Custer's 7th: Thomas Weir, HIS LIFE. The Man Who Tried to Save Custer I 

It does. I am always amazed when I am at the LBH how you can see Weir Point from nearly anywhere. And I can't help but imagine all the eyes of Custer's men rooted on it, seeing movement there, thinking their comrades will come at any minute. The whole battlefield is full of tragedy and beauty.

@user-jv8jl3rp2i oh yay!! He is my favorite member of the 7th Cavalry, if I must choose a favorite 😉 And the third installment, His Death, is one I am very proud of and worked quite hard on. Lots there that I have not seen others mention when they discuss the Little Bighorn, and it took a lot of digging on my part. Please let me know what you think!

I thought the same thing about the parents! And how I'd love to get to the bottom of the anonymous letter about he and Libbie too! Still so many unanswered questions...

Thank you!! Stay warm! We are heading to Ireland for the New Year to visit family and friends!

God Bless Scotland I'm Scottish and English mix so my Grandparents said.Greetings from Kansas

Thank you! A whole video on that NEXT UP!

I appreciate that so much. Thank you! 🙏

Ooohhh... thank you!!! So much to this Little Bighorn story, isn't there? I can go on forever!!!

I wish he could be reinterred at the National Cemetery at LBH 🙏 Thank you for the kind words! I'm still putting together Part II which delves into what you point out above...

Thank you! Best comment to read just before going to sleep here in Cyprus! Cheers 🎉 😴

Thank you so much! A warm and happy holiday to you too! 🙏🌟

Thank you!!!

Benteen hated Custer benteen betrayed Custer and that's a fact

You are wonderful, Hugo. Thank you!!

I will, thank you!

Yay thank you!

Yes!! That's a fantastic idea!! As I'm sure you know, Patrick, Custer did not like this ability denigrated as mere luck rather than a skill he had honed. Thank you!!

What wonderful feedback! Thank you!

Thank you for the kind words! I love the small, personal details myself in order to always remember the human side within the larger conflict 🙏

James, what a lovely message! Thank you so very much. I enjoy putting these videos together, but getting a comment like that makes my week 🙏🎉 I'm working on Myles Keogh now and hope to have it up by Saint Patrick's day!

Thank you! I better get cracking! 😉

I will! Thank you!! 🎉🙏🎉

I'm loving you catching up too! 🎉🎉🎉 Thank you for the kind words!

Thank you!

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such an upbeat message, John! 🙏

Thank you so very much!

Thank you!

Thank you so much!! You just put a big smile on my face 🤗

@@SiobhanFallon7 You’re welcome! Your passionate work is appreciated by so many people. Would you consider doing a video about Lt Donald McIntosh in the future?

Thank you for the kind message!!

That is so lovely to hear! Thank you! Looking forward to your future comments. Merry Christmas 🎄🎁🎄

Thank you! Again if you want to discuss anything off line, send me an email at siobhan@siobhanfallon.com and I can tell you where I got info etc. I have so much respect for Weir.

@@SiobhanFallon7 what about benteen and Reno one of them betrayed Custer it was benteen benteen hated Custer

@@Dorian-wf1iv keep watching! I touch on those topics in Part II and Part III!!

Oh! I have heard so much about Frank Mercantante from Bruce Liddic! It is such an amazing photo, with the individual personalities shining through. So human and full of bright life.

@@SiobhanFallon7 Yes, Frank was VERY impressed.

Thank you!! I appreciate you making your way thru them! 🤣 I try to create about two a month so you don't have to rush too much 😉

