Historical ADD

History is  seductive mistress.  She draws you in and leaves you craving more. For instance, I was doing some research yesterday. In the roster of the 7th Indiana Cavalry (Co. I) I found this name and statement:

F. Lt [First Lieutenant] Charles H Hare Shelbyville, IN. Mustered Sep 30, 1863. Dishonorably Dismissed Feb 28, 1865. as a marauder & etc.

I bet you could hear the screeching of my mental brakes. There is a story here. Just what did Charles H Hare of Shelbyville, IN do to be booted from the service? Marauding and etc? The history muse Clio just showed me some naked breasties. I have to have more.

Through the marvels of the internet I came across this Civil War era report:

JANUARY 26-FEBRUARY 11, 1865. -- Expedition from Memphis, Tenn. into Southeastern Arkansas and Northeastern Louisiana.



Report of Col. Embury D. Osband, Third U.S. Colored Cavalry, commanding expedition.


HDQRS. CAVALRY DIVISION, DEPT. OF MISSISSIPPI,


Memphis, Tenn., February 25, 1865

Buried deep in the report I found this statement:

...I submit herewith extract from [report of] Col. J. P. C. Shanks, commanding First Brigade, in reference to First Lieut. Charles H. Hare, Company I, Seventh Indiana Calvary:

On the evening of January 29, 1865, when in camp at Quindley, on Bayou Bartholomew, Private Hendrickson, of Company I, Seventh Indiana Calvary, presented him Lieut, Charles H. Hare, with a $20 gold piece, with the remark that he, Private Hendrickson made him, Lieutenant Hare, a present of it; and further, that or the evening of the 31st January, 1865, in camp at Furness, said Private Hendrickson delivered to Lieutenant Hare twenty pieces of gold coin of the value of $20 each, asking Lieutenant Hare to keep it for him. Lieutenant hare states that when camp was called the following morning he returned the twenty pieces of gold to Private Hendrickson and that Private Hendrickson left camp that morning before the column moved, and was the day captured (I have since learned killed). Lieutenant hare further states that he knew at the time he accepted the present of one piece of gold, and when he received on deposit the twenty pieces, that they had been gotten by Private Hendrickson on the expedition, and had been wrongfully obtained by him. Lieutenant Sloan, Company E. Seventh Indiana Cavalry, reports to me that he saw Lieutenant Hare in possession of twenty-one pieces of gold ($20 each) four days after Private Hendrickson was lost; and since his return from the expedition Lieutenant Hare had told Major Carpenter that he had the money after Hendrickson's capture, but that it was now lost. He has kept it so concealed as to be beyond recovery. I ask that first Lieut. Charles H. Hare, Company I, Seventh Indiana Cavalry, be dismissed the service dishonorably and without pay, and an accompanying order, that the order of dismissal be read in all the cavalry camps of the division.

I heartily approve and indorse the recommendation of the brigade commander considering that the interests of the service imperatively demand that an example should be made of any commissioned officer who so far degrades himself and the position he occupies as the countenance, in any manner whatever, pillaging or marauding... source

There you have it.  Further research teaches us that the 7th was part of Greirson's Raid through Mississippi. The events of this cavalry raid are depicted in John Wayne's Civil War film The Horse Soldiers.  I make a note to myself to refresh my memory on Grierson's Raid. I jump over to IMDB to read up on the Horse Soldiers.

Trying to find a little more detail of the 7th's campaign in Arkansas and Louisiana where Lt. Hare did his dirty deed, I found a compilation of the History of the Seventh Indiana. Chapter IX details the Louisiana campaign. reading the text you see why I have always said history is better than any novel.  Savor this excerpt:

...When the crossing was effected, the command pursued its march through a dreary, uninhabited country to Bastrop, Louisiana. From that place it marched north, crossed Bayou Bartholomew, and went to Hamburg, in Arkansas. Between these points the country was execrable. Human beings could not and did not inhabit it, except in an occasionally dry spot. It was given over by Nature, and Nature's God, for habitation,to frogs, lizzards, snakes and alligators. In such a country it was impossible to get subsistence for man or beast. Nearly all of the extra rations transported on the pack mules, were lost with those animals, as they sank out of sight in the mud and water of the swamps. The ammunition was lost in the same way. But that did not amount to anything as there was no enemy to use it on. It was pitiable to see the poor animals try to extricate themselves while they were all the time sinking deeper in the mire. They would cast appealing looks at the men and utter piteous groans... source

The narrative does not tell us about the perfididty of Lt. Hare, but it does tell a heart-wrenching tale of the refugee slaves that followed the regiment.

The soldiers had taken pity on a wench with a young babe, and placed her and the child on a mule. In crossing a muddy creek, the mule stumbled and threw the mother and child into the mud and water. The mother fell on the child and burried it beneath the water. Hastily rising, and lifting it up, she saw it choking and gasping, and after looking at it a moment, threw it back into the water, and exclaimed: Dah, go to yar Jesus, yar better off in his hands, than yah'r in mine," and abandoned it.

A soldier sprang into the water, but before he could recover it, it drowned. Source

See, we are diverted yet again! I have history ADD. Every novel fact or story sends me off into a new direction.

I never did find out what happened to disgraced Lt. Hare. I learned there was a Lt. Hare from Noblesville, IN who survived Little Big Horn.  (I bet some of you did not know that only about 1/2 of Custer's command was killed at "Custer's last stand".I forced myself to skip that entry.  I might find myself caught up with the later career of this Lt Hare and his classmates from West Point.

In the end, I did not finish looking up what I started searching on the intewrwebz to begin with; my ancestor who fought with the 7th Iowa Cavalry in the Civil War era. I might not ever solve the mystery of how a guy from Ohio, who lived in Missouri, enlisted in Iowa and served the war fighting Indians in Nebraska and Kansas, ended up in Central Indiana. There are just too many historical paths to cross without getting detoured.

Did I mention his wife (my great great grandmother) arrived on the Orphan Trains...