Mark Kellogg, Embedded Military Reporter

[W. Gray]

Being an embedded reporter with the US military has proven to be fatal on several occasions.

Mark Kellogg, 43, a reporter for the Associated Press, started his newspaper career in Wisconsin. He was born in Canada but immigrated to the US with his parents when he was young. 

Wanting to be a politician, he was elected a city clerk. He later ran for state representative in Minnesota. Defeated in that effort, he decided to concentrate on journalism.

He worked as a reporter for newspapers in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Brainerd, Minnesota, and Bismarck, North Dakota. The editor of the Bismarck Tribune sent him to cover a major military campaign in which he would be the only embedded journalist. Because the campaign was so important, he simultaneously received assignment from the Associated Press and New York Herald. These organizations distributed news dispatches to other newspapers across the country including the Elk County Ledger.

He joined the US Army Dakota column point unit departing from South Dakota heading west. The point unit was cavalry working ahead of artillery, infantry units, and over 100 support wagons. The Dakota column was one of three loosely coordinated columns converging on a yet unknown objective. The intent was to push the hostiles together from three directions. The other columns were the Montana column coming west from within Montana and the Yellowstone column coming north from Wyoming. Each column was headed by a general officer.

Along the cross-country march, reporter Mark Kellogg sent regular dispatches to his editor telling the nation what was occurring. His last dispatch occurred four days before his death.

He was the first Associated Press reporter to die covering military engagements.

His body was found missing the scalp and an ear. A bloodstained diary was in his clothing.

Most of the Dakota column never saw action. George Armstrong Custer commander of the point unit Seventh Cavalry disobeyed orders from his commanding general attacking before the infantry and artillery arrived. The Montana column arrived a few days after the battle. A large Indian force attacked the Yellowstone column a few days earlier forcing its retreat. A village of 10,000 Indians from several tribes broke camp immediately after the battle with many headed for Canada with others going back to their reservations.

Not all of the Seventh Cavalry was wiped out. Custer split the Seventh into three battalions. All the 264, or so, men in Custer's battalion died. Benteen and Reno's battalions containing about 400 men suffered heavy casualties in separate fighting but many survived. The Seventh Cavalry, however, was destroyed as a fighting unit. The Seventh Cavalry was reconstituted and, some say, inflicted revenge at Wounded Knee some fifteen year later.

[Delmonico]

Interesting topic, BTW Custer did disobey orders, but not as if often stated,  he was ordered by Phil Sheridan not to take along any reporters. 

However as for the attack on the village and the events leading up to it, he did not disobey orders, he just stretched them to the limit of the orders.  I have read most of the major works on the battle from recent stuff to things that were written right after the battle, I have a book that has a photostat of Terry's orders as written for Terry by his adjutant Captian Edward W. Smith of the 18th Infantry, but the book is on loan to a friend in Wisconsion right now as well as most of the rest of my Custer books. 

This is a scan of the orders in print rather than the written form and follows them to the letter.  You can see Terry left the final decision up to Custer.  BTW both Terry and Sheridan said later that Custer did not disobey orders.  Read the text and you will see Terry left the final plans up to Custer.





The interesting thing is as one of the most studied battles ever, there is still a lot unkown about it.  History has never for the most part treated Custer fair about it.  One side says he was the best Indian fighter on the plains and the other most often treats him as a fool.  And as the years pass, most treat him as a fool.  A few like me try to look at it as it really was and unfolded.  Custer I feel most likely dit the right actions to make it a victory, any other method would have left him and Gibbon/Terry with an empty camp and nothing accomplished to defeat the Indians who were not on the reservations.  Many, many things went wrong that day and one or more of these situations being a bit different would have most likely turned defeat into victory.

One thing often meantioned by those who do not understand 19th Century weapons is the fact Custer opted not to take the Gatling Guns Terry offered.  These would have had little use on the field as it unfolded and to take them over the terrain he traveled would have resulted in delays in getting there, the village would have been gone by then, they had according to many of the Indians, planned on moving the evening of the 25th instead of the evening of the 26th as they did.

[W. Gray]

I have seen those orders.

Everyone has their own perspective on Custer.

One of the column commanders told him not to get greedy.

There was a very interesting movie or TV program put on in the 1970s called something like, "The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer."

This was not about the court martial conviction he received before the Little Big Horn for disobeying orders and being AWOL, but what would have happened had he lived.

The essence of the program was whether he was a great leader or a glory-hungry fool who risked his men's lives.

[Delmonico]

It according to legand was Terry who said, "Custer, don't get greedy, leave some Indians for us."  Custer is as the sorty goes said, "No I won't."   I think in those orders, Terry knew what Custer would do based on the reports of the scouts, but by doing this, he covered his self no matter what." 

What is interesting is we all know of course that the scouts went to The Crow's Nest at daybreak and saw the village about 15 miles away, when Custer went up, he could see nothing, but by then the heat would cause mirage and make it difficult.  The
anti-Custer folks say the Indian scouts tried to tell him how many there were, but in other contest it is often meantioned how the Native American could not express numbers beyond a few hundred, so did Custer really have an idea how many there were, reports that did not reach the column in time, gave better figures from the angents, but the numbers Custer had were far lower as to the amount off the reservations. 

Based on my research, I will not condem him, but I will not totally agree with what he did.  But heck, if we really knew the whole truth as to what unfolded that day, would it be as interesting.

BTW, have you read Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle By Richard Fox?  Interesting insights as to what happened.

[W. Gray]

A Sioux Indian with the name of Chief Red Fox appeared on the Johnny Carson show in 1971. He was supposed to have been a nephew of Crazy Horse.

McGraw-Hill had just published  a book about his life and that may have been the initial reason he appeared on the Carson show.

He was around 101 years old, articulate, alert, witty, and a hit with the Carson audience. He was so much a hit; he came back four additional times. As I recall, he appeared in traditional Sioux Indian wear with full feathered headdress.

His official birth date is 1870. He claimed to be at the Little Big Horn encampment when he was eight years old. Just before Custer charged the camp, he said his mother took him and his siblings and went with other women and children to hide in the hills.

He later became a member of the Buffalo Bill Wild West show and appeared in silent movies.

Custer was a huge hero and well known to the American people before the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The chief's claim as to why Custer so wantonly attacked is that he wanted to make a big splash in view of the upcoming Democrat national convention the following month, July 1876.

In other words, Custer wanted to make a run for the presidency buoyed by a tremendous victory over hostile Indians. There is generally no support for that claim but it is interesting.

The chief died in 1976.

[Diane Amberg]

 I remember him. ( Red Fox) My great grandfather, Daddy's grandfather, knew Custer and did not like him at all. Great grandfather, Jacob Amberg was a bit of a politician himself, and I think he did not care for Custer's political ambitions.

[Delmonico]

Yes that claim on him running for President in 1876 is based on someone who heard him tell Bloody Knife, the half Lakota half Arikara scout that if he got a victory he would become The Great White Father.  Might have had plans for it in 1880, but we'll never know.  

Custer in his life time was either hated or loved, time has changed that little.

On will always wondered what would have happened if Benteen would have followed through with his orders to hurry and bring the packs. (extra ammo)  Would they have been able to change things or would there have been a larger amount of dead.

[kdfrawg]

If you are willing to enter the firefight, you also have to be willing not to live long enough to be elected President.

[Delmonico]

No matter what you think of the man, he wasn't afraid to dive in and lead an attack.

[kdfrawg]

Nope, not hardly. And he was a good enought leader that a lot of folks went with him. That does not speak to his motivations, but it says a lot about the image he projected.