About Sam Russell
I am a fifth-generation retired Army officer with three decades 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.
Christmas Eve of 1890 saw the nation still riveted by events unfolding in the Dakotas. Sitting Bull had been killed nine days earlier, Big Foot’s band had just eluded capture from Lieutenant Colonel Sumner and were presumed to be headed to … Continue reading →
Posted in Newspaper Articles
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Tagged 1890, 7th Cavalry, 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States), 9th Cavalry, Big Foot, Buffalo Soldiers, Cavalry, ghost dance, James Forsyth, Miniconjou, Pine Ridge, Pine Ridge Agency, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Samuel Whitside
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There were four or five Indians lying on the ground with their blankets on, supposedly dead. But suddenly a shot was fired and we saw a man drop. Andrew Mitchell Flynn was a twenty-five-year-old Scottish emigrant and a private in … Continue reading →
Posted in Enlisted, Reminiscences
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Tagged 1890, 1891, 7th Cavalry, 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States), Big Foot, Cavalry, Lakota, Miniconjou, Sioux, White Clay Creek, Wounded Knee, Wounded Knee Creek, Wounded Knee Massacre
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Ziegner distinguished himself by exposing himself to the fire of the Indians and volunteering to go to the support of Capt. Varnum, and there again attracting attention by his coolness and gallantry. –Adjutant General’s Office Private Herman Ziegner was a … Continue reading →
Posted in Award Recipients, Enlisted
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Tagged 7th Cavalry, 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States), Battle of Wounded Knee, Big Foot, Cavalry Troop, Lakota, Medal of Honor, Sioux, Wounded Knee, Wounded Knee Creek, Wounded Knee Massacre
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Sam Russell
Army at Wounded Knee 