Author Archives: Sam Russell

About Sam Russell

I am a fifth-generation retired Army officer with twenty-nine years of commissioned service. I have been researching the frontier Army for over eighteen years and am interested in documenting the lives of the soldiers that participated in the battle of Wounded Knee using primarily official reports, diaries, letters, newspaper articles and other primary source documents. My interest in Wounded Knee stems from my kinship to one of the principal participants. I am the great-great-grandson of Samuel M. Whitside, who was a major and battalion commander at the battle. I welcome and encourage comments on posts and pages and am always interested in any new primary sources. If you have copies of letters, diaries, etc, from participants and are willing to share, please contact me. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are strictly my own, and should in no way be construed as official Army or U.S. Government positons.

Private Walter R. Crickett, I Troop, 7th Cavalry—Campaign Letter


The man that stood next to me was shot down in the first discharge. I fired at the Indian at the same time but only struck him in the leg. He returned my fire and struck my revolver which knocked … Continue reading

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Private Harvey H. Thomas, I Troop 7th Cavalry—Wounded in Action


They fired two shots at me. One went through me, and the other struck on the top of my head and glanced off. At the beginning of December 1890, a troop’s worth of recruits were transferred from Jefferson Barracks, Missouri—where … Continue reading

Posted in Newspaper Articles, Personal Letters | 3 Comments

Private James E. Kelly, I Troop, 7th Cavalry—Dying Words


It is sure death to go down here. For most of the enlisted soldiers killed or mortally wounded in the fighting along the creeks of Wounded Knee and White Clay the only recognition they received was their misspelled names in … Continue reading

Posted in Casualties, Enlisted, Newspaper Articles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments