Custer's 7th: Thomas French & His Sad End
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Captain Thomas "Tucker" French and members of his M Company did not get a chance to testify at the Reno Court of Inquiry, and therefore French's acts of bravery were not put down in the public record like other events from the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
But his bravery on June 25, 1876 was extraordinary.
French lost many of his closest friends at the battle, was court martialed for "conduct unbecoming an officer," and met with a tragic end. But the soldiers who testified on his behalf during his court martial proved that he was undoubtedly a courageous man, and the little known letters he wrote to his best friend's mother give insight into what happened during Major Marcus Reno's controversial valley fight...
For more on Captain Thomas French, please read Barry Johnson's most excellent English Westerner's booklet "A Captain of Chivalric Courage."
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(Apologies for the glitchy video clip at the end-- I downloaded it more than once in an attempt to get it right, and it filmed perfectly, but the Adobe "Ru" program can't render it smoothly, ugh.)
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If you too have a passion for the 7th Cavalry, please consider joining:
Little Bigorn Associates
www.thelbha.com/
www.thelbha.com
Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association
custerbattlefi...
Custer Association of Great Britain
www.english-westerners-society.org.uk
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For more about my current work-in-progress or my published books (The Confusion of Languages and You Know When the Men Are Gone, both with Putnam/Penguin), please see my author website:
www.siobhanfallon.com
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In my own military career I saw alcohol ruin many a man and their career. I myself followed Stone Wall Jackson's example and am glad for it. My many disappointments and my own family's history of alcoholism would have surely done me in if I had ever resorted to this vice.
Trauma, burying the mutilated bodies of your closest friends, and not having a wife or family to help get you through. Not sure how any of them made it through that horror scene/ LBH aftermath.
Hard enough without alcohol's quick fix but slow and cruel demise.
Thanks so much for commenting and sharing your thoughts!
@@SiobhanFallon7 That was my summing up of French's demise too. I suspect he became lonely with the loss of his friends and possibly suffered, to some degree ,with 'survivor guilt.'
@colinglen4505 yes, I think so too. I had never heard about his having a sweetheart before until working on this video.
Add a broken heart and how could he not be terribly depressed?
George I agree, alcohol and inappropriate liaisons have ruined many a military career.
@@SiobhanFallon7 Why was it that military folks never buttoned up their tunics properly, was it just a fashion affectation. 🤔
That battle would have turned me into a drunk too. Thanks for another great video!
Yes. Me too.
Thank you for this history of Captain French. What a great officer and I am sure if he had been in command of Reno's three companies history would of been very different. Holding the timber to allow the other two companies to retreat and being the last man out of the timber as well was a mark of a true leader of men. I think the problem with alcohol was probably due to post traumatic stress and also the guilt of not being able to do more during the battle. He was self medicating with alcohol. Such a shame that he died at 39. Captain Wier was also another I believe that suffered the same fate. Both men appear to of been very good soldiers and officers. This was very damning for Reno and I cant help but feel the court martial of Captain French being set on the day of the inquiry and the death of Wier before it was very favorable to Reno's cause. Again thank you.
Great points, Jason.
Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to share your insights with us!
@Siobhan Fallon French and Weir are the two of the most tragic cases of the 7th's officers post-LBH.I wonder how their testimony would've impacted the Reno Court of Inquiry.
I agree, Hunter.
They would have gone the way of DeRudio and Herendeen and Porter.
Major Reno's life after the LBH battle was a tragedy also.
Indeed!
Thanks for filling in detail on French ... so much unsung bravery as the command structure fractured into overconfidence and hesitance.
So much I did not know about French's tragic life until I started researching his life for this video 😢
Dear Siobhan, once again a great video. Very good characterization of Captain French. Learned a lot. After the battle it seems that the remaining officers were plagued by 'survival guilt'.
Thank you! Yes, I think you are right. I cannot imagine the nightmares they all must have had.
It weren't guilt it was the fear instilled in them.
Another really interesting delve into LBH. I was unaware of Captain French, a seemingly very brave soldier/leader of men. Brilliant.
