Mackenzie more successul than Custer, less famous
Oct 21, 2016 21:14:28 GMT
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Post by Beth on Oct 21, 2016 21:14:28 GMT
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A previous article on the Mackenzie Trail in this series (July 17) noted how famous the Mackenzie name is in Lubbock and across portions of the South Plains, memorialized by city and area landmarks, such as Mackenzie Park and the Mackenzie Reservoir near Tulia.
These places honor Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, a highly successful U.S. Cavalry officer who played a decisive role in ending the Indian wars on the Great Plains. His name, however, is hardly recognized outside of Texas, and nationally it is shrouded by the shadow of one of his contemporaries, George Armstrong Custer.
Custer’s name adorns counties in seven different states and several towns in the Midwest. A national cemetery in Montana, a large state park in the Black Hills and a monument at West Point also bear his name.
The two, Mackenzie and Custer, are literally side by side in the annals of military history. At West Point, their names are listed together as Custer graduated last in his class in 1861, and Mackenzie first in the class of 1862.
Time and events proved Mackenzie to be the smarter and better officer, one who found himself having to clean up messes left by Custer.
Yet, it was Custer’s story that captured national attention. A recent internet search cited more than 2,000 books related to Custer, while Mackenzie appears in only 28. There have been at least 32 movies made about Custer, and none about Mackenzie — although in 1958 and 1959 a television series, “Mackenzie’s Raiders,” featured him.
Mackenzie was born in New York City in 1840 into a prominent American family. After his West Point education, he fought in the Civil War. During it, he was wounded six times, but each time quickly returned to service. By war’s end, he had been appointed brevet major general of U.S. Volunteers. Mackenzie was only 24.
After a brief stint in civilian life, Mackenzie in 1866 returned to the military and by 1871 had become commander of the 4th Cavalry stationed at Fort Concho at present-day San Angelo.
Over the next three years, he distinguished himself in several battles, including the decisive skirmish in September 1874 in Palo Duro Canyon which brought an end to the Red River War.
George Custer also distinguished himself during the Civil War, but in its aftermath faced near mutiny by his troops while serving in Texas in late 1865. In 1866, aided by his political connections, Custer became commander of the 7th Cavalry stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.
In November 1868, his troops attacked the Cheyenne winter encampment of Black Kettle on the Washita River in Oklahoma, resulting in immediate debate as to whether it was a battle or massacre.
In 1873, the army sent the 7th Cavalry to the Dakotas where Custer soon came into conflict with the Sioux. Determined to win a glorious battle to help him become president of the United States, Custer met his death at Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, when his entire command of 208 men was wiped out by more than 1,000 warriors.
After the debacle at Little Big Horn, the Army sent Mackenzie and the 4th Cavalry to the northern Plains to clean up the mess. There in November 1876, only five months after Custer’s ignominious defeat, they overwhelmed a northern Cheyenne band led by Dull Knife.
Mackenzie’s victory helped to bring an end the Black Hills War. Custer’s death brought him long-sought and lasting fame.
Mackenzie’s demise did just the opposite. His death was tragic, but quiet. He had been promoted to brigadier general in 1882, but by that time, his physical and mental health had deteriorated significantly, and in 1884 he retired from the military. He died without fanfare in 1889 at age 48.
Why is the flamboyant Custer more famous than Mackenzie? One obvious answer lies in the nature of their deaths. Custer “died with his boots on,” a part of a highly publicized campaign in the midst of the country’s centennial celebration.
Mackenzie, mentally ill and often hospitalized, simply faded away.
Another answer is found in the words of the late military historian, Charles Kenner, who summarized it this way: He said that Mackenzie was “the most uniformly successful and least publicized Indian fighter of the 1870s ... almost the exact antithesis of the least successful and most publicized — George Custer.”
According to Kenner, Custer “specialized in penning lengthy, self-serving, and bombastic descriptions of his campaigns (whereas) Mackenzie was exasperatingly terse.” Moreover, Mackenzie left no memoirs and little correspondence. As a result, Custer remains famous today in large part because of the “amount of grist left for the historian’s mill.”
