Hubris Plus Inexperience Equals Fatal Irony

William J. Fetterman, Capt., U.S. Army

“Give me eighty men and I’ll ride through the whole Sioux Nation.”

So said Capt. William J. Fetterman in late 1866 as he assumed command of a U.S. Army detail tasked with defending a woodcutting expedition against Indians in the Dakota Territory. A fellow officer had declined the command after mounting, and failing to sustain, a similar effort two days earlier.

Fetterman overestimated his abilities and severely underestimated his opponent.

Born in Connecticut in 1833, William Judd Fetterman was the son of a career army officer. At the age of 28, in May 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army and immediately received a lieutenant’s commission. Twice brevetted for gallant conduct with the First Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment, Fetterman finished the Civil War wearing the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel of volunteers.

After the war, Fetterman elected to remain with the regular army as a captain. Initially assigned to Fort Laramie with the Second Battalion of the 18th Infantry, by November 1866 he found himself dispatched to Fort Phil Kearny, near present-day Sheridan, Wyoming. Since the post’s establishment five months earlier, the local population of about 400 soldiers and 300 civilian settlers and prospectors reportedly had suffered 50 raids by small bands of Sioux and Arapaho. In response, the fort’s commander, Col. Henry B. Carrington, adopted a defensive posture.

Red Cloud, ca. 1880
(photo by John K. Hillers, courtesy Beinecke
Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Fetterman immediately joined a group of other junior officers in openly criticizing Carrington’s protocol. Although the 33-year-old captain lacked experience with the Indians, he didn’t hesitate to express contempt for the enemy. His distinguished war record lent credence to his argument: Since the Indian raiding parties consisted of only twenty to 100 mounted warriors, the army should run them to ground and teach them a lesson.

Fetterman’s voice and continuing raids eventually convinced the regimental commander at Fort Laramie to order Carrington to mount an offensive. Several minor scuffles, during which the soldiers proved largely ineffective due to disorganization and inexperience, merely bolstered the Indians’ confidence. Carrington himself had to be rescued after a force of about 100 Sioux surrounded him on a routine patrol. Even Fetterman admitted dealing with the “hostiles” demanded “the utmost caution.”

Jim Bridger, at the time a guide for Fort Phil Kearny, was less circumspect. He said the soldiers “don’t know anything about fighting Indians.”

On December 19, an army detail escorted a woodcutting party to a ridge only two miles from the fort before being turned back by an Indian attack. The next day, Fetterman and another captain proposed a full-fledged raid on a Lakota village about fifty miles distant. Carrington denied the request.

On the morning of December 21, with orders not to pursue “hostiles” beyond the two-mile point at which the previous patrol had met trouble, Fetterman, a force of 78 infantry and cavalry, and two civilian scouts escorted another expedition to cut lumber for firewood and building material. Within an hour of the group’s departure from the fort, the company encountered a small band of Oglala led by Crazy Horse. The Indians taunted the army patrol, which gave chase … beyond where they had been ordered not to go.

Fetterman and his men died here. The site
now is known as Massacre Hill. (public domain photo)

The great Sioux war leader Red Cloud and a force of about 2,300 Lakota, Arapaho, and Northern Cheyenne waited about one-half mile beyond the ridge. In less than 20 minutes, Fetterman and all 80 men under his command died. Most were scalped, beheaded, dismembered, disemboweled and/or emasculated.

The Indians suffered 63 casualties.

Among the Sioux and Cheyenne, the event is known as the Battle of the Hundred Slain or the Battle of 100 in the Hands. Whites know it better as the Fetterman Massacre, the U.S. Army’s worst defeat on the Great Plains until Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer made a similar mistake ten years later at Little Big Horn in Montana.

Whether Fetterman deliberately disobeyed Carrington’s orders or the commander massaged the truth in his report remains the subject of debate. Although officially absolved of blame in the disaster, Carrington spent the rest of his life a disgraced soldier. Fetterman, on the other hand, was honored as a hero: A fort constructed nearly 200 miles to the south was given his name seven months after his death. A monument dedicated in 1901 marks the spot where the officers and men fell.

Sept. 22, 1862: The Beginning of the End

President Lincoln Writing the Proclamation of Freedom
oil on canvas by David Gilmour Blythe, 1863
(Library of Congress collection)

That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free….
—from the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Page 2


On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, alerting the Confederacy of his intention to free the 3.1 million slaves in the ten states still in rebellion at the time. The four-page document pertained only to persons held as slaves in the rebellious states; another nearly one million slaves existed in seven slave states that were at least partially exempted. The four so-called “border states” — Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri — were not included in the order because they did not secede. Tennessee, though part of the Confederacy, already was occupied by Union forces, as were portions of Louisiana, including New Orleans. Forty-eight Virginia counties were exempted because they were in the process of forming the free state of West Virginia, which joined the Union in June 1863.