Your enthusiasm Siobhan is infectious, you should have been a teacher!.
Thank you!!
I have very limited patience and narrow interest so no teaching for me. 😉
Little Bighorn, I love 💕📚
My first visit to your site. Wonderful commentary!. I look forward to more.
Thank you so much!!!
I'm working on a Major Marcus Reno one and should have it up in the next few days! 🙏
Siobhan: I have watched several of your videos regarding the Little Big Horn battle and it's participants. Your research is excellent and presenting the other "guys" involved is unique; I am a history buff and never really got to know the other guys other than Custer, Benteen and Reno. History is boring to most people but I have to admit you make it so interesting, could listen for hours. Keep them coming, Thanks.😀
Oh, you just made my day!! Thank you! These men and women and their personal stories make me love history and want to continue researching forever 🤣.
I am working to Thomas Weir Part II now, and there is so much on him! But it usually just filters into the story piecemeal or in footnotes. I am excited to put his side of the Little Bighorn into one narrative, front and center.
Very good of you to watch and comment so kindly.
Hope to hear from you again 🙏
"...could listen for hours?" That got you thru primary school, but, I infer you don't read much, despite the claim of being a "history buff." Read more. There's a large library from armchair historians who claim knowing all the pieces in the Battle of the Little Big Horn jigsaw puzzle.
Wow, this was so interesting … thanks for unconcealing this hero! Your research is amazing .
Thank you so much!
Excellent narration with a really good narrative. Your voice is perfect suited for a career doing books on tape.
I was hoping that you would have mentioned Captain French's "Long Tom" 50-70 Springfield rifle that he used to shoot at long distances. I have an 1871 Ward Burton "Long Tom" Springfield 50-70 which fits the description in my collection. There were Ward Burton bullets and shell casings excavated at LBH and perhaps someday I can get this gun ballistically tested.
Thank you!!
I have a lot to learn when it comes to weapons used in the fight. Thank you for mentioning French's rifle. Really cool that you have a similar Springfield. Do let me know the results when you get it tested!!!
@@SiobhanFallon7 Arikara Indian scouts accompanying the 7th had "3-band" .50-70 rifles issued to them for the expedition, according to interviews with surviving 'Ree scouts by researcher Walter Camp. If those .50's were indeed "3-band" they would have been 1866 trapdoor or experimental 1871-1873 Springfield trials issued rifles like the Ward Burton. To have a gun tested to see if it matches the dug LBH casings it costs thousands of dollars, that is if they still accept private submissions. I wish there was a way for me to post pictures of these for you to see, but there is not.
@micmacpole my author email is siobhanfallon@siobhanfallon.com
I'm also on Facebook and Instagram if you want to share photos that way!
you could do an excellent research narrative on fort phil kearney and fettermans massacre as well as carrington, portugese phillips and young crazy horse. great work. @@SiobhanFallon7
@SiobhanFallon7 Check Ian McCallum of "Forgotten Weapons" and "Rock Island Auction Company" for everything there is to know about firearms by make, model, year: my go-to-guy especially about black powder, cap & ball.
Good video didn't know about Captain French
Thank you!
Excellent video as always! I always felt that French preformed well at the Battle and nobody ever spoke about him. He was a person I really wanted you to speak about. Thank you so much!
Oh yay!! So glad! Thank you.
Thank you for the excellent history of Captain French. According to John S. duMont’s “Custer Battle Guns”, French carried a .50-70 Springfield rifle, referred to as “Long Tom”. I haven’t found any reference as to whether this was a standard infantry rifle (Model 1868) or one of the sporterized officer’s models made at Springfield. French supposedly discarded it after missing a long range shot, then took it back from 1st Sgt. Ryan.
For further reading on French, Col. French L. MacLean’s “Custer’s Best - the Story of Company M, 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn” is excellent.
Yes!!! I should get that book! Thank you for the reminding me!
