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| Lt. George Daniel Wallace |
George
Daniel was too young to serve in the Civil War, but his older brother
Robert M went to Texas and joined the cavalry known as Terry's Texas
Rangers. His first cousin, James Wylie Ratchford, was an Adjunct to
General D.H. Hill CSA. As Yorkville was located near major river
crossings, there is no doubt that the young Wallace would have seen
troop movements during the war, the most spectacular of which
occurred in spring of 1865 as Jefferson Davis, accompanied by 3,000
cavalry troops, passed through town on his flight from Richmond. We
can only imagine what it was like for a 15 year old boy to stand on
his porch and watch the procession of riders taking hours to pass.
Surely, these things contributed to George Wallace's desire to enter
the service himself.
After
the war, A.S. returned to the state legislature and in 1868 he was
elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In September of that
same year, the first one the U.S. Military Academy accepted
candidates from the re-admitted southern states, George Daniel
Wallace reported to West Point. His roommate there was Charles
Varnum, a serendipitous assignment that would later save Wallace's
life. Upon graduation in 1872, Wallace was appointed as a 2nd
Lt. in the Seventh Cavalry, and reported for duty to Laurens, South
Carolina where the Seventh was enforcing Martial Law.
For
the next four years, Wallace traveled the country and held various
posts in the Seventh Cavalry. In the summer of 1876, he found himself
at Ft. A Lincoln in the Dakota Territory as part of the Yellowstone
expedition. In 1874 Wallace accompanied Custer on an expedition that
discovered gold in the Black Hills, which were not only sacred to,
but also belonged to the Indians by treaty. The government wanted to
change the treaty to open up the area for mining, and many Indians
left the reservations in protest. The government declared that any
who did not return would be considered hostile. In 1876 a military
expedition led by General Alfred Terry, who is known from the second
battle of Ft. Fisher, was sent out to bring them back to the
reservations. Terry's plan was to have columns converging from
different directions on the suspected location of the Indians and
catch them in a pincer movement. Custer's column was to enter the
Little Bighorn valley from the south and move northward, or
downstream, along the river. Terry's column was enter the valley
from the north, where the Little Bighorn flows into the Yellowstone,
and proceed south. As Custer had the shorter route, he would have to
wait until Terry was in position. However, General Terry gave Custer
permission to engage the Indians if he felt he should.
2nd
Lt. George Daniel Wallace was normally assigned to Co. G, but on this
occasion, he was detached to General Custer as his acting Engineering
Officer. In this capacity, Wallace had the responsibility of
recording the details of the march; the start and stop times, the
distances traveled, the terrain, and weather, etc. This role
required Wallace to be near Custer's command. A proximity that
proved fatal to many. On June 22nd,
Custer held an officer's meeting in which his demeanor was different
than ever before. After the meeting, Wallace told Lt Godfrey that he
believed Custer was going to be killed. A few days later, Custer's
personal guidon was blown down. Once again, Wallace saw impending
doom.
When
Custer came down from the Crow's Nest, he divided his command into
smaller units. A decision that many of his critics claim was a fatal
mistake. Captain Benteen was given companies D, H, and K. Major
Reno was given companies M, A, and G, Wallace's usual company, and
Custer kept companies C, E, F, I, and L for himself. Captain
McDougall of B Co. had fallen asleep before the Officer's Call and
as punishment was assigned to bring up the rear with the pack train.
That nap was another serendipitous event that may have saved
McDougall's life. Benteen's battalion was sent on a scout to the
west. Custer wanted him to ride in that direction until he got to
the river and then turn north. Twice Custer sent out riders to tell
Benteen to keep going, even if he thought he had gone far enough.
However, from his perch on the Crow's nest, Custer's view was blocked
by some hills, and he could not see that the river made a sharp bend
to the west. To carry out his order, Benteen would have to travel
some fourteen miles over broken ground to reach the river. Benteen
eventually decided he was on a fool's errand and returned on a
diagonal to rejoin Custer's trail ahead of the pack train. Had he
not returned when he did, the loss of life would have been greater.
Had he returned sooner, it might have been less.
The
Custer and Reno Battalions rode together toward the north. The river
was winding to the northeast on their left. When they reached a
point on the trail now known as the Lone Tepee, Custer sent Reno
ahead and to the left. The two columns were riding parallel to each
other some 300 yards apart. Lt Varnum, Wallace's roommate from West
Point, was in charge of the Indian Scouts that day. He returned from
a scout and rode up to Custer to give his report. Varnum asked
Custer where Reno was going and Custer told him to begin the attack.
