User blog:LB&SCR/Well, that went well: George Custer vs. Frederic Thesiger



















Well, that went well didn't it? You, in all your confidence, went and blundered into some group of natives that you had severely underestimated, and you went and got yourselves killed, well, most of you at least. Anyway, in the Red, White, Blue, and American corner we have George Custer, the Lieutenant Colonel (formerly Brevet General) probably best known for his complete defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn, which completely overshadowed all of his past successes. He will face Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, the man given blame for the British defeat at Isandlwana, when his centre column was completely overrun by Zulu Warriors, which allowed the Zulu to make a beeline towards the British Camp. When sabers are drawn, rifles leveled, orders issued, and bullets fired, which military commander will result in being victorious!?

George Custer












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<p style="font-weight:normal;">George Armstrong Custer was an United States calvary commander during the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. He was student at West Point, were he graduated last in his class in 1861. Then, it was straight to the battlefields of the Civil War, where he participated in, but not limited to: First Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, the Gettysburg Campaign, Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign. He developed his strong reputation beginning in the Peninsula Campaign, where when the General in command stopped at a river, afraid to cross it due not knowing the depth. Custer charged out to the middle of the river, stopped, turned around in the saddle and yelled "That's how deep it is, Mr. General!" With that, he was allowed to lead in an successful attack of 4 Companies of Calvary across the river, capturing 50 prisoners and the first Confederate Battle Flag of the War. This began his obsession with publicity. He learned to be an aggressive commander who would take personal risks leading charges from the front. His fame continued to grow, as during Gettysburg, he and his calvary bravely fought off General J.E.B. Stuart's Calvary in brutal hand-to-hand fighting. Performing aptly in all the battles he took part in, he really rose during the battle of Appomattox, in which Custer and his men stood blocking the way of General Lee's Retreat. He recieved the first flag of truce from the force. He was present when General Lee signed the surrender documents, and when that was over, the table on which the surrender was signed was given to Custer as a present for Custer's wife.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">His service life was fairly uneventful during reconstruction, but he was back in action during the American Indian Wars, being placed in charge of the newly formed 7th Calvary Regiment. He damaged his reputation during the Traders Post Scandal, in which the American Indians were being sold equipment superior to that of the US Army, and he openly accused President Grant's brother of playing a hand in the corruption. President Grant was so infuriated that he stripped Custer of his command and had him arrested. He managed to convince grant that though he wasn't in command, that he should at least let him finish the Sioux Campaign, and Grant Relented. Soon came Little Bighorn, and Custer divided his forces into three groups: One would attack from the south, one would attack from the south and east, and Custer would attack from the North. The attack from the south stalled 600 yards from the indian camp, where the cavalry dismounted and where attacked and run down by Indian Cavalry, so they turned tail and ran. The South and East attackers were nowhere to be seen, leaving Custer all by himself. With now all the Indian forces against him, Custer retreated to the top of a ridge, where he and his remaining 40 calvarymen made their famous last stand. The rest, is history.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Though due to the defeat at Little Bighorn he is portrayed as incompetent and not very bright, in truth while extremely arrogant and vain, Custer was an extremely skilled leader. While at Little Bighorn he made bad decision of splitting his forces (not considered a bad idea for the time), fingers point away from it being Custer's fault. The Gatling Guns he had been offered were unwieldy and cumbersome for the terrain of the battle, so he refused them, preferring speed. Another reason is that the Indians (for once) had superior technology, armed completely with repeating rifles while the Cavalry were armed with single-shot breach-loaders.

Weapons
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<p style="font-weight:normal;">|-| Rifle =

<p style="font-weight:normal;">1873 Springfield 'Trapdoor' Carbine

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<p style="font-weight:normal;"> <p style="font-weight:normal;">|-| Revolver =
 * Cartridge: .45-70-405
 * Rate of Fire: 15 rpm
 * Muzzle Velocity: 1,350 ft/s
 * Feed System: Single-shot breechloader
 * (Couldn't find weight... or firing range, so since I like providing the same info on everything, Mr. Thesiger's rifle will only have cartridge, RoF, Muzzle Velocity, and Feed System)

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Colt Single Action Army

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<p style="font-weight:normal;"> <p style="font-weight:normal;">|-| Melee =
 * Weight: 2.3 lbs
 * Cartridge: .45 Colt
 * Feed System: 6-round cylinder
 * Single-Action

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Model 1860 Light Saber

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 * Blade Length: 35 in
 * Single Edge

Frederic Thesiger
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<p style="font-weight:normal;">Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford was a British Army officer best known for his commanding role during the Anglo-Zulu War. Wanting to join the army out of college, he tried and failed to join the Grenedier Guards, and not being detered, he went and bought himself a commission in the The Rifle Brigade (former 95th Rifles) before finally transferring to the Grenedier Guards. In the Crimean War he served two months with his battallion before becoming the aid-de-camp of General Marksham, and then finally as deputy assistant quartermaster general. in 1857 he was promoted to captain and then Lieutenant Colonel, serving near the end of the Indian Rebellions, were for a second time he was 'mentioned-in-dispatches' and then served as deputy adjustant general in the British Expedition to Abysinnia, receiving the Companion of the Order of Bath and being made the aid-de-camp of Queen Victoria in 1868. Then, form 1869-1874 as Adjustant-General, India.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Made a Major General in 1877, he brought the Ninth Cape Frontier war to an end, and it was his experience fighting the Xhosa that gave him the very low opinion of black africans not being capable fighters, something that would come to haunt him. After a friend of his 'engineered' a war against the Zulu, Thesiger and his forces marched towards Isandlwana in a Three Column formation. The Zulus went and overran the center column, rendering the British Army stunned and temporarily ineffective by dividing their forces in half, which allowed the Zulus to continuing rolling on and over the army camp. The Battle of Isandlwana resulted in the worst defeat defeat of a British Army by technologically inferior indigenous force. At that point, the crown decided to relieve him of command, and he was to be replaced in a week. Not wanting to have to leave, in that week, Thesiger wanted to strike the town of Ulundi to regain his reputation. His troops beat back charge after charge made by the Zulus, and after a hard bit of fighting, broke the back of the Zulus. He then ordered Ulundi burnt to the ground.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He suffered a seizure and died in 1905 while playing a game of billiards.

Weapons
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<p style="font-weight:normal;">|-| Rifle =

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Martini-Henry *Cartridge: .57/450 Martini-Henry
 * Rate of Fire: 13 rpm
 * Muzzle Velocity: 1,300 ft/s
 * Feed System: Single-shot breech-loader
 * -| Revolver =

Beaumont-Adams Revolver




 * Weight: 2.4 lbs
 * Cartridge: .442 Bore
 * Feed System: 6-round Cylinder
 * Double-Action
 * -| Melee =

1845 Pattern Infantry Officer's Sword




 * Blade Length: 31 in
 * Single Edge

X-Factors
With the American Civil War being the bloody conflict that it was, and the parts that Custer played, also adding in his importance and roll in the American Indian Wars give George Custer his high numbers, as he had his leading from the front style of leadership. That however, is trumped by Thesiger's 61 years of military experience. However, Thesiger's numbers are brought down by the last 23 years or so of his career being all in honoray or non-combat positions. His numbers also go down that several years of his experience are in other non-combat positions. However, his combat experience still goes over that of Custer.

Frederic Thesiger, as experienced as he was, made a major blunder at Isanadlwana. Early on, the Zulu forces were able to sneak behind him and attack his forces. He marched out in the open, alerting the Zulu early on to his presence and allowing them time to organize and strike him when he wasn't expecting it. Meanwhile, George Custer believe strongly in very meticulous scouting, wanting to know everything about the battlefield he could. However, he was given very erroronious reports by his scouts, giving him lower enemy numbers that what were really there, and also telling him that the warriors were away, and that the camp he was attacking was only women, children, and elderly.

Both George Custer and Frederic Thesiger were more then willing to destroy any natives that got into their way. Frederic Thesiger, after his victory at Ulundi, went on to burn the city to the ground. Meanwhile, George Custer planned on taking the settlement and using it's children, women, and elderly as meatshields and hostages, as he knew the Native Americans highly valued their women, children, and elderly.

Frederic Thesiger was pretty courageous for blindly charging towards where he thought he Zulus were at Isandlwana, but his blind charge let to his center column being overrun, and that extended his caution a bit when he went to attack at Ulundi, though his want to rebuild his reputation brings his adaucity back up again. George Custer is known for his headstrong attitude and for believing that he and his 7th Calvary could handle any challenge thrown at them (that's why he said he'd only use the 7th in the assault on the Indians, and not take anyone else).

TBC....!!!