MacLean goes into a rumor on Benteen’s grudge against M Company, feeling they did not jump up fast enough to assist him. It was felt he wouldn’t endorse recommendations and no one in M Company received the Medal of Honor. In my opinion, Benteen could be very petulant so it’s possible.
@@markh1665 I have heard of Benteen's ongoing dislike of Sergeant Ryan. Actually, I have heard of Benteen's ongoing dislike of pretty much everyone... so yes, it is possibile ;)
Great info thanks for sharing
@@AaronBigleggins thank you!
Your attention to detail is amazing; and, only exceeded by your enthusiasm. Thank you for another great video presentation.
Oh thank you!!!
This was a wonderful video that you made about Captain French.
There was a lot of information here that I had never heard before, and drone type mapping of the battlefield made things so much clearer to imagine! I read where that Captain French carried a Springfield .50-70 infantry rifle with him to the battle of the little horn. Maybe his infantry experience during the Civil War taught him the virtues of a rifle that of a carbine. Officers were also allowed to choose their own personal weapons.
Thank you again for the video. I have been sort of a student about the topic of the little Big Horn battle, Since I was in fourth or fifth grade ( I’m 61 now ) and this information you have given was very interesting to say the least!
Thank you, Ron!
I learn so much putting these videos together and there was so much about French I didn't appreciate until I started this bio.
Please watch some more and let me know what you think!
Thank u again for the interesting history of captain French i doubt we would have known about it otherwise our history has a adebtness for omitting such facts..I truly enjoy all of ur informative unbiased dissertations keep them coming .
Stanley, you just made my night. Thank you! I love these stories too and will keep them coming for sure 🙏
An amazing and tragic life, Mrs Fallon presents all the material in a concise, professional and entertaining manner. God rest Capt French and all of the 7th.Thank you Mrs Fallon
Thank you, David. That's such a lovely review. 🙏🙏🙏
Another wonderful commentary, thank you!
@gezh2379 much appreciated!! 🙏🎉
Very nice. I didn't know much about French so this was pretty much all new. Thank you!
@@Mark-o1i3s I didn't know much about French either until I started researching his life for this bio. Part of why I love doing these videos 💕
So good of you to take the time to comment, Mark.
Hope to hear from you again 🙏
This is absolute magic. Your knowledge is amazing. And your voice makes it even more engaging. Proud of you ❤️
I love you. Thank you, beautiful friend 🙏
Excellent video! Thank you!
Thank you, Jeff!!
It can be very difficult parsing 19th century US Army records. A lot was stated between the lines with arcane turn of phrase. Will Gorenfeld mentioned in his writings about the hints and whispers about the alcoholism of Capt James Allen, 1st US Dragoons. He wondered why such an officer would be given the responsibilities he was by Gen Stephen W Kearney. Gorenfeld is a historian and has never served. I explained to him that then, as now, Cavalry units (even as incohesive as Custer's 7th Cav) are unusually tight-knit organizations. A man's drinking might be overlooked in garrison if he was brave, sober and dependable in the field.
I don't think French's alleged post-battle alcoholism was anywhere near that of Weir's. I think his court martial was the result of a petty officer's spat. When reading the Officer's Casualty list of the Little Bighorn, it's very saddening to consider the martial talent lost that day. The officers who fell in battle and fell later of what we know today as PTS would have commanded Regiments in the Spanish-American and possibly WWI.
Agreed.
Love your dedication to historic details and bringing light to the human side of military service. Please continue to inform through this platform!
@@bobg9458 Thank you so very much!!!
I will 😉
Excellent video, thank you - only just came across it. His behaviour at the battle was gallant and highly creditable. Sadly he wasn't alone among the surviving officers to have a rather ignominious later career. I'll now catch up with your other vids.
@gbfch thank you! Do let me know what you think of the others too if you have the chance!
Your videos are so good and I’m thankful for your work
@ericstevens8744 thank you, Eric!! So glad you found me!
I have just discovered you. I'm always late to the party lol. I really enjoyed your video. Being from Northern Ireland I don't know much about the 7th Cav. But have always had an interest .
