peter thomson escape
For his valor at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Thompson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In that case, I told him, that he had better leave it as it would take us all our time to take care of ourselves. Being afraid that the Indian would escape, I worked at it in a desperate manner and finally got it out far enough to use my thumb nail, which proved affective. March 1, 2023. Crow scout Running Wolf described how "Custer went ahead to look for a trail for the wagons" in the Bad Lands, and both Daniel Kanipe and John Ryan described how Custer left his command and rode ahead with just Chief Trumpeter Henry Voss and a few scouts on the morning of June 25. He said he was sick. I first found a man by the name of Bennett [Pvt. When I reached the place of our defense, I found that the firing was not so brisk. On the top of the bluff just where we desired to go there were seated three Indians with their ponies but a short distance behind them. I made my way slowly over the small place in which we huddled together and was very pleased to see some of the men stretching canvas over the wounded and dying. The Indians seemed determined to exterminate us if possible. This, for a time, seemed to deter him for he laid down his gun and commenced work at his former occupation. So I turned around and called to Watson to run for it, and I went after him full speed, but kept my eye on the movement and seeing that they were making preparations to fire at us, I called out, "Stretch yourself, Watson." But I could not see any, and this puzzled me very much, but on looking down to the lower end of the bluffs I could see a body of men on horseback mounting slowly up the trail on top of the bluffs. The numbered items below are in chronological order, and correspond to the numbers on the "Peter Thompson at the Little Bighorn Map," shown above. Being in our present predicament, we were utterly powerless to help as we wished we could. 27 Feb 2023. The Indians while fighting remained mounted, the cavalry dismounted. We had been two hours and a half in our concealment in the bend of the river watching the fight between Custer and the Indians. [Note: this was clearly the slow part of the troop -- Sgt. I struggled to my feet and staggered after Watson. We managed to secret ourselves in a bend of the river, which turned like the letter S, and gave us running water on three sides of us. He escaped two times with a helicopter. Pictures are on Fotki.com. We looked to see if the horse was still there but there was no trace of it; no doubt it had passed into the hands of the Indians. We were becoming so tired that the presence of the Indians was no longer a terror to us. (360) 927-3234, Thompson was the last one to see Custer alive, gallop away a short distance to look around, a flat beside the river with a ford at the lower end, the Little Bighorn River ran hard against the bluffs, horsemen with Seventh Cavalry guidons climbing the bluffs above, Custer's Last Fight, The Experience of a Private in the Custer Massacre. John Fitzgerald], Brennan [Pvt. He added, "If they succeed, it will be a sad day with us.". At this juncture the dry grass caught on fire threatening the destruction of the village, but the squaws fearless as the braves themselves fought the fire and tore down the teepees which were in danger of burning. No doubt they were coming this way in order to enter the village by the ford. Watson was a short distance behind me and was keeping watch on the flat below. Harry Campbell for TIME. I gained the shelter of the ravine without a scratch and I was thankful. The supports that were used were short pieces of wood of any kind that we could procure without risk. Thompson was sentenced to death Oct. 28 and was being held in the county jail until he could be transferred to a prison in Livingston, about 75 miles to the northeast. But we ourselves were no better off. We were ever on the alert, but could see very little on account of the underbrush. The sun reflecting on the sand and gravel made it very hot. On looking around, I saw a white man and what I supposed to be a Crow Indian. Michael P. Madden] the wounded man I had just left, watched me with great interest. I found that the pillar was barely eighteen inches through; it was about seven feet high with a piece of rotten cottonwood on top. When I was handing his back to him I noticed that the three Indians had discovered us and were watching our every movement. I answered, "If you don't get off your horse at once, you will get shot." This caused me some surprise, as I knew he had lost a great deal of blood which is almost invariably followed by great thirst. Looking to see where the water was deepest, I made a few leaps which landed me in the water with a loud splash. I jumped to my feet and started off at once, hardly caring whether the Indians saw me or not, for the presence of the cavalry had put fresh courage into me. A s you've likely heard, the ocean's health is . George A. Finckle] of our company sitting calmly on his horse looking on and making no effort to help Watson in his difficulty. I now turned around and made my way to the place where my dead horse lay and stripped the saddle of everything, then went and made my bed behind my cracker box. And, the pop star's son Junior Andre, 17, took to Instagram on Monday, where he shared shirtless snap of the duo with just towels around their waists. On March 3, 1934, Dillinger escaped from the "escape-proof" (as it was dubbed by local authorities at the time) Crown Point, Indiana county jail, which was guarded by many police officers and national guardsmen. See Mysteries of the Little Bighorn for more info. After meeting Thompson and the Crow scout with the roped enemy squaw on the banks of the Little Bighorn -- and finding no better alternative crossing places -- the eye-witness record says Custer then returned to the ford at Medicine Tail Coulee in this scenario, tried to cross there, got shot by White Cow Bull, and died "in the water of the Little Bighorn." To say that we were astonished would faintly express our feelings. Our retreat was covered by Company D commanded by Capt. Look where we could, we saw Indians; we two on foot could not cope with scores of them on horseback. 