As Varnum started to ride off to catch up with Reno, he turned to his
old friend Wallace and calling him by his nick name, said, “Hey
Nick! Why don't you come ride with the real fighting men instead of
those old coffee coolers.” (Army slang for loafers.) Custer got
the joke and shook his fist in mock anger at Varnum. He then told
Wallace to go join his friend if he wanted to. Varnum later quipped
that Wallace was the only man in the history of the U.S Army who had
his life saved by a joke. Reno would later testify that Wallace rode
up to his left laughing and joking that he was coming along as a
volunteer aide. A short while later, Custer's Adjunct, Lt. Cooke,
rode over to Reno and gave him the order to cross the river and
attack the village from the south. Cooke added that Reno would have
the support of the entire outfit. However, he did not specify how
that support was to come. Reno took his men to the river where they
stopped for a few minutes to water their horses and cinch up their
saddles. They counted off in fours with number four being the
designated horse holder when the soldiers dismounted to fight. They
then spread out in a charge formation and began galloping up the
valley toward the village some three miles away. Each man was armed
with a single shot breech action carbine and a revolver with one
empty chamber under the hammer. They had one hundred rounds of
carbine ammunition and 24 rounds of pistol ammunition divided between
their cartridge belts and saddle bags. Custer had had them leave
their sabers back at Ft. Lincoln as they made too much noise. As
Reno's Battalion charged up the valley, Reno saw a large number of
Indians coming out to meet them. Twice he sent a messenger back to
Custer to inform him of this. Custer did not acknowledge the
messages. Instead, he continued to follow the trail up the east side
of the river.
As
they got closer to the village, Reno saw a large number of Indians
riding back and forth in front of him. They were kicking up dust to
obscure the village behind them. He also noticed Indians
disappearing into a swale that was in his path. Reno was afraid that
he was riding into a trap so he had his men dismount and form a
skirmish line. A decision that his critics claim cost Custer his
life. The right end of the line was up against a wooded area that
ran down to the river and the left was up against a little hill.
Every fourth man stayed mounted, took the reins of the other three
horses, and rode into the woods. This removed the horses, and the
ammunition in their saddle bags, from the soldiers on the line. The
Indians in front of the line kept riding back and forth, just out of
range, and they would occasionally feint a charge toward the
soldiers. These actions prevented the soldiers from seeing clearly
the full extent of the village, but more importantly it kept them
firing ineffectively. This used up the precious little ammunition
they had on their belts and it caused their carbines to get hot. The
Indians knew that when the carbines got hot, they began to jam.
A
group of Indians came out of the village and riding out of range to
the left, began to circle in behind the skirmish line. The left end
of the line pivoted around to guard against this threat and soon the
soldiers were fighting back to back. Reno then ordered all the men
into the woods. While in the woods, Reno's men remained under attack
from rifles, arrows, and smoke from the fires the Indians were
setting to burn them out. Some of Custer's men, perhaps his scouts,
were visible up on the bluffs on the other side of the river cheering
Reno's men on. If Reno was expecting the full support of the Custer,
so far this was as much as he had seen.
As
Reno's battalion was engaged on the valley floor, Custer's battalion
continued up the bluffs on the east side of the river. Custer
started to realize the enormity of the village and twice he sent
messengers back to find Benteen and the pack train with the extra
ammunition, and hurry them up. The first messenger was Sgt. Daniel
Kanipe of Marion, NC. The second was Giovanni Martini (John Martin)
an Italian Immigrant who spoke broken English. Lt. Cooke gave
Martini a note telling Benteen, “Big Village, Come quick! Bring
Packs, P.S. Bring Packs.” As these men rode back up the trail,
Reno's men were still engaged on the valley floor. Benteen's
battalion had just rejoined the trail and the pack train was still
some distance down the trail. As Martini handed Benteen the note,
Benteen pointed out that Martini's horse had been shot and had him
fall-in with Benteen's battalion.
Down
on the valley floor, an Indian scout standing next to Reno was shot
in the head spattering blood and gray matter on Reno's face. After
that, Reno became visibly shaken. He had the men mount, then
dismount, and then mount again. Reno later said that he realized
they could not stay in the woods and he ordered a charge back up the
river. Some say they heard an order to charge passed down the line.