Oh yay! thank you for watching! I hope you keep watching and commenting ;)
One of the officers on my list is Irishman Miles Keogh...
@@SiobhanFallon7 oh I sure will. Thank you. Keep up the good work. It's a very interesting part of history.
The more of these you do, the more valuable information I absorb. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ronald!!
I learn more every time myself 🙏
Awesome as always
You just made my night. Thank you so much! 🙏🎉🙏
If there were ever a clear-cut case of PT SD this is it.
Yes 😢
So many detailed news combined with good pictures. A Real Thriller this part about French 😮 And i‘m the youngest of 6 katholic children with 4 sisters and a very critical person too😇😅. 10 points to French in my eyes 😉👍
Thank you!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Siobahn….I love your informative videos. 🐰👍🏻
Thank you so much!
I appreciate you taking the time to write that to me.
Trying to finish Bloody Knife 2 tonight or tomorrow 🙏
Amazing told story (French) as usual great job. Very sad ending to an unsung hero. Im binging Benteen and everything related. Is there a video of his civil war? And how did Benteen go from being raised in Virginia to serve the north. He seemed to spend alot of time in the south.
There are three Benteen's up-- the final installment is still in the works... hold on and I'll paste here...
ua-cam.com/play/PLHfg6vohewsyKbH2RgdK5XiULUTf6q_Pp.html&si=iNEcJKAxBLMPw3PX
It's odd that Benteen would mention Captain French as the only worthy officer on Reno Hill. What about Capt. Weir and Sgt, DeRudio? They certainly proved themselves! And those were the best maps of the Reno Valley I've ever seen, and the clearest as to how things unfolded.
@Mr.56Goldtop thank you!! Geoff Lackey does great work with those maps. So grateful he let's me use them.
Benteen would not mention Weir because Weir had challenged Benteen more than once, and Benteen also did not like DeRudio, whom he called Count No Account 🤣
This sounds more like grade school recess bickering than professional soldiers.
1st Lt. Charles DeRudio , the one who reported French being drunk , was an "interesting" character. He was one of 4 people arrested for trying to assassinate Napoleon III (Orsini affair) in 1858. They threw bombs at Napoleon and killed 8 people and injured 150. They were caught and DeRudio along with 3 others were sentenced to be executed on the guillotine. Two of them were beheaded but somehow DeRudio had his sentence changed from execution to life on Devil's Island. Devil's Island, a tiny island off the coast of South America, was open for 100 years and killed 75% of the prisoners. Not many people escaped. DeRudio somehow managed to and eventually found himself in the U.S. army. He fought in the timbers with Reno and hid from the natives there after the rest of the men retreated across the river.
Very interesting on DeRudio, I’ve visited Devil’s Island!
I have never heard of him before thank you for sharing this have you ever been there at night on the anniversary when that happened you will hear things 🪓🪓🍀👍
Oh my. I once stood at the closed and locked gates at night around the anniversary. Pitch black. Took a few photos but nothing out of the ordinary.
I have only been going since 2020 and the hours have been very limited-- no nighttime or even sunset visits for me thus far 😭
You have to slip in my advice we're about the same age brinks to enhancements with you sit on that Hill you're not going to believe it😮🍀🪓
The first time I saw it I was about 10 minutes made to hear on the back of my neck stand up I have been there many times slipping just go sit🍀🍀🍀
This cheap Chinese phone don't never say what I want to say I was 10 years old first time I I I went there it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck 🪓🍀🍀🍀
@@KevinCave-rj8eq 🤣 my phone constantly undermines my typing too
My distant cousin by marriage.
Wow. That's a great connection to have.
T/y for this brave soldier's story. Have read Terrible Glory but Captain French's heroics on both sides of the river did not register; they now do. And I too think both officers', French & Weir suffered PTSD before it ever identified. Not excusing alcoholism but living w/ the aftermath of 25Jun76 could not have been easy. A real shame both men succumbed to it.
c
@@gottadomor7438 thank you! I agree with you about French and Weir. Surving that hell and bloody aftermath was too much for them to handle.
