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Post by strange on Jan 21, 2012 21:07:54 GMT -5
I just had an epiphany about what Custer may have been feeling the first time he was promoted.
One thing that usually slips my mind when I regularly ignore times and dates is that Custer did not marry Libbie until he became a general. Before then, he had courted her and paid attention to her for a while but her father Judge Bacon was not satisfied enough to give them his blessing because because he did not want her to marry a soldier... or at least not unless that soldier happened to be higher up in rank.
Custer had tears in his eyes when he received word of his promotion to general, and to me... I think one of the reasons he felt that promotion so passionately was because it also landed him the love of his life.
Later on in life, he may have been interested in rank for more pettier reasons, just as virtually every other soldier was, but I ask this to all of you... how much does rank mean?
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Post by joewiggs on Jan 22, 2012 19:41:26 GMT -5
A good question that is difficult to answer unless one knows the mind-set of the individual who receives the rank/acknowledgment by his peers. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful site that ventures into this realm of inquisitiveness and I wish to share this adventure with the other members of this wonderful forum initiated by the incomparable T.W.B. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgmBQGJedrk&feature=channel_video_titleThis site is produced by our own Dr. Strange whose modesty forbids him from tooting his own horn. ladies and gentleman; seek and you shall find! |
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Post by strange on Jan 23, 2012 14:34:38 GMT -5
A good question that is difficult to answer unless one knows the mind-set of the individual who receives the rank/acknowledgment by his peers. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful site that ventures into this realm of inquisitiveness and I wish to share this adventure with the other members of this wonderful forum initiated by the incomparable T.W.B. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgmBQGJedrk&feature=channel_video_titleThis site is produced by our own Dr. Strange whose modesty forbids him from tooting his own horn. ladies and gentleman; seek and you shall find! Let me remind everyone to turn up their volume or have a good speaker up if you watch that, its designed for DVD so I took the volume down real low. I worked a good month or so to get a good and consistent volume, aswell as many ore months trying to weave everyone's interviews together just right. The audio is finished and it is 2 and a half hours so far, when I finish the imagery.. it will be done! |
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Post by stumblingbear on Jan 25, 2012 16:19:47 GMT -5
A good question that is difficult to answer unless one knows the mind-set of the individual who receives the rank/acknowledgment by his peers. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful site that ventures into this realm of inquisitiveness and I wish to share this adventure with the other members of this wonderful forum initiated by the incomparable T.W.B. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgmBQGJedrk&feature=channel_video_titleThis site is produced by our own Dr. Strange whose modesty forbids him from tooting his own horn. ladies and gentleman; seek and you shall find! Let me remind everyone to turn up their volume or have a good speaker up if you watch that, its designed for DVD so I took the volume down real low. I worked a good month or so to get a good and consistent volume, aswell as many ore months trying to weave everyone's interviews together just right. The audio is finished and it is 2 and a half hours so far, when I finish the imagery.. it will be done! Wonderful! Can't wait to hear the rest. Great job Mr. Strange  |
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Post by joewiggs on Feb 18, 2012 18:43:05 GMT -5
Dr. Strange, I would like to take a second opportunity to address your "Rank" question in a little more detail. From the time men and women arrive upon this sphere of existence, we are pushed, encouraged, thrust, harangued, and demanded to succeed in life. Success is identified and recognized by several factors that are familiar to us all, but true success (in my mind) is the upward mobility to the top portion of an organizational hierarchy. At the top one receives constant accolades, tremendous respect and adoration by many;even if you are homely, over weight, and slightly bald. Why is that so? Is it not true that since time immemorial the people have heaped adulation on those who scratch and fight their way up the rungs of success? I believe it to be in innate human quality that enables us to share the "thrill" of success by (even by proxy) by touch and relating with the few who do. It was this type of success that (as you pointed out) that enabled Custer to marry Libby. It also enabled Custer to evolve into a national celebrity admired by thousand of American citizens to either love him or hate him. Benteen hated Custer because he believed himself to be as fine a soldier as Custer but was not recognized as such;there is some merit to this argument. Reno hated him because he possessed a great quality of intestinal fortitude which enabled Custer to take dangerous risks in combat and remain unscathed while poor Reno was cut from a totally different cloth. My thirst for "rank" was very different as a youth then my present aspirations for achievement. When I was young I wanted to be Chief of Police of my department. Now, at 64 years of age, I want nothing more than happiness for me and mine. In other words, for me "rank" is equivalent to "beauty" it's solely in the "mind of the beholder." |
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Post by stumblingbear on Feb 18, 2012 20:49:21 GMT -5
I would like to talk a different side of "rank" that comes from the feminine side. I believe that rank or status is more of a masculine wish than something women need. I'm not suggesting that women do not have a healthy drive to achieve goals in life but, we just do not put as much emphasis on goals that men do.
