@lonewulf44 Yes. Most of the areas I filmed while in Reno Creek is on private land. Therefore I restricted myself to the public road rather than trespass.
Heading there this weekend for 4 days, thanks to you I have a whole day to spend seeing the Reno creek route. I am staying at the 7th Ranch, near the Reno Ford. To Garryowen and Glory.........
I've read accounts that say there were horses with custers party that were played out to the point of exhaustion..and they hadn't had to climb up and down 2 or 3 ridges.my guess is that Benteen had a bad situation with very tired horses, in which case, hurrying to catch up to custer would have rendered many of them useless.
It is true that Custer lost several men due to tired out horses. Benteen, however, never lost any. Now while it is true Benteen traveled over higher terrain, his horses were far from played out. Benteen did not lose a single horse due to fatigue and for good reason. His progress was so slow that a glacier could have kept up with him. I'm not just taking about the scout itself either. His movement after the scout was likewise slow. The pack train almost caught up with him on the back trail. Benteen's slow movement was not due to tired horses, but due to his psychological attitude at the time. Roger Darling, a Benteen supporter, wrote a book about the scout and even though he didn't want to, he came to the conclusion that Benteen over-exaggerated the distance and difficulty of the scout. He also came to the conclusion that Benteen was in a poor mood and this more than anything caused the slow movement to the battlefield, not to mention disobeying Custer's verbal and written orders to send word of the scout and return quickly to the command. This information is reinforced by the advance detail commander, Lieutenant Francis M. Gibson, the Company H executive officer. As the commander of the advance detail, Gibson had Custer's orders and was aware of them. Gibson was not called to the Reno Court of Inquiry. The reason is clear. During a white-wash, officers giving damaging or contradictory testimony to the court were kept away. Captain Thomas French was conveniently jailed before the Inquiry, and Captain Thomas Weir was dead. Forgetting to call Gibson paved the way for the Army to circle the wagons, collude with each other and get away with a terrible tragedy. Sad.
well, perhaps benteen never lost any horses to fatigue because he gave them time to recover after the ridge climbing in that mid day heat. i'm only making this assumption because the alternative is to say that benteen was being petulant and was trying to get back at custer, or that he was not keen to be in battle. both of which i'm loathe to believe. i'm trying to find a logical military reason for his slow pace.and the intense heat and well worked horses makes sense to me. : )
@@mrcurly1147 Benteen received supplementary orders during the scout from Custer through Chief Trumpeter Henry Voss and Sergeant Major William H. Sharrow. Benteen was to continue to a ridge that afforded view of the Little Bighorn Valley. He did so. Lieutenant Gibson's advance detail did see the Southfork Valley and the Little Bighorn Valley from Ridge C.
@lonewulf44 Yes. Most of the areas I filmed while in Reno Creek is on private land. Therefore I restricted myself to the public road rather than trespass.
Heading there this weekend for 4 days, thanks to you I have a whole day to spend seeing the Reno creek route. I am staying at the 7th Ranch, near the Reno Ford. To Garryowen and Glory.........
Just seeing this comment. Hope you had a good time.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your knowledge of this engagement is unmatched.
Thanks for watching.
I've read accounts that say there were horses with custers party that were played out to the point of exhaustion..and they hadn't had to climb up and down 2 or 3 ridges.my guess is that Benteen had a bad situation with very tired horses, in which case, hurrying to catch up to custer would have rendered many of them useless.
It is true that Custer lost several men due to tired out horses. Benteen, however, never lost any. Now while it is true Benteen traveled over higher terrain, his horses were far from played out. Benteen did not lose a single horse due to fatigue and for good reason. His progress was so slow that a glacier could have kept up with him. I'm not just taking about the scout itself either. His movement after the scout was likewise slow. The pack train almost caught up with him on the back trail. Benteen's slow movement was not due to tired horses, but due to his psychological attitude at the time. Roger Darling, a Benteen supporter, wrote a book about the scout and even though he didn't want to, he came to the conclusion that Benteen over-exaggerated the distance and difficulty of the scout. He also came to the conclusion that Benteen was in a poor mood and this more than anything caused the slow movement to the battlefield, not to mention disobeying Custer's verbal and written orders to send word of the scout and return quickly to the command. This information is reinforced by the advance detail commander, Lieutenant Francis M. Gibson, the Company H executive officer. As the commander of the advance detail, Gibson had Custer's orders and was aware of them. Gibson was not called to the Reno Court of Inquiry. The reason is clear. During a white-wash, officers giving damaging or contradictory testimony to the court were kept away. Captain Thomas French was conveniently jailed before the Inquiry, and Captain Thomas Weir was dead. Forgetting to call Gibson paved the way for the Army to circle the wagons, collude with each other and get away with a terrible tragedy. Sad.
well, perhaps benteen never lost any horses to fatigue because he gave them time to recover after the ridge climbing in that mid day heat. i'm only making this assumption because the alternative is to say that benteen was being petulant and was trying to get back at custer, or that he was not keen to be in battle. both of which i'm loathe to believe. i'm trying to find a logical military reason for his slow pace.and the intense heat and well worked horses makes sense to me. : )
I thought Benteen's orders were to ride south until meeting with the Little Bighorn and then turn and ride west/north until rejoining the command?
@Gary Daniel Agree 100%.
@@mrcurly1147 Benteen received supplementary orders during the scout from Custer through Chief Trumpeter Henry Voss and Sergeant Major William H. Sharrow. Benteen was to continue to a ridge that afforded view of the Little Bighorn Valley. He did so. Lieutenant Gibson's advance detail did see the Southfork Valley and the Little Bighorn Valley from Ridge C.
I take it you can't video from on top of ridge c? Private land or park permission refused I guess?
Can you see the Little Bighorn valley from ridge c
Yes you can. However the village was near the bluffs so it was still out of sight.