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COL Samuel Russell
to remember
Varnum, Charles Albert (Indian Wars), COL.
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Contact Info
Home Town Troy
Last Address San Francisco
Date of Passing Feb 26, 1936
Location of Interment San Francisco National Cemetery (VA) - San Francisco, California
After graduating from West Point, Colonel Varnum was given the rank of second lieutenant, His first duty station was in Dakota Territory where he joined Company A, 7th Cavalry Regiment in Kentucky prior to their movement to the West.
He was involved in a number of expeditions and excursions of the regiment, including the Yellowstone Expedition (1873) and Black Hills Expedition (1874). He and the regiment were stationed at Fort Abraham Lincoln. In 1876, he assumed command of Custer's Indian Scouts, made up of civilians, army personnel, and largely of Crow, and Arikaree Indians. His duty was to delegate scouting missions and coordinate the resulting reports.
During the Little Bighorn Expedition, Varnum and his men discovered the location of a large Indian village. He notified Custer of the location... However, Varnum accompanied the troops of Marcus Reno and Frederick Benteen and survived heavy fighting, though wounded in the legs at what became known as 'Reno Hill'. Varnum served as Regimental Quartermaster of the 7th Cavalry from November 1876 through October 1879.
In 1877, as a 1st Lt. he participated in the Nez Perce War, fighting at the Battle of Canyon Creek, as well as the Battle of Bear Paw (near Snake Creek, Blaine County, Montana) from 30 September through 4 October 1877. He continued to serve on the frontier in various forts and posts throughout his long career.
In 1890, Varnum was Captain of Company B, 7th Cavalry at the Battle (Massacre) of Wounded Knee on 29 December. The following day, at White Clay Creek, he helped ensure a safe withdrawal for his troops who were under fire. For this action, he received the Army Medal of Honor for 'Most Distinguished Gallantry' on 22 September 1897.
He instructed military science at the University of Wyoming, 1895-1898.
Then he purchased horses for the Volunteer Cavalry that was to fight in Cuba, mustering troops and serving in Fort Sill, Huntsville, Alabama and Macon, Georgia prior to reporting to Cuba in January 1899. He served there until he became ill from Typhoid and was forced to return to the States. Varnum was promoted to major on 1 February 1901, then to lieutenant colonel in April 1905. He served in the Philippines from September 1905 as commander of Camp Malabang during the Philippine-American War.
He retired from the Regular Army on disability leave 31 October 1907. He became a military instructor for the Idaho National Guard from 1907-1909. Then, as a military science instructor at the University of Maine until 1912. He then served in several posts in Portland, Oregon, Kansas City, Missouri and finally at Fort Mason in San Francisco He left the service on 8 April 1919.
At the time of his death (in 1936 at Letterman Hospital in the Presidio of San Francisco), at the age of 86. He was the last surviving officer of those who had participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
He was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery, Officer's Section, Section 3, Grave 3A.
ttp://www.custer1876.com/gpage6.html http://www.nps.gov/prsf/historyculture/history-of-san-francisco-national-cemetery.htm (Gravesite of Col. Varnum) http://custerlives.com/7thcav4.htm http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/CasualtiesByCo.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer's_1874_Black_Hills_Expedition http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/chas_varnum_little_big_horn.html (Personal letter from Lt. Varnum to his parents accounting what had happened at the Little Big Horn Battle.)
http://www.dowinn.vcn.com/DeWitt/ (list of all 7th Cavalry servicemen and accompanying persons at the Little Big Horn Battle.)
Text: James S. Brust et al., Where Custer Fell: Photographs of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Then and Now, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2005. Text: Douglas D. Scott et al.,They Died With Custer: Soldiers' Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1998.
Text: Thom Hatch, The Custer Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Life of George Armstrong Custer and the Plains Indian Wars, Stackpole Books, 2002, page 222. (detailed Biography of Colonel Varnum)
Text: Brevet Major General George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military at West Point, New York Since Its Establishment in 1802, United States Military Academy. Association of Graduates , Vol. 4, 1901, page 219. (Details of service at that date.)
Spanish-American War
From Month/Year
April / 1898
To Month/Year
August / 1898
Description The Spanish–American War (Spanish: Guerra hispano-estadounidense or Guerra hispano-americana; Filipino: Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano) was a conflict fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. American acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.
Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish rule. The U.S. later backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. In the late 1890s, US public opinion was agitated by anti-Spanish propaganda led by newspaper publishers such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst which used yellow journalism to call for war. The business community across the United States had just recovered from a deep depression, and feared that a war would reverse the gains. They lobbied vigorously against going to war.
The US Navy battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana harbor; political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the administration of Republican President William McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid.[9] Spain promised time and time again that it would reform, but never delivered. The United States sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding that it surrender control of Cuba. First Madrid declared war, and Washington then followed suit.
The main issue was Cuban independence; the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. US naval power proved decisive, allowing expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already facing nationwide Cuban insurgent attacks and further wasted by yellow fever. Numerically superior Cuban, Philippine, and US forces obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila despite the good performance of some Spanish infantry units and fierce fighting for positions such as San Juan Hill. Madrid sued for peace with two obsolete Spanish squadrons sunk in Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay and a third, more modern fleet recalled home to protect the Spanish coasts.
The result was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, negotiated on terms favorable to the US which allowed it temporary control of Cuba and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine islands. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($575,760,000 today) to Spain by the US to cover infrastructure owned by Spain.
The defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche, and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic revaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98.[ The United States gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of expansionism. It was one of only five US wars (against a total of eleven sovereign states) to have been formally declared by Congress.
