Nathaniel Philbrick is an American author and novelist. He was born June 11, 1956 in Boston, Massachusetts but spent most of his early life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he grew up. He attended Brown and Duke Universities where he earned a BA in English and an MA in American Literature. Where he was born, what he studied in school, and where he currently resides (Nantucket, MA along with his wife Melissa) contribute greatly to his career. Philbrick used his acquired knowledge and experience from his schooling to become the award winning novelist he is today. He won National Book Award for Nonfiction, was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History, and his book “Mayflower” was named one of the ten “Best Books of 2006” by the New …show more content…
For many years and by many Americans the Battle of Little BigHorn was looked at as a valiant effort by brave Americans to fight for what they believed in under a well organized and successful commanding officer. Through the accounts in this book, Philbrick shows us this was not necessarily the case. Custer and his men went into the battle extremely too overconfident and he seriously underestimated the power of his opposing army. This overconfidence caused a great lack of proper preparation for the battle by the US army which ultimately helped lead to their demise in this battle. Other factors that contributed to this loss were the facts that Custer did not have such great command over some of his officers. Several of them purposely disobeyed orders and acted upon their own whims. One officer in particular, Sargent Reno, showed up to the battle drunk and was seen drinking from a flask of amber liquid. The confusion, disorder and underestimation of the enemy all lead to the chaos and massacre that ensued on Custer and his men. The fight between Custer’s men and the indians proved to be “a rout, a panic till the last man was killed.” Custer lead reckless charges down the hills and along the river and by Indian accounts, he was the first to be struck and killed. Without their leader so early in battle, the Seventh Cavalry was left in much disarray. A panic ensued among the men and according to
It was well believed until Jackson’s forces began unloading rounds on the Union army stopping McDowell’s forces from advancing, holding the line like “a stone wall.” As the new Union recruits witnessed battle for the first time and felt the lack of preparation, they were quick to retreat back to Washington DC. The Southern victory and the tens of thousands of lives lost proved to the Union that this war was not going to be easily won.
On June 25, 1876, The Battle of Little Bighorn took place near the Black Hills in Montana. This was one of the most controversial battles of the 20th century and the line between good guys and bad guys was grey at best. Gen. George Armstrong Custer (reduced to LTC after the civil war) had 366 men of the 7thU.S. Cavalry under his command that day. Sitting Bull (A Medicine Man) led 2000 braves of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes (Klos, 2013). At the conclusion of the battle, the stories of the Indians savagery were used to demonize their culture and there were no survivors from the 7thcavalry to tell what really happened.
Following the civil war the Army was downsizing. Custer was a captain in the regular army. In July 1866 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel made second in command of the 7th Calvary at Fort Riley Kansas. As the settlers, along with the railroad, were pushing west, there were conflicts with Indians. Custer’s mission was to tract down these roving Indian, war parties. This was a new type of war for Custer. It was guerrilla warfare. Custer tried to track down the Indians as if they were the confederates. He would camp on hill tops so he could see all around him. At night, his men would build big fires. The Indians would see this and flee. This lack of success drastically brought the morale down in Custer and his men. Before long, a group of 15 men deserted, Custer ordered them to be tracked down and shot. He then went on a forced march with his men just so he could spend a day with his wife regardless of the repercussions to his career. Major General Hancock gave a court martial to Custer for the execution of his men without trial. Custer was suspended in pay for one year.v
At Ft. Ridgely, anger and fear festered after the first attack on the fort as to when reinforcements would come. This also held true for the town of New Ulm which was scrambling to defend itself under the leadership of Colonel Flandrau. While these towns were being attacked, Sibley had gathered an army of 1,340 troops, but still complained about the lack of supplies and training his men had. As the book aptly put it, however, “…neither were the defenders of New Ulm and Fort Ridgley, and they fought with determination, improvised when necessary, and made do without what they could not get and still they bested superior numbers of Indians” (177-178). Sibley’s delays in advancing his troops and attacking the Indians caused heavy responses from the people of Minnesota. Many called for
George Armstrong Custer was a United States cavalry officer who served with distinction in the American Civil War and was the youngest ever brevet brigadier general at age twenty-three (History.com Staff, 2009). Custer had various disciplinary issues throughout his career ranging from abandoning his post for romantic reasons to leaving the field without searching for a slain reconnaissance unit (History.com Staff, 2009). His expedition in 1874 that led to the discovery of gold, was in violation of the treaty of 1868 wherein the Black Hills were recognized to belong to the Sioux Nation. Custer was known to have a reckless temperament and was often at odds with superior officers. Nevertheless, as a Lieutenant Colonel assigned to the Seventh Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Riley, Kansas, Custer was tasked to lead the force against Sitting Bull’s alliance (History.com Staff, 2009).