@@gottadomor7438 I'll be putting up a new video later on today! Please take a look!!
I wanted to Cheer when you quoted Benteen giving praise to French. French was amazing from the start, and many think it was him that cut his horse in front of the retreating men to protect them from the warriors. I like to believe it as it seems like him. Many want to make it seem like Custer or one of his men but in that I have always felt different about Custer because of my military career. I could care a less of Generals or such. I was with my enlisted who I fought for and then my NCO's and maybe an officer but usually not so much. To think that Custer who was not even anything but an escort until Terry gave him the command from the Far West. Until then Custer had free reign as he had no authority or men under his command as President Grant and General Sheridan said his position would be. I think there is strength in the fact that French thought it was Custer to his right across the river from the village and I believe it was. I am sure it was as Korn made it through to Reno and it fits how Thompson described Custer in the bottoms. I think it was French and his company that received the least or any medals as he said it was all or none as far as men for recommendations. Sgt. Ryan claims he fired the first and last shot and both him and French had fine rifles. The push to send the Indians out of the ravines, and the only man to die was the man that did not advance but hid behind the hardtack boxes. The idea that Reno still held onto whiskey while men were wounded, and porter could have used the whiskey for medicinal purposes. And to have French at a court martial for drunkenness and RCOI being held and Reno not being tried for being drunk but cowardness is another irony. Ill throw it out there, 1879 RCOI and yet French not tried for drinking until 1879. That final letter about him holding off 800 hundred is so correct and most likely who the SIoux who said there was the bravest man they saw. And I think there was so many that wished they shot Reno... Nailed it... You put it together so well. You encased the information I was looking for so thanks... and the buckskin also makes it almost definite he was the person the SIoux said was so brave and put himself between his men and the warriors. Thanks as It is as you said, an unsung hero that was as much to do with saving men as being the hardest fighting and best commanded ...
Thank you, Conway!!
So many great comments and insights, Conway. Thanks for taking the time to join the conversation here and watching!
2. If I 'war game' the what ifs, my take is that if Reno had stayed in the Timber M, A, G Cos woukd have been wiped out before sundown. Custer's 5 Cos may have been able to detach to the north under fire but safely. Benteen's 3 Cos coming up would have been in a terrible position and likely wiped out or forced to retreat with loss. D, H, K cos would not have reached Reno in the timber. So many possible outcomes. But retreating from the timber sealed the fate of Custer's 5 Cos but gave the remaining 7 a chance at survival.
Ever heard the expression "If my aunt had balls we'd call her uncle".
Reno's retreat from the timbers to the hill saved what remained of the regiment. Reno saved the 7th. Even Sturgis wrote so, in a letter about the time Reno's inquiry was held (after the battle).
Aussie combat vet
l personally went hard with alcohol when I got home from my service,it took meeting my partner who was a trauma nurse to get me to stop🇦🇺🇺🇸
I don't think it's a coincidence that the bachelors fared worse-- Captain Weir and Captain French. No support system at all to get them through this, and everyone so guilt ridden about the whole fight.
@@SiobhanFallon7
Aussie combat vet
As a nurse my Kathleen was convinced she could fix me,unfortunately I saw/did too much l’m now just a broken veteran 🇦🇺🇺🇸
@2eREPPARA I'm sorry. Maybe your story will help others? Thinking of you and very glad you reached out 🙏
Wow ! 🫢 Really more than a footnote this French 😨 After watching this i have to come down a while 😳 Pooh ! What a Story 🙃😉
I can't understand why arrangements weren't made to hear from French, a key figure, at the Court of Enquiry?
Surely his own court martial could have been rearranged?
I can only think that it didnt suit the powers that be since French's testimony was likely to have been damning about Reno!
@@redemptivepete I don't know for sure. Perhaps he was too ill from his own withdrawal from alcohol?
I wish he had testified. It might have been the closure he needed.
