George B. Herendeen was born on November 28, 1846, in Parkman Township, Geauga County, Ohio. He was a civilian scout who participated in the battle in the timber and on the hilltop. According to Gregory Michno (see “Misrepresented ‘Monster’ Major Marcus Reno“) Herendeen was largely responsible for assertions of Marcus Reno‘s cowardice:
Of all the witnesses called [at the Reno Court of Inquiry], only two were critical of Reno’s conduct in the valley. Civilian interpreter Frederic F. Girard, whom Reno had once fired, said he thought Reno could have held out in the timber as long as the ammunition lasted. (Left unsaid was that at the rate they had been firing, that would not likely have been more than another half-hour.) Civilian scout George Herendeen also disliked Reno. He said that when Bloody Knife was killed and another soldier hit, “Reno gave the order to dismount, and the soldiers had just struck the ground when he gave the order to mount, and then everything left the timber on a run.” Herendeen said the incident “demoralized him [Reno] a good deal,” but when pressed by court recorder Lieutenant Jesse M. Lee, Herendeen stated, “I am not saying that he is a coward at all.”
. . . An examination of the court record shows that 20 of the 23 eyewitnesses who testified to Reno’s conduct had neutral or favorable observations. Only three were unfavorable—and none of those damning. Yet scarcely mentioned is [Dr. Henry] Porter’s account of Reno’s statement, “We have got to get out of here—we have got to charge them!” Instead, Herendeen’s claim that Reno ordered a dismount and an immediate mount appears often in print. It seems incredible. One man claims Reno issued conflicting orders while extracting his command from a desperate situation, and it snowballs into an avalanche of cowardice and treachery.
For more of Greg Michno’s excellent research and writing, see the books listed at the end of this post.
Other milestones this week include:
- Henry Petring was born in Germany on November 29, 1853.
- John Noonan committed suicide on November 30, 1878, at Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory.
- Thomas W. Coleman died in Sawtelle, California, on November 30, 1921.
- William G. Abrams was born on December 1, 1840, in Baltimore, Maryland.
- John F. Donohue died in Butte, Montana, on December 3, 1924.
- William H. Baker was born on December 3, 1848 in Golconda, Illinois.
- Thomas James Stowers, who claimed to be a Sole Survivor of the battle, was also born on December 3, 1848, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
- John E. Hammon was born in Lynchburg, Ohio, on December 4, 1857.
- John McCabe died on December 4, 1891, in Washington, D.C.
- John B. Ascough died in Columbus, Ohio, on December 4, 1903.
- George A. Rudolph died on December 4, 1924, in Eddyville, New York.
- Charles H. Bishop died in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 4, 1929.