Charley Reynolds Letter of Recommendation to be a Scout for Custer's Regiment, Plus Papers Related to Fort Abraham Lincoln, D

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Property of N. Flayderman & Co., Plus Selecte...

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Feb 21, 2017 - Feb 22, 2017

Set Reminder 2017-02-21 10:00:00 2017-02-22 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Property of N. Flayderman & Co., Plus Selected Additions https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/property-of-n-flayderman-co-plus-selected-additions-2104
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• Lot Description

  Lot of 6. Badger, William (1826-1897). Colonel in the United States Army. ALS as 1st Lieutenant of the 6th Infantry, 3 pp, no heading and no date. The letter is a rough draft of recommendation for Charles "Lonesome Charley" Reynolds to serve as a scout in Custer's regiment. Badger writes: 

  Charles Reynolds, the justly celebrated scout guide and hunter of the North West, a native of Kentucky and only about thirty years of age, deserves more than a passing notice, as he differs from most of such men by being a gentleman of good character, education, and manners. Although he has done many wonderful and daring acts... In many respects his last trip has never been equaled. He went with Gen. Custer on the Black Hills Expedition; and when, in among the Hills, in the center of hostile Indian Country...a bearer of his parties to Ft. Laramie was needed he volunteered to go alone...he was escorted by Gen. Custer and several companies to a point on the head waters of the South Fork of the Cheyenne....with a "God speed and protect you" from all....he started encumbered with only a little ford(?) bread for himself and grain for his horse, his rifle, [illegible] overcoat, the telegraph and mail dispatches, guided only by his pocket compass, and stars...

  Reynolds completed his mission after traveling hundreds of miles, avoiding a band of hostile Indians, and almost dying of thirst to deliver the dispatch announcing the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. Badger's final recommendation letter most likely helped secure him a position as a scout under Custer, whose decision to proceed at the Battle of Little Big Horn resulted in their deaths. 

  Reynolds, nicknamed "Lonesome Charley," was the unassuming man Badger described in the letter. He was given his nickname for his personality and his reputation as a drifter. He hunted buffalo from 1865 to 1868, then trapped and hunted from Fort Berthold, Dakota Territory, from 1868 to 1872. As a guide for Fort Abraham Lincoln and other posts, the quiet man served with huge Western personalities such as Buffalo Bill. Evidenced by the letter, his peers and superiors considered him one of the best guides and hunters in the Dakotas.

  According to legend, Reynolds had dire premonitions about the Battle of Little Big Horn and tried to dissuade Custer from attacking. A sober man, he uncharacteristically asked for a swig of whiskey from Fred Gerard the morning of the battle and distributed his personal belongings to the soldiers. Later that day, he was shot through the heart while assisting doctors in the field. His bones remained in mass grave on Last Stand Hill until he was reinterred by his family somewhere in Norris, MI. 

  Accompanied by 3 additional documents from William Badger, including: ALS as 1st Lieutenant of the 6th Infantry, 3 pp, "Fort Abraham Lincoln, DT." March 1, 1875. Addressed to the Chief Signal Officer. Badger leaves a written record of his returns and the returns of other soldiers in his regiment; ADS as 1st Lieutenant of the 6th Infantry, 6 pp, "Form No. 45 Supplementary Quarterly Return of Clothing, Camping, and Garrison Equipage. Standing Rock, Dakota Territory." September 30, 1876. Partially filled out; and ADS as 1st Lieutenant of the 6th Infantry, 2pp, "Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores. Standing Rock, DT." December 31, 1876. Records some of the equipment for the 4th quarter of the year at the fort. 

  William Badger attended Gilmanton Academy and Graduated from Dartmouth College in 1848. Badger worked in manufacturing and milling until the Civil War, when he enlisted in the army at age 35 as a captain of the 4th New Hampshire Infantry, Co. D. After the war, he became captain of the Gilmanton Artillery Company and a state recruiting officer with the 10th New Hampshire Militia. In 1866, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 6th US Infantry and became a quartermaster. During the height of the Indian Wars, Badger was stationed at Fort Buford and Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory, becoming its quartermaster when Custer's 7th Cavalry was stationed there. He was personally associated with General Custer, which explains why he wrote a letter of recommendation to him for Charley Reynolds. Badger remained with the 6th until he retired in 1889. He died in Massachusetts in 1897. 

  The lot also includes a 12.5 x 8 in. hand-drawn map of Post of Standing Rock most likely sketched ca 1870s; and 4.5 x 6.5 in. photograph identified on the reverse with a penciled inscription as Ropers(?) Rock- Showing first Union troops scaling the cliffs, Nov. 25, 1863. 

  
  
  Provenance: N. Flayderman and Co., Inc.

  Condition

  The letters and most documents are in good condition. The ordnance and ordnance store document does have some brittle folds as well as a few of the other documents. The photograph has penciled inscriptions on the reverse. 
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