O Pioneers by Willa Cather sets itself apart from other novels of its time because of what its stands for, feminism. It exemplifies women’s equality, represented by the main character, Alexandra, by showing her survival in a male dominated society. She succeeded in building her female identity and achieved a sense of female attainment by revolutionizing the wild land and struggling for her equal rights with all that surrounded her. This paper focuses on the feminist thoughts and the positive attitude of the image of the strong character Alexandra, who was independent, brave, and optimistic. A spirit like hers, of strength and courage, insisted that she would never be defeated by man or nature.
Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-0 defines mission command as “the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations” (U.S Army, Training and Doctrine Command, Combined Arms Center, Center for the Army Profession and Ethic, 2015, p. 1). The six principles of mission command direct leaders to build cohesive teams through mutual trust, create shared understanding, provide a clear commander’s intent, exercise disciplined initiative, use mission orders, and accept prudent risk. These principles enable subordinates that understand their commander’s intent to accomplish missions by adapting to the situation and taking advantage of opportunities as they arise (U.S Army, Training and Doctrine Command, Combined Arms Center, Center for the Army Profession and Ethic, 2015, p. 2). Various battles throughout history provide examples of the application of the principles of mission command as well as the failure to adhere to them. The Battle of the Little Bighorn is an example of the latter and marks the “most decisive Native American victory and the worse U.S. defeat during the long Plains Indian War” (History.com Staff, 2009).
The novel Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick has a long list of things to teach us about the New World. The fact that it’s showed us that the very first pilgrims had no idea what they were in for was crucial. They were hit with the realization that the Natives would be wild and ferocious instead of calm and tame. They’d known they would be introduced to new ways of life, and disease, but they didn’t suspect that it’d be the most destructive part to the goodwill of the newly born colony.
In the novel Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick, the author educates us on how the New World was discovered and created. It all started with a group of roughly 100 men and women who originated from England known as the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were sick and tired of the lack of religious freedom and work/economic opportunities. There was no future for the Pilgrims in England. This was all until the group set sail on the Mayflower in order to find new land. After a rough journey, they came across a piece of land now known as New England. The Pilgrims settled here because it was relatively empty. They believed that in New England they would be able to create a godly city or a place where they wouldn’t be criticized for their religious views.
Custer divided the 7th Cavalry into three battalions under himself, Major Marcus Reno, and Captain Frederick Benteen. Unsure of the surrounding terrain, Custer sent Benteen south to “scour the country and pitch into anything he might find.” Two hours later and four miles from the valley, Custer’s own scouts spied “a good-sized party of Indians in flight between the troops and the river.” Custer ordered Reno’s battalion to charge the enemy, telling Reno he “will be supported by the entire outfit.” Instead of following, however, Custer advanced onto high ground east of the village.
The Seminoles were very quick to gather their injured and make a quick escape. They understood that once the American Army made it to land they were not going to hold the ground. The fled on canoes and on foot. Not a single Seminole was captured during their defeat on this battle field.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as “Cluster’s Last Stand,” which was fought on June 25, 1976 in Montana, U.S. The outcome was indulged for the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne tribes, who presumably will defeat the U.S Army under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and its 7th Calvary. This trounce defeat by the tribes, will consider Indians bloodthirsty by the demise of their enemy. The Indians overwhelmed the 200 men by a cluster of 3,000 men. This insisted the battle was lost by the west, and will always be known as “Cluster’s Last Sand.” A battle that only lasted shortly, and took part of the “Great Sioux War of 1876,” will consider Indians unpredictable in the battle field.
Cavalier in Buckskin, a book about George Armstrong Custer’s life up until his death on June 25, 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn, taught me many things about how Custer lived and acted. It also taught me a lot about Custers personality in battle which made me come to the conclusion that he was a very confident man in what he did and how he fought his battles which in turn possibly could have ended his life because overconfidence can be deadly.
The most significant figure as to why Custer was defeated at the battle of little Big Horn was that General Terry had divided his force. He sent Custer and the 7th cavalry to fight the battle, which was a smaller number than he could have sent. This meant that there were fewer men. To make things worse, Custer then divided the men again, into 4 groups, the mule train, Bentine’s group, Reno’s group, and Custer’s group. This caused them to be outnumbered by the Indians even more, resulting in the loss of the Battle.
First to address is that the topic of the production was handled with a bit more accuracy than films had presented it before. Some of the key points were left out in my opinion. These important key points actually help lead to Custer’s failure. For me the film implied that the lack of the reinforcements from William F. Benteen, and Major Marcus Reno’s quick engagement was more than responsible for the fail during the battle. Yes they were a major part, but there is more than those two events that led to his failure.