Battle Of Little Bighorn Analysis
John Nichols once wrote that “Each person leaves a legacy --a single, small piece of herself, which makes richer each individual life and the collective life of humanity as a whole.” The legacy of William M. Caldwell is composed by his actions during and after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. William Caldwell, despite the stories passed down verbally as to how he watched the Battle of Little Bighorn, unable to help, is untrue.
It is crucial to understand the history of the Battle of Little Bighorn before delving into Caldwell’s legacy, even though the two are inevitably entwined. On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry went to confront the northern tribe Indians, including the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho. The indian’s decided that they had had enough of the white men invading their territory. They decided to wage war against Custer and his 7th Cavalry (Nightengale). Custer and his 7th Cavalry broke up into three groups to push the Indians back to their reserves. First he sent Maj. Marcus Reno with three companies of cavalry and the scouts across the upper part …show more content…
Caldwell lived on to tell his tale. He told his wife Blanche how he carried out Custer’s orders to General Reno. However when William passed away, his widow Blanche tried to collect a widow’s pension for the soldiers who fought in the Indian Wars. However, she was denied, several times in fact. Why was she denied? Blanche was denied because it was said that William M. Caldwell deserted his post during the war. Therefore she could not claim it. However, Blanche knew nothing about this because she had always been led to believe that her husband made good on his orders. Hence why she kept applying for the Widow’s Pension. And she truly believed that they had something confused in their records. She knew her husband, and her husband would never desert his post. All in all though, that is exactly what he
It is crucial to understand the history of the Battle of Little Bighorn before delving into Caldwell’s legacy, even though the two are inevitably entwined. On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry went to confront the northern tribe Indians, including the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho. The indian’s decided that they had had enough of the white men invading their territory. They decided to wage war against Custer and his 7th Cavalry (Nightengale). Custer and his 7th Cavalry broke up into three groups to push the Indians back to their reserves. First he sent Maj. Marcus Reno with three companies of cavalry and the scouts across the upper part …show more content…
Caldwell lived on to tell his tale. He told his wife Blanche how he carried out Custer’s orders to General Reno. However when William passed away, his widow Blanche tried to collect a widow’s pension for the soldiers who fought in the Indian Wars. However, she was denied, several times in fact. Why was she denied? Blanche was denied because it was said that William M. Caldwell deserted his post during the war. Therefore she could not claim it. However, Blanche knew nothing about this because she had always been led to believe that her husband made good on his orders. Hence why she kept applying for the Widow’s Pension. And she truly believed that they had something confused in their records. She knew her husband, and her husband would never desert his post. All in all though, that is exactly what he