I had no'ot seen Captain French's comments prior to your video, except for the one stating he did not see Reno on the hill for a long period. They really strengthen what I believed about Reno's actions in the valley long before Bloody Knife's death. The information that only M accompanied Weir was enlightening. You gotta give G a pass as at that point they had ceased as a fighting unit with only Wallace and 3 men reaching the hill. The rest were dead or hiding in the timber. It further fuels the picture that Moylan's behavior during the battle was suspect. Out of the three companies, they were more or less intact having only taken a handful of casualties being at the front of the "charge" as Reno put it. The Sioux had parted and let them pass then hammered M and G companies following them. Although French indicates M was the last out of the timber, I think the order was A, M, then half of G along with Reynolds, Dorman, and Varnum. Heredeen saved the rest of G by keeping them along with Jackson in the timber. Of course, he tried to stop Reynolds who unfortunately did not heed him. If Rutten was in M though then G did leave before M because Rutten passed Dorman after Dorman had been knocked from his horse. Varnum was one of the last out of the timber but was riding a Kentucky Thoroughbred and blew past everyone to the front.
Yes!!
I agree about Moylan.
I actually think Moylan was the first to lose his head and started the domino effect that led to a dissolution of command and structure and the poorly planned retreat that followed.
He seems to be the officer who first thought Indians got around the rear and who claimed they were running low on ammo. I think he does Reno a disservice in the timber.
And yes the French quotes, even if exaggerated from loss and hindsight, are intense.
Your audio is being stepped on by some automatic leveling setting. Otherwise, it's really superior history.
Thank you!
My goal this summer is to purchase a new laptop and equipment so I can hopefully, finally, put all my text issues to rest!
@@SiobhanFallon7 btw: I'm a new believer.
@@Imtahotep New believer? What is that, Terry?
@SiobhanFallon7 Well in you and your team.
Question: have you produced anything yet on Lewis Powell?
Of what I know, few things about him make sense in such a way that it spells an intelligence operation: especially as regards the weapons trade-off made by a cavalry unit.
@Imtahotep you are the best!! Thank you!! I wasn't sure if I missed anything but your answer is more than I could wish for 😉
I do not know Lewis Powell but will look him up!!
Keep believing! 😉🙏🎉
I think poor captain French died of melencoly from survivor's remorse. This is an ongoing issue with the wars from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yes, his survivor's guilt must have finally overwhelmed him.
Sounds like what happened at bighorn,turned him to drink
Yes. Or made him drink a heck of lot more. 😥
sorry to say but your sound is up and down like a yoyo , benteen and reno should have had a yellow streak painted down there spine for being cowards leaving the others to die but then if Custer took the gatlings he was meant to have had at he's disposal then the Glory would have been he's
Thanks for your comment!
Please check out my most recent videos, I think the sound is a bit better these days! 🙏
Reno had taken a gatling on his scout a few weeks earlier and it slowed him down, injuring soldiers and killing a mule. Which showed Custer it would hamper his movements too 🤷🏼♀️😢
NOPE to all of your comment.
🇺🇸👍
Hey there, Boom!
Another victim of PSTD. He was perfectly fine until Little Big Horn happened to him.
@@EndingSimple yeah, this was a rough fight for anyone to survive.
You should research Henry Livingston the Indian agent at the crow Creek
Ok! Thank you!
@SiobhanFallon7 my 3rd great-grandfather is Joseph R Hanson, the Indian agent during the Red Cloud wars
americans still trying to justify custers utter failure due to his personal glory hunting, he was brave personally but to the point of stupidity, this was fine during the civil war when you just charged ahead unthinking mindless of his casualties , but strategy and tactics were never his strong points. the big horn skirmish not battle was the american equivalent of Britain's isandhlwana,
It seems like you been brainwashed by those in the media who vilify Custer
Custer was a fool and his ego cost the lives of hundreds of US calvary but he was ultimately just a tool to advance US government Indian policy, which was to eradicate native Americans.
Hey there. You might want to take a look at this series that examines the conflicts between the US Army and the Southern Cheyenne:
ua-cam.com/play/PLHfg6vohewsz_5UUQNdUfwYvWa5jP_3Jn.html