A previous article on the Mackenzie Trail in this series (July 17) noted how famous the Mackenzie name is in Lubbock and across portions of the South Plains, memorialized by city and area landmarks, such as Mackenzie Park and the Mackenzie Reservoir near Tulia.
These places honor Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, a highly successful U.S. Cavalry officer who played a decisive role in ending the Indian wars on the Great Plains. His name, however, is hardly recognized outside of Texas, and nationally it is shrouded by the shadow of one of his contemporaries, George Armstrong Custer.
Custer’s name adorns counties in seven different states and several towns in the Midwest. A national cemetery in Montana, a large state park in the Black Hills and a monument at West Point also bear his name.
The two, Mackenzie and Custer, are literally side by side in the annals of military history. At West Point, their names are listed together as Custer graduated last in his class in 1861, and Mackenzie first in the class of 1862.
Time and events proved Mackenzie to be the smarter and better officer, one who found himself having to clean up messes left by Custer.
Yet, it was Custer’s story that captured national attention. A recent internet search cited more than 2,000 books related to Custer, while Mackenzie appears in only 28. There have been at least 32 movies made about Custer, and none about Mackenzie — although in 1958 and 1959 a television series, “Mackenzie’s Raiders,” featured him.
Mackenzie was born in New York City in 1840 into a prominent American family. After his West Point education, he fought in the Civil War. During it, he was wounded six times, but each time quickly returned to service. By war’s end, he had been appointed brevet major general of U.S. Volunteers. Mackenzie was only 24.
After a brief stint in civilian life, Mackenzie in 1866 returned to the military and by 1871 had become commander of the 4th Cavalry stationed at Fort Concho at present-day San Angelo.
Over the next three years, he distinguished himself in several battles, including the decisive skirmish in September 1874 in Palo Duro Canyon which brought an end to the Red River War.
George Custer also distinguished himself during the Civil War, but in its aftermath faced near mutiny by his troops while serving in Texas in late 1865. In 1866, aided by his political connections, Custer became commander of the 7th Cavalry stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.
In November 1868, his troops attacked the Cheyenne winter encampment of Black Kettle on the Washita River in Oklahoma, resulting in immediate debate as to whether it was a battle or massacre.
In 1873, the army sent the 7th Cavalry to the Dakotas where Custer soon came into conflict with the Sioux. Determined to win a glorious battle to help him become president of the United States, Custer met his death at Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, when his entire command of 208 men was wiped out by more than 1,000 warriors.
After the debacle at Little Big Horn, the Army sent Mackenzie and the 4th Cavalry to the northern Plains to clean up the mess. There in November 1876, only five months after Custer’s ignominious defeat, they overwhelmed a northern Cheyenne band led by Dull Knife.
Mackenzie’s victory helped to bring an end the Black Hills War. Custer’s death brought him long-sought and lasting fame.
Mackenzie’s demise did just the opposite. His death was tragic, but quiet. He had been promoted to brigadier general in 1882, but by that time, his physical and mental health had deteriorated significantly, and in 1884 he retired from the military. He died without fanfare in 1889 at age 48.
Why is the flamboyant Custer more famous than Mackenzie? One obvious answer lies in the nature of their deaths. Custer “died with his boots on,” a part of a highly publicized campaign in the midst of the country’s centennial celebration.
Mackenzie, mentally ill and often hospitalized, simply faded away.
Another answer is found in the words of the late military historian, Charles Kenner, who summarized it this way: He said that Mackenzie was “the most uniformly successful and least publicized Indian fighter of the 1870s ... almost the exact antithesis of the least successful and most publicized — George Custer.”
According to Kenner, Custer “specialized in penning lengthy, self-serving, and bombastic descriptions of his campaigns (whereas) Mackenzie was exasperatingly terse.” Moreover, Mackenzie left no memoirs and little correspondence. As a result, Custer remains famous today in large part because of the “amount of grist left for the historian’s mill.”