Walking The Ground

08/24/2026

Kinda chic to be into military history.

08/24/2026

What is a military history “hot take” that isn’t really that hot? The kind that makes you roll your eyes every time you see it.

Here’s a few to start with:

Lee would’ve won at Gettysburg if Stonewall Jackson was still alive.

That Napoleon Bonaparte suffered from a “small man” inferiority complex.

That all WW1 generals were heartless mass murderers.

Feel free to add others.

08/23/2026

1st Sergeant James Butler, Company L, 7th Cavalry, killed in action on June 25, 1876.

Butler was born in Albany, New York in 1842. He enlisted in the antebellum U. S. Army in 1860 and his first service was with the 2nd Cavalry in New Mexico. He joined Company L of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1870. In 1876, he was the company’s 1st sergeant, serving under Lieutenant James Calhoun.

Butler was killed at Little Bighorn (Greasy Grass), Montana on June 25, 1876. His body was discovered by a burial party 2-days later. He had not fallen on Calhoun Ridge with his comrades in Company L. His body was located to the east, on a trail overlooking Medicine Trail Coulee, on its own, some distance from the main battlefield.

We do not know why. It is speculated that Butler may have been dispatched by Calhoun to locate Benteen and guide forward reinforcements. Alternatively, as the defensive line on Calhoun Ridge collapsed, Butler simply rode for his life. We will never know.

What we do know is that his body was found scalped and mutilated. Under his body were numerous cartridge cases, indicating that Butler put up a fight before he died.

Butler was originally buried where he fell and this is where his memorial marker is located. In 1881, his remains were relocated to the mass grave on Last Stand Hill.

Butler left behind a wife, Mary, and two daughters.

08/22/2026

This sounds like a great idea!

08/10/2026

Caption this.

Caption this!

08/10/2026

Scenes from ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ — episode 1 of the BBC docudrama series The Wild West, first broadcast February 18, 2007.

Toby Stephens as Custer, Mo Brings Plenty as Crazy Horse, Michael Praed narrator.

🎥 You *may* find a copy streaming fresomewhere on the internet, or DVD copies are available.

08/10/2026

Ashishishe (Curly), Crow scout veteran of the Battle of Little Bighorn, photographed on the battlefield in 1913.

On the rear of the photograph is written in ink: “Curly, one of [George A. ] Custer's Indian scouts taken on Custer battlefield in 1913 by E. A. Brininstool. Curley died may 22, 1923."



📷 E. A. Brininstool, 1913, in the collection of the National Park Service, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, LIBI_00030_00694.

08/09/2026

500 tanks!

08/08/2026

The Battle of Amiens, the first phase of the Allied offensive known as the Hundred Days Campaign, began 8 August 1918.

Amiens 1918: The Black Day of the German Army (Campaign, 197)