recently on the streets of 0 memphis in mass convention sent greeting to the johnson soldiers here and said they had their sympathy this waving of the bloody shirt by the tribune correspondent was prophetic of tho the repercussions from this incident which were to come almost immediately according to lloyd paul stryker in his biography of andrew AndrewT johnson nothing could have done the tha bohnson cause cabie moro mor hair harm than this well anten tinned message the coave convention upon receipt e elat ot of athla his southern messa roes saga a of good will a adopted d op opt a resolution aba thanking the Cone e derato soldiers for or it their r words 0 adi ot of ims magnanimity and kindness this in the minds of thaddeus addems steve stevens find nd his sycophants cop hants was proof of treason the forrest arest tele telegram grm furnished sumner and his to followers flowers with new evi evidence demce that johnson had gone over to the beracy all other circumstances united 11 wrote blaine Ill alne did not condemn the convention in northern opinion so 0 o deeply as this incident in his A complete life of general george A custer capt frederick whittaker custers earliest biographer and his chief apologist without referring directly to this aftermath of the affair admits that custers Ou first venture into politics via the cleveland convention was an iu ill advised one and he tries to excuse his hero for the error of judgment in this ingenious fashion nothing hurt custers Ou pol political lUcial and mil gitary itar future like ilka the movements of this summer cummer all of which were due dua to his generous impulsive way of doing things honest at to the backbone himself he could not imagine that others were less so and he tell fell as it were into the midst of a den of hungry political wolves who would have picked his bones clean had bad he staid much longer but he be was saved from the consequences of his indiscreet utterances by being ordered to fort niley it is no doubt true as whit takers statement implies that custers Ou activities during the summer and autumn of 1860 seriously impaired the prestige which he had gained as a successful cavalry leader during the civil war this should have warned him to keep away from civilian politics but unfortunately for him he failed to heed that warning during the next 10 years the american public which had once hailed george armstrong custer as the beau of the union army habgood had good reason to applaud him in a new role that of the foremost indian fighter of his day why he having added to his fame as a soldier should have ventured again into the field of politics which had once proved so sterile for him Is one of the paradoxes of a career that is filled with inconsistencies for that is what lie he did when he became embroiled in the famous belknap affair in the winter of 1875 he volunteered to test testify ay iy before the congressional which was investigating charges of graft against gen W W belknap president grants secretary of war thereby incurring the displeasure of grant As the result of these latest indiscreet utterances custer was deprived of command of the expedition tion which he was to have led against the hostile sioux and in the spring of 1870 1876 although he was eventually permitted to accompany its commander geh A H terry at the head of his regiment the seventh cavalry disaster overtook him when his regiment was detached from the main column to locate the hostiles ho stiles for at the battle of the little big horn on june 25 1870 the indians annihilated the five troops of the seventh which custer led into battle and inflicted heavy casualties upon tho the other six troops before they were rescued by terry the next day controversy over custer cumer fox for more than 60 years a con troverse tro versy has raged over this battle critics of custer cluster assert that he olona alone was responsible for the tragedy they say that he was hungry for a victory which would regain for him some of the pre prestige S he had lost in the belknap affair end that he was determined to grab all the glory of such guch a victory for himself so they assert he deliberately destroyed both the letter and tho the spirit of terrys explicit orders and by brIn bringing gIrg on a battle 24 hours too soon he not only brought disaster upon himself but he broke up a plan which would have insured defeat of the indians custer defenders tell another story they admit his desire for a victory but they deny that he d disobeyed so b eye d terrys instructions for tj they ley r read rad ad in them an interpretation which gave him considerable latitude of action and fully justify ills his departure from the letter of those much debated orders in tho the heat of their dispute they overlook on an incident which may furnish a clue to one of tho the forces that motivated him this incident suggests that despite the unhappy results of his previous ventures into politics he was contemplating still another and that his ultimate goal was washington D C and the white house I 1 accompanying custer on tills this expedition was a party of arleara or ree indian scouts many of whom including a fierce warrior named bloody knife had taken part in custers exploration of the block black hills two years earlier before terrys army left fort abraham lincoln dakota territory custer hold held a council with tho the scouts years later red star one of the scouts during an interview with 0 G libby of the north dakota historical society recalling the council disclosed that custer told the Ari karas ho he had been to washington and he had been informed that tills this would be his last campaign in tho the west among the indians he ha said that no matter how small a victory he could win even though it was against only five tents of the dakotas sioux it would make him president great father and he must turn back as soon as he was victorious in case of victory he would take bloody knife back with him to washington later during the march into the indian country custer again talked with his indian scouts at that time according to red star lie said he be had made up his mind to go on this expedition to fight figh tad lie said he had been to washington agton a and had b been n given to follow the dakotas now that was on the war path it he had a victory he ha said bald when we return I 1 will go back to washington and on my trip to washington I 1 shall take my brother br th here If floody knue knife with me I 1 20 ahall all remain at washington and be the great rather father but ra roy bir brother 0 ther bloody knue will return a ana anz wh when en he arrives arrive ho home ne he shall have a fine house built for hi him m and a those t h ot you ou present will be the ones 0 nes cresent appointed p P I 1 I 1 n to look loo after the work that hat will be placed in charge ot of bloody knue you will have positions under him to help in what he ha Is to do and you can when youw you wish to speak with me or send me word gather at bloody knifes house and decide what the message will tie be then he will send it to me ile he will be given the whole whale tribe ol of Ari karas to be head ot f I 1 will have hav papers pers made out for each 0 f you here dessou and you will have plenty to ca eat M for or au all time to come and you and your children in saying such things was cus ter merely talking big army officers who knew him well say that ho he was given to doing that in order to impress his indian scouts and by making such promises did he hope to hold them steadfast if they should show an inclination cli nation to desert him at a critical time in the coming campaign or was he truly showing his heart to trusted indian friends who would not likely betray his confidence there is of course no way 0 of f knowing which of these two possibilities ties Is the more believable but they suggest other interesting te speculations more than once the american deop people le had elected a 0 military hero president they had sent old hickory jockson Jeck son old tippecanoe harrison and old rough and ready taylor to the white house why they send old curley custer the conqueror of the sioux there if he should win a great victory over the indians were such thoughts as these in the mind of george armstrong custer when he told his scouts that he was going to be their great father was he planning in the event of victory to enter the political arena once more and prove that he could win there as well as on the field of battle those questions mus must t remain forever unanswered the lips oj al the only man who could have answered them were sealed by death on a barren hillside in montana one hot sunday in june is im the year 1878 1876 |