5. Mr. Thomson brings a distinguished experience in diplomatic services and is familiar with the work of the United Nations, including as Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN and President of. When we looked into the village we could see the guidon fluttering in the breeze. The firing on the part of the Indians was very brisk at intervals. A white man capturing an enemy usually spares his life but if captured by hostile Indians, his days are numbered and he is known of men on earth no more. I began to make tracks once more in a lively manner, and in a short time reached the point I had started for. As I strolled around, I could see something of the horrors of our position. The horses were held back behind and inside of the circle of skirmishers. Some of them were so close to us that their fire was very affective. Palaiokostas once again escaped from prison by helicopter. At this point the trail was washed very badly on both sides as it descended towards the river. I asked him to attend to me when he had time to do so. The silence was suddenly broken by a loud command given by a hostile chief, which was followed by a terrific volley and a great many of our horses and mules passed over the range. Thompson was a genuine everyman sort of hero who was wounded in Benteen's desperate, do-or-die charge to clear the head of the ravine on the night of June 25, 1876. Both Watson and myself had failed to notice the trail made by the cavalry in making their efforts to reach the lower end of the village. We finally decided to go down the right bank of the stream and see if we could not get sight of Custer's command, and join our ranks where we were much needed. I knew I would have to act quickly if I was to save my life, so dismounting from my horse, which had carried me so many miles, I dashed down into the ravine toward the bushes; but the sudden flight of a flock of birds from that point caused me to turn aside and I made a bee line for the pillar of rocks above me. [Note: Custer apparently didn't like the looks of the ford at Medicine Tail Coulee (it required his men to cross four abreast) and so he quickly rode off for a quick "scout" while his men dismounted on the river bank, as White Shield and and Goes Ahead witnessed. Then it would almost die out until some more dead or wounded were brought in, this would put fresh vigor into their lungs. All routes to the river were cut off by the Indians. Peter Thompson was the father of Rick Malverne. The heat at this time seemed to be intense, but it might have been on account of my exhausted condition. Of course we all wondered at this but said nothing. He told me he had gone to the river for water and when he was coming up from the bed of the river with two kettles filled with water, a volley had been fired at him, one of the bullets hitting him and breaking his leg below the knee, the others riddling his kettles. But our men were still on the alert. The term was interrupted when Matt, taking advantage of a guard's mistake, slipped out of his cell, scaled a 9-foot brick and metal wall topped with razor wire and hopped a freight train to his brother's house in Tonawanda. There was no weak place unguarded, no ammunition was being wasted. We did not feel any way alarmed on their account for we felt able to cope with that number. In January 2001, three inmates escaped from Chicago State Penitentiary's H-Unit (Hi-Max). My next trip to the river was taken with more courage. Almost instantly my carbine was at my shoulder, aiming at them; but it was empty; while in the ranks or on horseback, I made it a practice to carry it empty. Watson still being some distance ahead of me. Peter graduated from their alma mater, General Assembly and is currently based in New York. Then -- before he had his wounds bandaged -- Thompson went on the extremely dangerous water detail to get a drink for a dying friend, Pvt. Peter Thomson has been covering the the environment for more than 20 years and signed on as The World's environment editor in 2008. [Note: Thompson did not overplay the dramatically dangerous nature of his situation after he was left behind by his Seventh Cavarly comrades. I wondered if any of the other members of Company C had been as unfortunate as myself. After Custer excused the scouts from further service, Goes Ahead said he and Hairy Moccasin and White Man Runs Him went together to the river on their own, and Sioux warrior White Cow Bull said he saw three Crows on the bluffs above Medicine Tail Coulee just before Cuter attacked the village. The best result we found for your search is Peter Thomson age 70s in Laconia, NH. But if we were not wounded in our bodies we were in our feelings. Najmrodzki was a famous robber and thief, known for escaping 29 times from the prison and the authorities. We knew if we did not do so we would be picked off one by one. "Back in Prison After Restful Sojourn Here". The heat of the day was oppressive and the guns of the Indians were silent and these facts brought a feeling of depression over us. They answered, "Yes." I was glad to see him safe, it gave me renewed courage, and we hoped that we would soon be entirely safe. After we had climbed nearly half way up the bluff, the Indians commenced to fire at us, but that did not trouble us, because we knew that the Indians when excited were very poor shots; and in our case the bullets went wide of the mark. I now heard the clatter of hoofs behind me. So we started, following the trail until we were entirely clear of the brush and then began to climb the face of the bluff in order to reach the trail on which we saw the cavalry were moving [Watson's concern was legitimate. It was a grand sight to see those men charging down upon the village of their enemies, who outnumbered them many times. So we began to map out a course by which we could join our command, where we felt we were so much needed. The officers hearing those bugles sound ordered our buglers to sound certain calls and waited to see if they would be answered. "Well," said he, "Who are those ahead of us?" I then looked across the river at the Indian Village, it was all in commotion. That