If you are looking for one easy to find book (I got my copy for a couple of dollars at Thrift Books) that has it all, Donovan's Terrible Glory is full of anedotes and stories that bring these people to life in a way documentaries or quick history summaries ever do. But in my most recent research for the Tom Weir vid you commented on, I learned that during the huge and very public buffalo hunt, with dignitaries and reporters all there for a good time, Custer ended the hunt days early after an enlisted man accidently shot and killed his favorite hound, Maida. Custer was despondent on the death of his dog and wrote about how terrible the loss was. This was not a ruthless killer. He was a man who let his dogs sleep in his bed, even when his wife Libbie complained. He took the thorns out of their paws and tended their wounds after hunts. He had a pet mouse who lived in the ink well of his desk. He tried to teach servant/ laundress children how to read. When he was stationed in Austin right after the Civil War, they camped near a blind asylum and he would take one of the young girls for horseback rides. Before the 1876 campaign, Sioux came to Lincoln saying they were hungry and he tried to organize a way to feed them even though the government refused to give him the funds. Custer loved his mom and wrote her letters all the time. He came from nothing and as a young officer was the sole support of his mother and father and brothers. No wonder he needed to succeed-- his parents desperately depended on him. Speaking of his as a young officer, there are so many stories of him and his West Point friends who happened to be Confederates, and they treated each other with dignity. I am hoping to do a video on Ramseur soon, as well as Tom Rosser. (I am disappointed with West Point for trying to remove Reconciliation Plaza at West Point, that honors those sorts of moments between Blue and Grey.) All of the men (and women) have stories like this, on both side of the Seventh divide (on both side of any divide). Benteen who lost four out of five children before the age of two. Weir with his heart breaks. I could go on and on (and I do!!!). They are all so flawed and painfully human. Thank you for the lovely and insightful comments. I'm so happy my videos are resonating with you and perhaps impacting how you see this fight. I appreciate you reaching out. Thanks again and all best to you with your videos as well!

Sgt. White diary printed pages after his death in the Camp Notes of BYU. That is the most accurate item I have read. Then follow it up with Gerards's response in the Bismarck Tribune after his testimony was skewed at the RCOI (thinking it was Gerard and not Herendeen although both of them and DeRudio got a beating by the defense. Things usually left unsaid. Dr Porter who could testify as he wished as he was a contract surgeon. These men were showing that it was the Government that helped the reputation of the men perish at the LBH. I also like Thompson and Korn and Curley. Their testimony lines up if you understand it.

Always thought that. After his fight, he completely checked out, did nothing. At the very least, sent his Indian scouts to inform Custer and the Montana column of location and strength of the Indian force. They courtmartialed the wrong person

Crook got a pass. He was fishing when the fighting was going on. Reference the poem. I wish I was a packer and travelled with General Crook, but he had scrapped with the Sioux and avoided a similar ambush and was waiting for resupplies. If Reno had scouted as told to ensure where the Sioux were not it is possible he would have came across Crook. Instead Reno went where the trail was hot and where the village was expected. Everyone, terry gibbons and Custer chastised Reno for this. If that did not play into the entire thing as much as any other gear in the transmission. I'd like to be a packer And pack with George F. Crook And dressed up in my canvas suite. And be for him mistook. I'd braid my beard in two long tails, And idle all the day In whittling sticks and wondering What the New York papers say. -Downey, Indian Fighting Army

I get very frustrated with those videos myself and usually have to turn them off after a few minutes too. Which was part of my motivation for doing a series. There is so much to this story and fight that gets missed, and of course those are the bits I love best 💕 Thank so much for watching and taking the time to send some positive energy my way!!

@@SiobhanFallon7 You are welcome keep up the fantastic work.

Doctor Porter!! I'd love to talk about him sometime!

@@SiobhanFallon7 yes and dr dewolfe. That would be awesome

@@robertschultz6922 yes!!

Yes!!! All this will be in Part II! You know your stuff, Bruce 😉

@@SiobhanFallon7 Will you put in the video Weir's eyesight is not that good?

@@Tellgryn I've never heard or read anything about his eyesight. Did he wear glasses? Please share any info, I would love to include this detail! Thank you!

Thank you. I agree with you and that he may have had a romantic sensibility, and a bit of a broken heart

I will check... but you hit the nail on the head. At the time of Weir's imprisonment the Union was still doing prisoner exchanges so it's odd he was held so long. Though my friend Dale suggested perhaps Weir did not have family members to apply pressure for his earlier release.