First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of
President Lincoln (Lincoln and his cabinet)
oil on canvas by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, 1864

Lincoln wrote a draft of the proclamation in July 1862 and presented it to his cabinet on July 22. Some cabinet members wanted the proclamation issued immediately; others urged delaying the order until after the coming election. Lincoln remained adamant that, as Commander in Chief, he possessed the authority to suspend civil law in the rebellious states. He also was of the opinion the proclamation would hasten the end of the war, as the order would not apply to any states that returned to the Union on or before Jan. 1, 1863.

None did. Texas slave owners completely ignored the proclamation. In the other nine Confederate states specifically named in the final version of the document, an estimated 50,000 slaves were freed on the day the proclamation was issued. The remainder gradually gained their freedom over the next two and one-half years.

Instead of encouraging capitulation as the president and his supporters had hoped, the proclamation galvanized the Confederacy, which viewed Lincoln’s order as an arrogant attempt to countermand the laws of a sovereign nation. Robert E. Lee suggested the proclamation was a Union move to bolster its dwindling military ranks with freedmen.

The order also countermanded the wishes of the U.S. Congress, which in an April 1862 attempt to placate Southern slaveholders, declared the federal government would compensate everyone who freed their “property.” The Emancipation Proclamation notably rescinded that offer, authorizing Union forces to employ military muscle in separating slaves from their owners, thereby forcing massive financial losses on struggling Confederates. In effect, the proclamation broke the back of the Confederacy’s economy and its war machine, which relied on slaves to produce and prepare food, build fortifications, repair railways, work in hospitals, and provide other manual labor. Consequently, European countries backed away from providing further aid to the South.

1865 copy of the Emancipation Proclamation
(part of a private collection on display
at the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial)

The proclamation precipitated a vitriolic outcry in the North, as well, because it shifted the focus of the Union’s war effort from reuniting the country to the abolition of slavery. Racism was palpable on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, and many Northerners found morally unsupportable the idea of fighting a war over the rights of Negroes. Lincoln’s political party lost 28 congressional seats in the October and November elections that year.

While the Emancipation Proclamation officially freed the slaves in ten states when it was issued Jan. 1, 1863, it neither abolished slavery outright nor granted the rights of citizenship to freedmen and their descendants. That required several acts of Congress: The Thirteenth (outlawed slavery), Fourteenth (equal protection), and Fifteenth (voting rights) amendments to the Constitution were ratified in 1865, 1868, and 1870, respectively.

The entire text of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is here.

The complete text of the proclamation as issued is here.

Designs of the Times: Victorian Reticules

Silk crochet with metallic beads, 1840-1850
Courtesy Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Whenever I have a question about what a proper lady in the nineteenth century might have worn, I consult Cindy Nord. Not only is Cindy a talented writer and a lifesaver of a critique partner, but she’s also an expert on historical fashion — particularly fashions of the Victorian Era. A former Civil War re-enactor, Cindy has given lectures about Victorian clothing in all sorts of venues … dressed for the part, of course.
In her debut novel, NO GREATER GLORY (Samhain Publishing, July 2012), Cindy puts a chunk of her fashion knowledge to good use. Heroine Emaline McDaniels, the widow of a Southern plantation owner, may be watching her world come apart at the seams, but her wardrobe hasn’t suffered. It's delightful watching Emaline dress — and undress — in several scenes. (The hero, Yankee Col. Reese Cutteridge, enjoys the undressing part, in particular.)

Here, Cindy gives a brief rundown about an often-overlooked element of any well-dressed nineteenth-century lady’s wardrobe: her handbag.

Reticule: a Handbag by Any Other Name

Sterling silver mesh reticule
(personal collection of
Mary Elizabeth Todd)

Merriam-Webster defines “reticule” (RET-i-kyool; also spelled reticle) as a woman’s small bag or purse, usually in the form of a pouch with a drawstring, made of net, beading, brocade, etc. Unlike today’s purses — in which we carry everything but the kitchen sink — the delicate bags popular during the Victorian era were large enough to contain little more than a handkerchief, a scent bottle, important keys, and perhaps a coin or two.

The material from which reticules were made varied based upon when a bag would be carried. Simple cotton handkerchief designs or patterned wools and canvas were suitable for everyday use. For evenings out, a well-dressed lady’s bag might be made of silk or satin with delicate beadwork, or even elegant silver mesh chainmail.

Glass beading over silk, 1840-185
Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Beadwork was particularly fashionable for much of the era, but only wealthy women could afford the price of an elegant hand-beaded reticule. The smaller the beads and the tighter their pattern, the more expensive the piece. Only the crème de la crème of society were able to purchase reticules bearing 100 beads per square inch.

Closures varied from simple drawstrings to more formal formed-brass metal headers with snaps. But always the item would be worn suspended from the wrist or attached to the waist by a clip to allow the lady’s hands to be free to support a fan (in the evenings) or a parasol (during afternoon outings).

As women of today look forward to the newest handbag from Coach or Louis Vuitton, the women of yesteryear perused the latest edition of Godey’s Ladies Book with glee. So anticipated were the delightful reticule patterns that each month’s collection offered several to choose from and usually included intricate beadwork examples, as well.

1869 Gladstone bag
Courtesy GladstoneBag.com

When a Victorian lady traveled, she carried a metal-framed bag called a Gladstone. According to GladstoneBag.com, “the original Gladstone Bag [was] developed in the mid-19th century and represented a kind of suitcase built on a rigid frame that could be split into two separate parts.  It was usually made of very strong leather and was often ‘tied’ with lanyards also made of leather.”  The Gladstone bag was designed by leather craftsman J.G. Beard, who named the bag after Prime Minister William Gladstone [1809–1898], a popular politician renowned for his love of travel.

True love awaits in the writing of Cindy Nord, whose work has won or finaled in numerous competitions, including the prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Awards. A luscious blend of history and romance, her stories wrap both genres around fast-paced action and emotionally driven characters. Visit her at her website, or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter.






NO GREATER GLORY

Amid the carnage of war, he commandeers far more than just her home.

Widowed plantation owner Emaline McDaniels has struggled to hold on to her late husband’s dreams. Despite the responsibilities resting on her shoulders, she’ll not let anyone wrest away what’s left of her way of life—especially a Federal officer who wants to set up his regiment's winter encampment on her land. With a defiance born of desperation, she defends her home as though it were the child she never had…and no mother gives up her child without a fight.

Despite the brazen wisp of a woman pointing a gun at his head, Colonel Reece Cutteridge has his orders. Requisition Shapinsay and its valuable livestock for his regiment’s use, and pay with Union vouchers. He never expected the widow’s fierce determination, then her concern for his wounded, to upend his heart—and possibly his career.

As the Army of the Potomac goes dormant for the winter, battle lines are drawn inside the mansion. Yet just as their clash of wills shifts to forbidden passion, the tides of war sweep Reece away. And now their most desperate battle is to survive the bloody conflict in Virginia with their lives—and their love—intact.

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Kobo, and other ebook sellers. (Audiobook due in October 2012; print version set for release in June 2013.)

Lone Stars: Chappell Hill, Texas

Old Town Chappell Hill today
(photo by S. Braswell of Spring, Texas)

Located roughly halfway between Austin and Houston, Chappell Hill was founded in 1847 on 100 acres owned by a woman. (Texas granted women extraordinary rights for the time.) Mary Haller and her husband Jacob built a stagecoach inn on the site -- at the junction of two major stagecoach lines -- and soon other folks from the Deep South migrated to the area and planted cotton, for which the climate and soil were perfectly suited.

By 1856, the population had risen to 3,000 people and the town included a sawmill, five churches, and a Masonic Lodge, in addition to two of the first colleges in the state -- one for men and another for women. A railroad line followed soon after.

During the War of Northern Aggression (otherwise known as the American Civil War), the men of Chappell Hill served in both Hood's Texas Brigade (infantry) and Terry's Texas Rangers (cavalry). Two years after the war ended, in 1867, many of the Chappell Hill men who survived the war perished in a yellow fever epidemic that decimated the town and the rest of the area around the Brazos River.

Longhorn relaxing in the bluebonnets near Chappell Hill

Chappell Hill never recovered, plunging from one of the largest, most vibrant communities in the state to little more than a memory.

Today, Chappell Hill is one of the best historically preserved towns in Texas. Main Street is listed as a National Register Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places; restored homes, churches, businesses and the Stagecoach Inn offer tours to tourists. If you're ever in the area, it's worth a visit.