being denied him, he asked permission to take his company and ascertain Custer's position; but he was refused that privilege. What I discovered was several Indians peering at us over the edge of the bluff; in all I counted eight and concluded that they were too many for us, especially with an uphill pull on our side. [Note: August De Voto and an Anonymous Sixth Infantry Sergeant also spoke of white men fighting on the Indians' side at the Little Bighorn. But on going back to the man and asking for it he seemed to be confused and stated that he had lost it. New York. They had undoubtedly been cut down by the Indians during some severe winter when the snow was very deep and the ponies had to live upon the bark, not being able to get the grass. We also know that Curley was there at the river too from what he described of the beginning of the Custer fight. With a long sweep of my kettle upstream I succeeded in getting plenty of sand and a little water. ", After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Thompson "participated in the Northern Cheyenne Campaigh 1878 Honorable Discharge 1880 Homesteaded Alzada, Montana 1890 Married September 21 1904 to Ruth Boicourt, two children, Susan and Peter Jr. While I was meditating on the meanness of human nature, I saw Capt. Two men came towards him dragging a piece of canvas with which they were going to construct a shelter for the steadily increasing numbers of wounded men. Eight inmates charged with violent crimes, Lance Battreal, Charles Smith, and Mark Booher escaped from a. If Peter Thompson's account of his experiences at the beginning of the Battle of the Little Bighorn was a treasure map, you could find the treasure with it -- it's that accurate and true to the actual landscape he's talking about. The plan we had mapped out for ourselves was to climb the right bank of the river and gain the trail of the cavalry and then, if possible, join our company. James Watson], and although composing one of the sets of fours that entered into action with Custer, not one of us ever reached the battlefield which proved fatal to Custer and his men. It was a foolish undertaking for, a short distance below us, the bluffs came close to the river and the water washing at the base for so long a time, had caused the bluff to cave in and for the distance of a hundred feet up was so steep that even a goat could not climb it. Actually, these aren't "impossible" either. The episode described by Thompson is fleeting, but because of it most conventional scholars of the battle have dismissed much or all of what Thompson had to say. There were numerous ravines leading into the one which we occupied. His being alone shows with what fearlessness he travelled about even in an enemy's country with hostiles all around him. He came to the same conclusion. We determined to ambush them if they attempted to pursue us. With few exceptions, the soldiers performed their duty with great bravery and determination. The Indians no doubt thought that they had finished him for two of them turned and disappeared in the village. Thomson is the U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy for the ocean. He suddenly turned aside from the trail as if he wished to avoid some threatening danger. The firing was continuous, I removed my hat so that I would not attract attention, and looked over the panorama, as it was spread out before me. But now they were beginning to recover themselves. By this time the Indians were pouring a shower of lead into us that was galling in the extreme. Benteen standing by my side. He had left his own in its place, but it was practically useless, the breech being broken. James Bennett] whom to know was to respect. By Peter Thomson. The cartridge was very dirty, a nice predicament for a man to be in when at close quarters with an enemy. Peter Thompson 96K views 3 years ago. Peter Thompson's Story of the Battle The unexpected bonus in Thompson's tale is that he may reveal what Curley was up to when he vanished just before the start of the Custer fight -- and why he was always evasive about what happened at the river. In his second escape from the prison, he escaped through a tunnel leading from the shower area to a home construction site 1.5km (0.93mi) away in a Santa Juanita neighborhood. While I was thus engaged and when Watson had forded to the middle of the stream, I heard the crack of three rifles which caused me to straighten up quickly and look around to see what the trouble was. Pausing for a moment I looked cautiously around the bend and there before me was running water, the Little Horn River, on the opposite side was a thick cover of cottonwood timber, the sight of which made me hesitate for a moment. Sentenced to life imprisonment as a fourth time offender, he was transferred to the Philadelphia County Prison. I gave them the other canteen and told them that if they should not require all the water that I would like it to be passed around to some other wounded ones lying close by, which was so done. It was utterly impossible to move our wounded, as we had no means at hand with which we could do so. I could see that the fight was well under way; hordes of savages had gained a footing on the right bank of the river and had driven the soldiers back a short distance. He was making his way towards a party Indians who were standing close to the river bank near a clump of underbrush. The commotion in the village had subsided; the signs of life were few; it appeared to me that it was deserted, so quiet and deathlike was the stillness. The canvas had to be stretched very close to the ground. On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat, both serving sentences for murder, "Puente Grande" Federal Center for Social Rehabilitation No. He soon bandaged up my wounds and told me the only thing that could be done was to apply plenty of water. The Astonisher.com Map (above) reveals how he escaped the fate of his comrades, told in the eye-witness accounts of Thompson himself, fellow Seventh Cavalry survivor, John McGuire, and an Anonymous Ree scout, possibly Half Yellow Face.. It does mention the hardships of the soldiers of the late Civil War, but it is nothing to campaigning against the Indians.