And I'm not going any where! Still have my hair too 😉

Custer wrote some disparaging comments about Weir to Libbie-- I read a few excerpts in this video, but, yes, there are a few more. That was circa 1869. Afterwards, I find no mention of Weir in Custer's letters, though other spouses and officers continue to say fine things about Captain Weir. Weir was a hard drinker for a long time, and Custer did not drink. But Weir was good friends with Yates and Cooke, who were close friends of Custer too. And Weir continues to be in photos with the Custers. So my opinion is that he was still considered a member of the Custer social circle.

Yes I commented too soon lol about a min later you were talking about it 🤦‍♂️ And yes I agree, of course he was - they were probably good friends most of the time. A diary entry is a personal thought that no one would have known about, especially Weir. Also Custer may have just been in a bad mood and annoyed with Weir on the day he wrote it, but was fine again afterwards, who knows 🤷

@MrClean3381 all great points! And I think Custer may have been a tad jealous of Weir and Libbie's friendship.

I'll check it out! 🤣

Ha! Thanks for pointing that out

Freemasonry was extremely popular at the time and especially amongst military officers.

Ha ha thank you 😊

Wow. Weir has a very distinctive look. Do you know any of your ex's ancestors or where they came from? Maybe you can solve an abiding mystery for me... how do you pronounce your last name? Weir like "weird" but dropping the "d", or Weir like "wear" like wearing clothes? Thank you!!

@@SiobhanFallon7 My ex was born in Texas but his father was born in Ohio--not sure what town. My ex always said that Weir was pronounced like weird but drop the d.

@joyceweir7060 thank you!!

(Good point 😉 )

Enjoy your channel.@@SiobhanFallon7

Benteen wouldn't care.

@@michaelhart6318 Beenteen was a malicious gossip. The bad things said about Weir came from Benteen and his faction. As Fallon pointed out, Custer didn't feel that way at all.

@31terikennedy True, Teri. It's almost a shame that we have Benteen's letters and his judgement on so many people and events, as it's hard to differentiate his spite from the truth. Too many people take his words as gospel truth 🤷🏼‍♀️

At one time yes, not by 1876. Wier is on the outs with Custer as well due to what happened years before the Little Big Horn. Wier is still trying to get back in the inner circle in 1875-76. Custer going into the Battle of the little Big Horn has so many issues in the command, a house divided will likely fall.

Good question. During Custer's court martial Keogh was not. But he is in this photo as well as the later one on the Fort Lincoln Custer House stairs, so I think he ran with this set to some degree.

I am not familiar with a theory that Autie Reed died and was brought to Last Stand Hill? I have heard that there might have been a makeshift field hospital set up there with wounded, and Custer, even when realizing he was gravely outnumbered, would not abandon those wounded in order to retreat. Definitely a possibility that wounded were moved to that spot. And perhaps the dead may have been moved, esp if it was young Autie Reed and before the fight got really overwhelming. If you remember where you heard that interesting tid bit please let me know. I am curious! Thank you for watching and commenting!

I will try to find it to send . It makes sence . He had a chest wound . And possibly alive after this . And his brother was still alive gave him the mercy shot to the head . But in his being Custer the shot to the chest was in the front .

General George ( Audie ) Armstrong Custer .

I found other stories of days before research from other source : Storie of the old west ! Little Big horn

@Gene-kl1br thank you!! I'll check it out!

Hi! Did you find it?

I think you just click on the white oval/ word "Subscribe" under my video? Or at the end of the video, you can click on the round circle image of my face that pops up at the last few seconds. Thank you for trying and watching! 🙏

@@SiobhanFallon7 Age is a funny thing. I'm 70 and I can't see very well. You have caught me in a situation which I Find embarrassing. It's not there because I already subscribed. Pardon me for bothering you .

@barbaraanneneale3674 well that is great news! Thank you for subscribing! I have trouble figuring all these things out myself 😊

Personally, I think this is why Weir was being "huffy" and unpleasant to Custer during the end of that long Washita campaign, because he thought Custer was paying too much attention to Chief Little Rock's daughter, Meotzi/ Monasetah.

