Lesson 6: The Battle of Washita
Mrs. Clara Blynn and her infant son, Willie, are taken captive. General Hazen is negotiating for her ransom but General Sheridan puts a halt to it and starts his winter campaign against the Indians. Black Kettle’s band is camped on the Washita River when Custer attacks the camp. Black Kettle is killed. Major Joel Elliott and his men are missing after the battle and Custer does not look for him. Black Kettle’s sister marries Custer to an Indian woman. The bodies of Mrs. Blynn, her son, and Elliott and his men are found.
Introduction
In the Son of the Morning Star, Connell expresses his belief that if Crazy Horse's or Sitting Bull’s camps had been attacked by the army, like Black Kettle’s camp on Sand Creek, it would have removed forever any Indian thought of peaceful coexistence with the whites.
But Black Kettle, Peace Chief of the Cheyenne, continued to believe that peace could be had. So, in the fall of 1868, Black Kettle was, once again, putting his trust in one white man while another white soldier was making plans to finish what Chivington had started. From his camp on the Washita River, Black Kettle was arranging with General W.B. Hazen for the release of two white prisoners.
Clara Blynn and her infant son, Willie, had been captured on October 9, 1868, on the Arkansas River below Fort Lyon by Cheyennes and Arapahoes. The Army knew very little about the situation other than that they were still alive. They did not know whether this woman and her child were being held by the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, or the Kiowas. However, they had been offered for ransom and General Hazen was trying to gain their release.
Entering into the situation, General Sheridan showed not only his own lack of concern for what the captured woman’s wishes were, but also expressed the sentiment of a considerable portion of the uninformed population when he stated:
“After having her husband and friends murdered, and her own person subjected to the fearful bestiality of perhaps the whole tribe, it is mock humanity to secure what is left of her for the consideration of 5 ponies.”
And with those words, General Sheridan terminated negotiations for the release of Clara Blynn and her son.
Mrs. Blynn had a different opinion which she expressed in a letter that was delivered by a messenger about three weeks prior to when Custer and the Seventh Cavalry came calling at Washita. In her letter, Clara Blynn pleaded for anyone to come to her rescue. She offered money. She offered to work for them. She begged anyone to contact her father. And finally, she begged that her ailing son be saved even if she could not be rescued.
Sheridan’s reason for halting this pleading woman’s rescue can only be wondered at. It is certain that he had his hands full with the escalating attacks by Indians, but was it so much so as to abandon two white captives? Sheridan had his troubles within the Army as well. Desertions were at a high, and would climb higher. And, of course, the number of civilians killed and captured by Indians was also climbing higher. But there was one up and coming unit that would serve Sheridan well.
Seventh Cavalry
So it was in these dire circumstances that George Custer and his officers, by careful selection and a strict course of discipline, gathered a troop that was said to be the finest to be had in any service.
Did you know that one of General Sheridan's Civil War actions may have helped win the 1864 presidential election for Lincoln? Check out this article and learn the facts.
Election Surprises: Linconln's 1864 Re-election Victory By John S. Cooper http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pres... Just about the time Lincoln reconciled himself to defeat at the polls, the military situation began to change. Admiral David Glasgow Farragut took Mobil Bay and General William Tecumseh Sherman took Atlanta and began his devastating March to the Sea.
The source for information on Mrs. Blynn was researched from:
Connell, Evan S. Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn. North Point Press, San Francisco, California, 1984.
An additional source for this introduction is:
Brady, Cyrus Townshend. The Sioux Indian Wars, From the Powder River to the Little Big Horn. Indian Head Books, New York, 1992.
