SS grenadiers in captured Soviet positions on the Kursk Bulge during Operation Citadel.
I wonder how many casualties they took getting there. I also wonder how many of them made it to May 1945.
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
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I wonder how many casualties they took getting there. I also wonder how many of them made it to May 1945.
Colorized image of the indigenous Wooden Leg, a Cheyenne warrior in 1927. He fought Colonel Custer in the legendary Battle of Little Big Horn where a coalition of indigenous peoples massacred US Army troops. Wooden Leg was born in 1858 and died in 1940 aged 82.
There is some excellent after-action analysis out there. The indigenous fought very well but it’s the leadership of the US troops that landed them in that mess.
fingers284
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The face of a man one should not trifle with. His autobiography is available on Amazon. Apparently transcribed from conversations using sign language almost exclusively, which makes the depth of the subject matter a bit iffy to my critical eye. One wonders how much of the book sprung from the imagination of the fellow reading the signs...
I've been to the Greasy Grass three times. Sad place. Plenty of ghosts. Many depictions of the fight exist, several of them downright fanciful, but Paxton's rendering is pretty good. It hangs in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody.
I have the Anhauser Bush rendition of the last stand, also purchased at Cody Museum ( the best 2000 sq ft of retail space in North America as far as I'm concerned). The last two documentaries I've watched on the battle, after the square x square artifact search was done after the grass fire, both disagree with the fanciful "last stand" rendition that both our paintings seem to pass as the reality.
They both claim that the trail of Indian spent ammo opposed to the easily distinguished cavalry ammo would indicate that it was a running battle from start to finish. Basically it was the sparsity of empty cases where the battle ended, there was no more at the top of the hill than along the rest of the trail. If there was a substantial last stand there should have been a much more prevalence of ammo empties in the last location.
Years ago, I saw one of those carbines at a Calgary gun show, that had come from the Hobbema reserve, just north of Red Deer. By serial number it was a battlefield pick up from the Little Big Horn.
Grizz
I think I saw the same rifle .
If that pistol was a Webley then that gun guy might be correct. All of Custer's firearms are accounted for except his Webley double action revolver. So it's assumed this is the one he carried on that fateful day.
Hi snubble. William Cooke was Custer's close friend and adjutant. All of Custer's men were buried where their remains were found. But Cooke had family in Hamilton that paid for his body to be exhumed, put into a barrel, and transported to Hamilton for a re-burial. The U.S. Gov't has supplied a new stone and the grave is easily found in the old grave section of the Hamilton cemetery. There is also a small U.S. flag marking the grave the last time I saw it. More to the story with a connection to Broken Leg that I mailed to the gent that initiated this conversation. John
I don't think that there is an inventory by serial number of carbines or revolvers issued to the 7th Cavalry at that time. The serial numbers of carbines and revolvers which date prior to the battle are known. Correct serial range and demonstrable provenance can make it possible to pretty much establish that a piece could have been there.
The Indians travelled North, crossing into Canada to get way from pursuing US forces. It was noted that they had US branded horses and were carrying captured US arms. An eventual scarcity of food resulted in pieces being sold or traded. This is thought to be the reason that Custer battelfield pieces have turned up in Canada.
When Sitting Bull came up to Canada it was noted the abundance of 7th cavalry gear, horses and "modern weaponry" they had in their posession. Custer's horse ended up with an NWMP member IIRC.
For years afterward there were revenge killings of any brave known or suspected to have been present at the battle. Not that they needed any more reason for killing the indians
For years afterward there were revenge killings of any brave known or suspected to have been present at the battle. Not that they needed any more reason for killing the indians
There is an excellent documentary about the Little Big Horn, in one part of it the modern day natives presented a rifle that they said was from the battle. Forensic evidence proved the gun was at the battle, they were even able to show at what point it was captured and used against Custer's forces