That's an interesting story. It is thought that the father of the girl, Mary Holland, he was romancing may have used his political connections to get Custer into West Point in order to separate the young lovers. Custer's dad was a Democrat and the party in power at the time were Rebublicans, and parties usually supported candidates of the same politics. Mary Holland's dad was a prominent Republican. I'll try to find the anecdote-- it's probably in Shirley Leckie's bio of Custer if you know it? Donovan's Terrible Glory might mention as well.

Yes, in Leckie's Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth page 23!

@@SiobhanFallon7 Awesome - thank you so much!!

@@SiobhanFallon7 The similarities between Weir and Custer are very interesting - maybe interesting to Libby Custer as well. It’s tragic what a battlefield trauma can do to such a bright, good looking, affable young man.

@jimmelino3361 yes!! Besides the drinking, I see many similarities too! The pranks and jokes and theatricals! Though Weir seems to have gravitated more toward literature, at least in his university days. Which he would have had in common with Libbie.

Thank you!

Edgerly shares your view, but also acknowledges that the military is honor-bound to other actions as well: “I most firmly and positively believe that we should have gone “to the sound of the firing” after Reno and Benteen united, and further I believe that if we had tried to join Custer at that time we would have shared his fate.”

"Mirror image"? What do you mean?

@@SiobhanFallon7 All of the writing behind you is all backwards, like looking in a mirror.

@Mr.56Goldtop ah yes! I get it. I filmed from my phone and am not clever enough to figure out how to flip things properly!! 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

@@SiobhanFallon7 You too!?

🤣🤣🤣

What does that mean??? 🤣

Well count me in also. We celebrated the birth of my first grandson by opening a 1932 bottle of 94 proof Scotch Wiskey and I was way over the hill. Great video again Siobhan, don't worry about the remark, the 3rd Armored Div was well oiled back in Germany, it got pretty boring out at a remote post Our army loves us out in the boonies no matter what century lol. 😊

@@johncanzoneri4771 🍻🥂😉

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment! 🙏

@@SiobhanFallon7 I liked to play cowboys and indians i was a kid in the 70`s so. I was always the grey soldier he he

You explaine to me please Why i was so wrong about Custer. So bad he went into this hell. His orders was to hold the place to help comes He did`t wait he wants to finish this him self

We can only see into the historie and maybe talk about it we cant do nothing moore this happend in year 1876 so long time ago

@torarauland7145 there's a dispute about his orders. If you read General Terry's official orders, there is nothing that tells Custer to wait for any kind of meeting with other US troops. And many 7th cavalry officers, including Godfrey and Edgerly and Garlington, say that Custer did exactly what a cavalry commander should have done in that situation, and that no seasoned commander would have waited and let the Indians scatter. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I have a whole playlist on the Battle of the Washita you might want to take a look at. I'll put the link below :) And there are segments within that look into the fate of Major Joel Elliott and the men who rode off with him. All of whom died, as I think you point out in your comment. Thanks for taking the time to leave a message here! ru-vid.com/group/PLHfg6vohewsz_5UUQNdUfwYvWa5jP_3Jn&si=O_EGfwK68zzJgIks

Thank you! I do need a microphone a better all around set up! Maybe in the new year... 🙏

When else were Custer's men massacred?

If Custer and his column ran, they would have lived. Benteen himself testified to this at the Reno Court of Inquiry, that the "better part of valor" that day would have been if Custer had retreated.

@@SiobhanFallon7 the only one who made a good charge was Reno if he hadn't lost his objective he may have lasted a little bit longer. But he was on the run also. It wouldn't have mattered how far Custer ran his horses were played out . But great work in some of your articles the natives know the truth on that day ..

@@user-sc4lc5ts2o Thanks so much for your insights and kind words. Hope to hear from you again!

Wouldn't use the word 'ran', but after George Custer's "Ruh Roh" epiphany, they did everything they could to flank around the charging warriors and rejoin the 7th soldiers to the south (Reno & Benteen). Unfortunately, the Cheyenne were the finest light cavalry in the world and herded Custer and his men to last stand hill.

@michaelhart6318 Yes! Michael, I think both Custer and Benteen said the Sioux and Cheyenne were the first cavalries in the word. I need to did those quotes up. Thanks for your insights!