Post by quincannon on Apr 12, 2018 16:01:46 GMT
Benteen: That is why leadership is referred to as an art and not a science. Leadership is practiced, and no two people practice it the same way. You find the way that is best for you. Only two rules apply. Authoritarian leadership is always wrong, and never works in the long term, and so is doing nothing when it is obvious that something must be done. Authoritarian leadership causes rot to start within an organization, and doing nothing allows the rot to grow to a point where it cannot be stopped. There is also the dangerous practice of loving something too much. I refer you to the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" - Savage relieves a Colonel who has grown to love his bomber group too much which effected the group's performance. Savage comes in as a hard ass, and over the course of the movie falls into the same "love too much" trap, which in turn causes Savage to have a mental breakdown, but not before his methods turn around the group performance. Spectacular movie, and still shown for its leadership lessons at West Point.
D25: Weir was on the staff of Custer's division probably dating from 1864. That is probably where he first came into contact with Mrs. Custer. He was known to be a heavy drinker, but so were most of them. I agree with Tom, that I don't know of any improprieties, but the Army of the day was a small place, and rumors of such were abroad, most probably generated by the fact that Weir was her escort while George was away. Many people have made comments in other places that Weir drank himself to death. I suspect drink was part of it, but the root cause was clinical depression. Probably better stated in modern terms as PTSD, which in turn causes bad and destructive behavior. Human beings can only stand so much, and each person's limit is different.
Reno was much the same way after his wife died, alive on the outside, but inside a piece of him was dead.
Weir is a very important piece of the story. He left to go north soon after Reno and Benteen linked up, and rode that mile or so to what became Weir Point. What he saw from there were the final moments of Custer's destruction also witnessed by Edgerly a very short time after that. This in turn tells you that Custer was engaged while Reno was still in the valley, and that engagement area was a mile and a half to two miles away.
D25: Weir was on the staff of Custer's division probably dating from 1864. That is probably where he first came into contact with Mrs. Custer. He was known to be a heavy drinker, but so were most of them. I agree with Tom, that I don't know of any improprieties, but the Army of the day was a small place, and rumors of such were abroad, most probably generated by the fact that Weir was her escort while George was away. Many people have made comments in other places that Weir drank himself to death. I suspect drink was part of it, but the root cause was clinical depression. Probably better stated in modern terms as PTSD, which in turn causes bad and destructive behavior. Human beings can only stand so much, and each person's limit is different.
Reno was much the same way after his wife died, alive on the outside, but inside a piece of him was dead.
Weir is a very important piece of the story. He left to go north soon after Reno and Benteen linked up, and rode that mile or so to what became Weir Point. What he saw from there were the final moments of Custer's destruction also witnessed by Edgerly a very short time after that. This in turn tells you that Custer was engaged while Reno was still in the valley, and that engagement area was a mile and a half to two miles away.