Some say they never heard such an order, and still others say that
Reno just mumbled that anyone who wanted to live needed to follow him
out of the woods. What Reno called a charge, others called a retreat
and still others a rout. Wallace later said, “Now was the terrible
slaughter.” As the men left the woods, they were surrounded by
Indians and had to fight their way back to the river. They could not
make it as far as their original crossing. They entered the river at
a place where their horses had to jump ten to fifteen feet into the
water and then scramble up the other side taking hot fire all the
way. One account has Wallace bravely throwing a wounded man over his
saddle and getting him across the river, however Wallace himself does
not mention this. It does seem that Lt,s Wallace, Varnum, Hodgson
and McIntosh rode near the end of the column and tried to provide
covering fire as best as they could. Both Hodgson and McIntosh were
killed during this retreat.
Reno's
decision to leave the woods was another for which he would receive
much criticism as he lost a great many men in the flight. As they
scrambled up the bluffs, Reno thought that he had lost half his
command. Many were dead with Co. G, Wallace's company, taking the
heaviest losses. Still others were hiding in the woods waiting for a
better time make their escape.
As
Benteen's column moved up the trail, he saw the activity in front of
him. At first, he thought the Indians were coming toward them and
the men drew their pistols to prepare for a fight, but then Benteen
realized that it was Reno's bloodied battalion in front of him.
Reno's men were scrambling up the bluffs, trying to establish a
defensive position, and still taking fire. When Benteen left for his
scout to the left, Reno and Custer were together. Now, he had a note
from Custer's Adjunct to come forward with the ammunition, and he
found Reno's men on the hill. Wondering what happened, he asked Reno
where Custer was and Reno just pointed to the north. Benteen showed
Reno the note and Reno, who was Benteen's superior, implored Benteen
to stay and help him. Benteen did, and this was a decision for which
both of them would later be criticized. Benteen's men shared their
ammunition with Reno's men, and helped set up a perimeter. The
Indians who had been pursuing Reno started to withdraw, heading north
on the valley floor to meet Custer's threat at the other end of the
village. The pack train arrived and the men opened the spare
ammunition. Some of the men were anxious to ride further north and
find Custer. Captain Weir eventually took his company and struck out
on his own. The other companies assumed they were moving out and
began to follow. Reno sent a messenger ordering Weir to establish
communications with Custer, but Weir only got as far as the point
that now bears his name. There he could see a great deal of activity
a few miles ahead. Indians were riding around, making dust, and
firing into the ground. It is likely that Weir was witnessing the
aftermath of Custer's defeat. The Indians saw Weir on the point and
began to ride toward him, and Weir's company as well as all those who
had followed made a hasty retreat back to where Reno's men had
scrambled up the hill.
Benteen
ordered Wallace to take Co. G and begin to form a defensive line.
Wallace replied that he could only find three men from Co. G.
Benteen then told Wallace to get started and he would send him more
men. The Indians, who had already finished off Custer, soon arrived
and for the next 36 hours, Lt. Wallace and the remnants of the
Seventh Cavalry remained under siege. Wallace later said that the
bullets were as thick as hail. At times, the Indians were so close
to the line that they could touch the soldiers with their coup
sticks. Several times, Benteen had the soldiers charge out of their
defensive positions to drive the Indians back from the line.
During
this time, the men wondered where Custer was. Some assumed he had
been driven from the field and went north to join up with Terry's
column. Others assumed that he would soon come to their rescue.
None imagined the terrible fate that had befallen him and the 200 men
who rode with him.
Eventually,
the Indians broke off the siege and began dismantling the village and
leaving. The men on Reno hill feared it a trick and assumed the
warriors would be back to launch a big attack. Then the men noticed
clouds of dust to the north. Terry's column was approaching and
surely, Custer would be with him. Major Reno sent Lt.s Wallace and
Hare out to meet General Terry and tell him what happened. It was
Terry who informed Wallace of the fate of Custer and five companies
of the SeventhCavalry.
The
dead had been stripped of their clothing and their comrades had to
identify each man. Their names were written on a slip of paper that
was inserted into a spent shell casing and placed under a wooden
marker over the shallow graves. When it came time to bury Custer.
It was Lt. Wallace who supervised the burial and who wrote Custer's
name on the paper. In a few days, Wallace would turn 27 and find
himself acting as the Adjunct for the regiment replacing Lt. Cooke,
the man who gave Reno the order to charge. The man who had written
Benteen to come quick.
The
dust had not yet settled on the battlefield when the controversy and
conspiracy theories began to take shape. Custer and five companies
had been lost and surely someone was to blame. Lt. Wallace, by
virtue of the facts that he was there, he survived, and he later
testified at The Reno Court of Inquiry was naturally swept up in the
controversy.
