wildly popular Wild West Show.
By contrast, Mackenzie had an
exemplary service record (Custer had
been court marshaled), but little time
for the limelight. Due to his thrift with
words and unassuming demeanor,
little of his writing remains. His
reports were short and to the point:
“Went into the field. Killed Indians.”
And he had no champion, no
“Libbie” or Cody to promote him.
Though revered along the former
frontier and among superior officers
— General Sheridan, President Grant
and General Sherman believed
no other officer had done more to
facilitate the settlement of the Texas
frontier than Mackenzie — for a
time history seemed to go dim
on this disciplined leader who’d
accomplished so much. Wallace
and others collected threads of this
fascinating story and pieced together
biographies of the man, retrieving
Mackenzie’s name from the dustbins
of the past.
NOTE:
Admittedly, concerning Custer, the
above story presents only one side
of a multi-faceted man, focusing on
his shortcomings. By many accounts
Custer, known as the “Boy General”
during the Civil War (he was 23
when promoted to Brigadier General
of Volunteers), was an aggressive
officer unafraid of dashing into
the fray. He, too, received many
brevet promotions for outstanding
performance. But his obsession with
glory and fame is well-documented
and stands in stark contrast with
Mackenzie’s service attitude. Custer
is used here merely as a foil.
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DECEMBER 2016
Sources:
• Ranald Mackenzie on the Texas
Frontier, by Ernest Wallace, 1964, West
Texas Museum Association, Lubbock,
Texas
• Bad Hand: A Biography of General
Ranald S. Mackenzie, by Charles M.
Robinson III, 2005, State House Press
• Sagebrush Soldier: Private William Earl
Smith’s View of the Sioux War of 1876,
by Sherry L. Smith, 2001, University of
Oklahoma Press.
• Handbook of Texas Online
• www.bio.com
• www.history.com
• www.texanalivinghistory.org
• www.army.togetherweserved.com
• Other Internet sources
Sit in Comfort
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