Women find success in different places like raising children, keeping a household together, giving comfort to and supporting her husband in doing what he needs to do to succeed in life.
Women who want to do well in the business world are successful because they treat the job with the same commitment we use to raise a family. Everyone who deals with the "terrible two's" know exactly what I'm talking about!
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Post by whitebull on Feb 19, 2012 10:45:23 GMT -5
I see your point because it comes from what you have experienced in life. If you had not married and had children you may see rank differently.
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Post by joewiggs on Aug 3, 2012 18:54:47 GMT -5
I've returned to this site for a specific reason that had, thus far, eluded the forum and, should be addressed. The rank of Custer's era was significantly different than the rank of today's military.
Today's military grade is a nomenclature imbued with a specific amount of entitlement and authority that enables the entire unit to carry out orders in a systematic manner.
Rank of Custer's time meant far more. The position defined your status in the military and your social status more so than anything else. Particularly the officer's class as defined by Reno's barrister in his Court closure.
In other words, rank enabled the upper class soldier the authority to defy the human rights of the subordinate and commit terrible indiscretions while doing so.
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Post by joewiggs on Nov 2, 2012 9:33:02 GMT -5
Speaking of rank, the following paragraph is interesting and some what ironic:
"At Winchester in September 1864, Custer's Michigan Brigade charged into entrenched Rebel riflemen, commanded by another West Point friend, Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur, and sent them into retreat.
Then, in October at Cedar Creek, Custer, now commanding the 3rd. Division, executed a daring charge that split the enemy in half. The rebels began a hasty retreat, with Custer's command nipping at their heels and inflicting heavy casualties. One severely wounded captive was Stephen Ramseur, whom Custer rushed to Sheridan's headquarters for medical attention. Ramseur, the youngest West Pointer to attain the rank of major general in the Confederate army, died the next morning."
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Post by whitebull on Nov 3, 2012 18:07:19 GMT -5
Custer used his rank to try and save his friend who was actually his enemy. I guess rank can be hard, mean, and a pain in the ole Wazoo! But it can also be way showing your human love for another human.
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Post by stumblingbear on Nov 3, 2012 18:33:19 GMT -5
I see your point and I agree with you. I would only add that in this case "rank" was a means to help someone you care for in the harshness of war. Eben when we kill and hurt each other we maintain a little bit of humanity in our hearts.
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Post by joewiggs on Nov 16, 2012 20:30:15 GMT -5
I just thought of another direction that "rank" may follow;courage. The courage to willingly enter into the maw of death and terror to render aid and secure your fellow soldier although the odds of success are not exemplary. Something Reno could have done for Custer's command but did not do!
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Post by whitebull on Nov 17, 2012 21:10:30 GMT -5
It takes a rare kind of man to charge into danger without a flinch. If Reno had not been drunk he may have found a way to step up to the plate and change history!
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Post by joewiggs on Oct 28, 2013 12:54:48 GMT -5
Maybe! Somehow I can't imagine Reno doing a whole lot better than he did regardless of the circumstances. Custer seemed to thrive on overcoming danger and the thrill of the charge. I'm not saying that this was particularly a good thing but, it is what it is!
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