Col. Sturgis Interviewed

[dan25]

Col. Sturgis was interviewed by a reporter from the New York Times after the battle.



query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F01E6DF153FE63BBC4F52DFB166838D669FDE

[colt45]

Col. Sturgis had an understandable animosity against Custer, since his son was one of the dead. However, it is an insight into what other officers of the day might have been thinking about Custer and the battle. Sturgis' opinion might also indicate his attitude prior to the battle, as he was the official commander of the 7th and most likely had interacted with Custer in the past, and with other officers who had interacted with Custer in the past. And it is almost a certainty that Sturgis and other officers had held talks with each other about Custer, as well as other fellow officers, prior to the battle and I'm sure they all had opinions on Custer. Officers gossip about each other just like anyone else.

[quincannon]

Concur Colt, you hit the Daily Double.

There was not an officer or man that survived LBH who was not fully aware of who got them in that mess.

Sturgis was both bitter and going on bad information. Neither his son nor Lieutenant Porter were ever identified, so the Colonel's narration to that reporter was off by a country mile. That said, Custer's motivational substance behind it was probably as close to being true, than any like reportage of the time.

Having your son assigned to work under Custer, was like having your son apprentice under Sweeney Todd.

[dave]

Samuel Sturgis is name seldom mentioned in Mississippi except with derision or contempt. Brice's Crossroads was a debacle which pretty much ended all command positions for Sturgis during the War. His appointment to command of the 7th Cavalry over Custer is somewhat mystifying to me. Sturgis was promoted to Brigadier General after the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August of 1861 when he succeeded Nathaniel Lyons as the army commander. After that he was pretty much unseen yet he was promoted above Custer who had attained the rank of Major General. 

So what was the reason for his being named Colonel of the 7th? Ring Knockers Club? Politics? In 1866 Custer had not burned as many brigades as he would later in life so what gives? I know QC served with a few of his former NCO's so pray tell!
Regards
Dave

[quincannon]

Why should he be mentioned in derision and contempt in Mississippi?  You frigging lost, or is there some other reason? There are people then and now that think being mentioned in derision or held in contempt by people in Mississippi, is a badge of honor, and your above remarks do absolutely nothing to mitigate the issue. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution, and the height of moral courage is in not turning a blind eye to a demonstrated wrongdoing. A statement like that is like someone saying they are still pissed off at George III for the Stamp Act --- Silly. It's over, and the measure of a mature society is to move on into the future, not dwell in the deep swamp of treason and human slavery, thinking ----  Oh for the good old days. Or is that only in Alabama where we just have had this past December a half million people validate what I just said?

Sturgis was senior in Regular Army Rank, and in brevet rank to Custer. Lieutenant Colonel in the Regular Army, vice Custer a Captain. Brevet Major General in the Regular Army (from Dec 1862) vice Custer, Brevet Major General of Volunteers.

In any event the point is moot, because the first Colonel of the 7th Cavalry was Andrew J. Smith. Sturgis was the second, and both of them were senior in Regular Army and Brevet rank to Custer

Custer was offered Colonel of the 10th Cavalry and turned it down. Grierson, another player at Brice's Crossroads was appointed in his stead.

Sturgis was a very respected general officer in the Regular United States Army as were his son and grandson, both general officers.

Pray receive.

[dave]

Before you fall off your soapbox, take a deep breath and reread what I wrote. Brice's Crossroad is a little remembered or even known battle of the Civil War, however in Mississippi the event is well known and studied by many historians as well as being a tourist draw for Baldwin, MS. This battle is conveniently located below Corinth, MS and Shiloh National Park on a US highway that is heavily travelled.

Nothing that I posted advocated States Rights, the Confederacy or promoted Mississippi still being in the 19th or 20th centuries and against any change. Once again, your dislike of the former things is bleeding over into a simple and sincere request for information as to why Sturgis was selected instead of Custer. As to A.J. Smith I knew but my question was to the other two men.

Alabama is a separate entity from Mississippi and their politics is their concern not mine or Mississippi's so why bring them into this discussion? Is your dislike for Mississippi the cause for the lack of respect accorded to me over my post seeking the reason for why Sturgis was selected?
Regards
Dave

[quincannon]

"Samuel Sturgis is name seldom mentioned in Mississippi except with derision and contempt" Your words, not mine.

Why should a little known general be mentioned with derision, and held in contempt? What did he do that was worthy of such treatment?

If Mississippi is not still in the 19th and early 20th Century, why then did you mention the derision and contempt? Seems to me if Mississippi was in the 21st Century like all the rest of us, there would be know need to ever mention "The War", except within the proper bounds of academic military and political studies. You people are so bound up in a war you lost that you cannot see or would little understand why time has passed you by.

The impression you and others give is that of Colonel Beauregard T. Hushpuppy and his adoring spouse Magnolia Blossom sitting on the veranda at Sweetbriar, julep in hand, wondering where the darkies are that always picked the cotton down in the bottom land . Perception Dave, is reality, and that is the perception held by the majority of this country, deserved or not, about Mississippi, and it is up to you to change that perception or your state will die clinging to it.

The politics of Alabama is everyone's concern, just like cancer, poverty, civil rights, human rights, and the rule of law is everyone's concern. That's why it is called the United States,

If you only wanted to know about Sturgis, why preface your request with the derision and contempt remark. You knew that I would come down hard on it, yet you did it for effect. I do not turn my head away from wrong. I try to call it out and fight it with every breath remaining in my body, and will continue to do so until I am here no more.

[yanmacca]

Can't you two forget about the politics which surround the ACW and just keep your views to military aspects.
The north and south don't exist anymore, it is just the united states.
Even Lancashire and Yorkshire who fought each other for over thirty years in the war of the roses, have buried the hatchet and only tease each other at sporting events.

[quincannon]

Very true Ian. The Civil War is long gone, and became completely irrelevant on 7 December 1941, the day World War II started for us, and modern America was born, an event that has shaped our society since. My father's and Dave's father's were the last generation of Americans to have their earliest years shaped by what was up to then the defining moment in this country, the American Civil War.

[yanmacca]

Well lets keep things nice and happy, so how many ears did Davy Crockett have?

[deadwoodgultch]

Sturgis, sucked in in the ACW and against the Nez Perce's and might as well have been AWOL for the 12 years in between. Oh, that was detached duty, buying horses, and by the way the 7th did not have enough quality mounts. In a certain battle in the ACW Sturgis had his ass handed to him, can somebody help me with the name?

Regards,
Tom

[deadwoodgultch]

Oh yes, Dave mentioned it. He went west with IX Corps in 1863 and later had a number of relatively unimportant commands in Tennessee and Mississippi. He also served as Chief of Cavalry of the Department of the Ohio. In June 1864 he was routed by Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads in Mississippi, an encounter that effectively ended his Civil War service.

[deadwoodgultch]

He obviously had a benefactor!

[deadwoodgultch]

Lastly, Sturgis  took personal command of the regiment and led the 7th Cavalry in the campaign against the Nez Percé in 1877. Sturgis and his soldiers headed off the Nez Percé and waited to attack them after when they emerged from  Yellowstone Park. The Indians deceived Sturgis with a feint and eluded him, continuing their flight northward toward Canada. Sturgis caught up with the Nez Percé  at the Battle of Canyon Creek, the Indians, although outnumbered two to one, escaped his grasp.

[quincannon]

You did forget to mention that the Army named a troop transport after him.