More
has been written about the Battle of the Little Big Horn than any
other military engagement. Unfortunately, much of it is just
speculation, and the bulk of it takes one side or the other in the
controversy. Each side tends to select information that supports its
position while avoiding the information that does not. Therefore,
everything we read has to be viewed with knowledge that it is most
likely biased and must be verified. The controversy simply comes
down to this. There are those who believe that Custer's death was
due to the failure, perhaps betrayal, of his subordinates Reno and
Benteen, and there are those, including President Grant, who believe
that Custer brought about his own demise through a combination of
over aggressiveness and mistakes. The two sides have since become
entrenched. Instead of looking for a truth that may lie somewhere in
the middle, each side tends to view the other as being, at best,
misinformed and at worst liars who are part of a vast conspiracy, and
this is where Lt. Wallace gets dragged into the controversy.
Reno
grew tired of the attacks on his character and asked the Army to
convene a Court of Inquiry to investigate his behavior and to
hopefully clear his name. Custer's supporters hoped that it was
Custer who would be cleared and Reno would be referred for a Court
Martial. The Inquiry was held in Chicago in 1879. One of Custer's
biographers was present and even gave the Court the questions he
would like to see Reno and the others answer, questions he was sure
would expose Reno and Benteen's failures. However, the Court of
Inquiry did not exonerate Custer. Wallace's testimony largely
supported Reno, and therefore, Wallace came under attack by Custer's
supporters. Some have gone as far as accusing Wallace of perjuring
himself to protect Reno who promoted him to the position of Adjutant
of the Regiment.
If
we go back to the events at the Lone Tepee, we will find several
different versions of those events given by different persons and at
different times. Both Wallace and Reno testified under oath that
Wallace was with Reno when Lt. Cooke came over and gave Reno the
command to charge the village. Varnum stated that he came back from
a scout, rode up to Custer to make his report, noticed Reno riding
ahead, asked Custer where they were going, Custer replied to begin
the attack, and that is when Varnum called over, jokingly, to Wallace
to come with them. Those who wish Wallace's testimony to be wrong
point out this apparent discrepancy over where Wallace was when the
command to attack was given as either an error or a lie on Wallace's
part, and therefore the rest of what he said should be dismissed.
However, there are still other versions that say that Reno was told
to ride ahead and Custer would catch up to him. It is possible then
that all three versions are accurate when viewed from different times
and different positions on the field. First, Reno is told to ride
ahead, then Varnum comes along and is told that Reno is going to
begin the attack. Varnum and Wallace then ride over to Reno's
battalion, which was riding some 300 yards away, then Lt. Cooke rode
over with the formal command to attack. What some see as fraud and
conspiracy, others see as bending the facts to suit an agenda.
There
are so many different accounts of the battle written at different
times and for different purposes that it is likely that we will never
know exactly what happened. Some accounts were written soon after
the battle, and some many years later. Some were in formal
reports, others in informal letters to friends, some written by news
men and authors trying to sell papers and books, and some were given
under oath at the Court of Inquiry. This makes it easy to take any
given point, find something that seems counter to it, and then
dismiss it to suit any particular agenda. The attacks on Wallace's
truthfulness and integrity must be understood in this context.
Both
Wallace and Varnum remained in the Seventh Cavalry and over the
years they both progressed to the rank of captain. On December 29,
1890 the two men rode into another Indian village and this time even
Varnum's humor could not save his old friend. Captain George Daniel
Wallace was the only officer killed at Wounded Knee that day.
Wallace's
brother Robert went out to Ft. Riley Kansas to accompany the body
home to Yorkville for burial. The train arrived at the depot in
Yorkville at 11pm. An honor guard provided by the Jenkins Rifles
escorted it to the church and stood watch over it all night. At 11
AM the next day, Yorkville, the town that once shunned the Wallace
family, closed down to attend the service and mourn Captain Wallace.
His body was then taken to section B of the Yorkville, now Rose Hill,
Cemetery where the Jenkins Rifles fired a salute as their fallen
brother was laid to rest and the earthy journey of George Daniel
Wallace from Yorkville to Little Big Horn and back came to an end.
There
is so much information, misinformation, and disinformation about the
Battle of the Little Big Horn that it is likely that we will never
know exactly what happened, and the controversy will go on for many
years to come. There are a few facts, however, that no one can deny.
A large number of soldiers rode into the valley that day.
Significantly fewer rode out. George Daniel Wallace of York, South
Carolina did both.
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| Also known as the Yorkville Cemetery. Located in York, SC |
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| Wallace Family Plot. L to R, Father Alexander Stuart, George Daniel, Robert McCaslan |
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| Capt. George Daniel Monument Front |
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| Capt. George Daniel Monument Rear |
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