Canadian Medal of  

          Honor.com

  • Sunday evening's blogs
  • graves, memorials and medals
  • About the Author
  • contact the Author
  • Home
latest blog

Joseph's Last Battle

12/18/2012

0 Comments

 

Picture
How many times have we all heard that when you go looking for trouble, you are most likely to find it?

Lets step back a few years... actually  a lot more and go back to 1868. It was in that year that the US government came to an agreement with the natives with the Fort Laramie Treaty. In this, the Lakota Indians were promised that everyone would leave them alone on a large chunk of land that would become known as the Great Sioux Reservation.

The natives agrees...sort of.  Then along came the US Cavalry's  Custer who was sent into that territory looking for gold. When it was found the white man gravitated to the area in large numbers in search of fortunes. This of course violated the Treaty but the white man looked the other way,

Government then ordered the natives to move away from the more prosperous areas of their treaty lands and ordered to relocate to a selected area that was less suitable to their needs. They were given until the summer of 1876 to make the move. Failure to comply meant they would be treated as hostile and rounded up by force and escorted to these lands.

Hostilities would soon break out when the white man found them doing buffalo hunts  and gathering in very large numbers. Push would soon come to shove and  eventually  the army would pit about 1500 against 1500 natives in the Battle of Rosebud in  Montana. It would become  the largest encounter on record. In a 6 hour battle the military would lose about 50 to wounds and death but the natives only lost half that amount.  Not including the 150 dead horses.  The natives were pushed back several  miles. The soldiers had almost exhausted their supplies and had expended over 25,000 rounds of ammunition. They were also quite exhausted even before the battle having just finished a very long forced march. So their commanders decided to back off, return to their base and resupply.  Weeks later many of the same natives were in battle again. History would record this as the Battle of Little Big Horn. 

In the earlier battle Joseph Robinson, from Montreal Canada, (pictured above) serving as a First Sergeant with the 3rd US Cavalry would earn his Medal of Honor. While information is difficult to locate it seems that during a portion of the battle the horses were kept back. At a critical point in the battle he would play a strategic role  in having them brought forth, and controlling the line that would lead to turning the tide in the battle.

Research  is incomplete but it appears that Robinson served from 1866 until 1893 in the 3rd US Cavalry then remained in the Leavenworth area and fought his last battle... for a breath of air...95 years ago today..on 18 Dec 1917. He is buried at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Kansas along with other 3rd Cavalry colleagues, some also having earned the Medal of Honor.

Bart











0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author;
    Bart Armstrong, C.D.,
    Recipient, Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers 

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly