Being in our present predicament, we were utterly powerless to help as we wished we could. This is very trying to a cavalry man, for next to himself, he loves his horse, especially on a campaign of this kind. "Well," said he, "Let us keep together." I gave them the other canteen and told them that if they should not require all the water that I would like it to be passed around to some other wounded ones lying close by, which was so done. Payet (born 1963) is a French criminal who gained notoriety for his daring prison escapes using helicopters. A person could make his way around with a little more comfort, but how long this would continue was impossible to tell. Curley, a young Crow scout, would leave the command within the next ten minutes to take news of the battle to General Terry." " F orty years after his death, Alfred Hitchcock is still the best known film director there ever was, or perhaps will ever be. No sooner had I faced them than they stopped, turned their horses across the trail, dismounted, threw their guns across their saddles, and took aim at us. The Indians while fighting remained mounted, the cavalry dismounted. But before we could reach it, they fired at us but as usual missed; but the twigs and leaves were cut by the bullets and we came to the conclusion that we were not to be killed by the Indians. When I got close enough to Watson, I called to him in a guarded voice. Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Updated April 24, 2011, The Eye-witness Chronology Peter's a public radio "lifer" who first got hooked on radio journalism in high school, while listening to and then interning with Danny Schechter the News Dissector at Boston's legendary WBCN. Capt. He was the only captain who wished to go to the relief of Custer. I knew that there were two with General Custer, but I was not sure whether we had one with us here or not. Peter Thompson was an American who put his life on the line for his comrades and his country -- and received the Medal of Honor for his valor -- but that hasn't stopped America from turning him into non-person in order to preserve its cherished, comfortable self-deceptions. Pictures are on Fotki.com. The episode described by Thompson is fleeting, but because of it most conventional scholars of the battle have dismissed much or all of what Thompson had to say. My action would have been justified by the law, as it would have been an act of self defense. Share. The three men were arrested a couple of weeks later and returned to the same facility. Click here for Thompson's full account of his experiences at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He released my hand and seemed satisfied and then I began to realize what the promise I had made meant. We had plenty of them and some of them very badly hurt. By his own word, he was watching through binoculars when Custer attacked at Medicine Tail Coulee. Both banks were wet with the splashing made by the animals going to and from the village. Meanwhile, I was persuing my way along the trail on foot leading my horse for I was afraid he would fall down under me, so stumbling and staggering was his gait. On the top of the bluff just where we desired to go there were seated three Indians with their ponies but a short distance behind them. It was no wonder that the Indians were in great commotion when they beheld the bold front presented by the cavalry. Likewise, it was certainly not unusual for Custer to ride alone ahead of his men when scouting. Peter Thomson . On examining my saddle, I was glad to find everything as I had left it. The "problematic passages" in Thompson's first-person account of the battle center on Thompson and fellow straggler Pvt. The Astonisher.com Map (above) reveals how he escaped the fate of his comrades, told in the eye-witness accounts of Thompson himself, fellow Seventh Cavalry survivor, John McGuire, and an Anonymous Ree scout, possibly Half Yellow Face.. Watson, looking around at me said, "What in thunder is the matter?" Actually, these aren't "impossible" either. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitive's Skull Found by Family Dog", "Escapees in Canadian helicopter jailbreak captured", "Convicted killer T.J. Lane captured after escape", "Ohio town in shock after school shooter TJ Lane briefly escapes prison", "T.J. Lane, 2 other Ohio prison escapees often flouted rules behind bars, records show", "LO LTIMO: Joaqun el Chapo Guzmn ha sido detenido, informa Pea Nieto", "California jail escape: 3 inmates on the loose - CNN.com", "Two Pentonville prisoners escape over perimeter wall", "INFO TF1/LCI Syrie: des cadres franais de Daech impliqus dans une mutinerie", "BREAKING Murder suspects who escaped Monterey County Jail captured", "Monterey County Jail escapees used cleaning brush to break through the ceiling, deputies say", "Escaped Murder Suspects Are Arrested Trying to Re-enter the U.S.", "Authorities explain how two murder suspects escaped from Monterey County jail", "Two murder suspects on the run after breaking out of a Northern California jail", "Escaped inmates sought refuge at distant homeless center. The questioner belonged to my own company and I naturally expected him to sympathize with me in my errand of mercy. All routes to the river were cut off by the Indians. 2. When I was handing his back to him I noticed that the three Indians had discovered us and were watching our every movement. I mounted my horse again but found that a staggering walk was all I could get out of him. To say that we were astonished would faintly express our feelings. While meditating on the uncertainty of life, a bullet struck the box behind which I lay, and as I heard the lead crashing through its contents, I wondered if the time had come for me to wear a pair of wings. THOMSON, Illinois (KWQC) - Five inmates were captured after escaping from the USP Thomson prison camp last week according to AFGE 4070, the union representing workers at USP Thomson. The hill we were climbing seemed very long, so much so to me that I fell down and lay there without any inclination to move again, until Watson called my attention to the head of the column of cavalry which now came into plain view. To wade downstream was an impossibility. OUR GREAT ESCAPE. One of the Seventh Cavalry's Arikara scouts, who watched part of Thompson and fellow straggler Watson's encounter with the five Sioux from the distance, was amazed to learn later that they survived.]. I was careful to put in a clean one next time, and calling Watson to remain quiet for a moment, I fired when the Indian was within three feet of his horse. While making these observations, I also made a pleasant discovery. He had managed to make his way under cover of the ravine to the place where I found him. Knipe added, "They all thought you was a gonner." The firing was continuous, I removed my hat so that I would not attract attention, and looked over the panorama, as it was spread out before me. "Heritage and Horizon: American Painting, 1776-1976," May 5, 1976-June 13, 1976. Our plan was for Watson to cross the river first to show how deep the water was. With open ears and eyes I awaited their coming. The Indians no doubt thought that they had finished him for two of them turned and disappeared in the village. We felt we were discovered. The supports that were used were short pieces of wood of any kind that we could procure without risk. This caused me some surprise, as I knew he had lost a great deal of blood which is almost invariably followed by great thirst. Marking: [label] "Peter Thomson, registered, Philadelphia" Exhibition History. But alas! So I commenced to search around for them. Tom Custer, 1st Lieut. He had his gun in his hand and his eyes fixed on the grove of timber across the river watching for the enemy. We kept very close to the underbrush, which lined the bank of the river. They had closed in around us on three sides and so close were they, that we could hear them talking. Faulkner was not far behind after shooting 71 in his first round, with Scotland's Jimmy Adams and Australian Norman Von Nida leading the way on four under. Join Facebook to connect with Peter Thomson and others you may know. I asked him to attend to me when he had time to do so. And now, he asked, "Are you ready?" When about half way up the bluff, I noticed something that made me hesitate. "And now, Watson," said I, "I will help myself along by hanging to your horse's tail, as I cannot otherwise keep up with you." Looking through this opening down the stream, I could see Custer's command drawn up in battle line, two men deep in a half circle facing the Indians who were crossing the river both above and below them. For instance, the sequence of physical landmarks described by Thompson almost exactly matchs the actual landscape of lower Medicine Tail Coulee and the adjacent Little Bighorn River (see detail map left and full map above). Box 393 For his valor at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Thompson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He had met Jackson when on the trail on the top of the hill but a short distance from the place where it turned towards the village. The cause of this commotion was Major Reno with three companies of men about a mile distant from the upper end of the village, dashing along in a gallop towards them. The odds were against the soldiers for they were greatly outnumbered, and they fought at a great disadvantage. 12 members of the Jewish underground groups, In 1971, a 45 meter long tunnel was dug and 111 political prisoners, including future, On 10 June 1977, the convicted murderer of, On 23 September 1977, a group of seven prisoners, including. But now it was deserted. Almost instantly my carbine was at my shoulder, aiming at them; but it was empty; while in the ranks or on horseback, I made it a practice to carry it empty. The well-trained horses were kept well in hand. A message from Ambassador Peter Thomson, UNSG's Special Envoy for the Ocean to the IOC-UNESCO Ocean Literacy Training Courses. We concluded to seek some sheltered nook to cover ourselves from the extreme heat of the sun, and to wait until the Indians had quieted down for they were beginning to be like a swarm of bees. He would not budge. In 1993, ten prisoners escaped from Prlielupe prison in. After the volley was past, it was a wonder to me how I had escaped. It had been built by Indians for some purpose or other. A volley was fired but again I escaped. I discovered a pool of blood a short distance from him which had come from a terrible wound in his leg. The conversation with the Indian did not last long, and what the nature of it was I do not know, but the Crow released the Sioux woman, and she seemed glad to be free came running towards us in a half stooping posture and in her hand was a long bladed knife of ugly dimensions. 40-43. I knew that if the cavalry drove the savages from their village, they would scatter in all directions, and if any of the straggling devils came across such an unfortunate as myself, I would stand a poor show. He manage to escape from Pretoria prison with five others in December 1997. I was not sure but that the Indians might take a notion to follow me. So we started in the proposed direction. While I looked at them, one rose to his feet and beckoned for us in the most friendly manner to advance. The Indians let fly with their rifles with the usual result. [Note: Thompson did not overplay the dramatically dangerous nature of his situation after he was left behind by his Seventh Cavarly comrades. This was actually an extremely BAD idea, but while they were cruising the banks of the river looking for a ford (see Peter Thompson Detail Map, #13), Thompson said he and Watson stumbled upon Custer and one of Custer's Crow scouts in the midst of some kinky business with a Sioux woman on a tether. The deep voices of the braves, the howling of the squaws, the shrill piping of the children and the barking of the dogs made night hideous; but they appeared to enjoy it amazingly. I wondered if any of the other members of Company C had been as unfortunate as myself. He was one of the most wanted criminals in the. The trail we were on ran through a thick clump of bushes, and we put our best foot first in order to gain its shelter. They must have suspected our intentions. The trail I was on led directly to the river and thence into the village. Being very thirsty I forgot everything else, and stooping down, began to dip water from the river in my hands and drink. The halt was but for a moment, for the Indians came rushing towards them in great numbers. A man, by the name of McVey [Trumpeter David McVeigh], to whom I handed the canteen that he might drink seemed determined to keep it in his possession. It was equipped with artificial light, air conditioning, and high-quality construction materials. Round and round rode the savages in a seemingly tireless circle. Then Jackson informed him Custer had shot at him cutting away the strap that connected his stirrup to the saddle, and in order to save his life he had ridden away. By this time, the last of the companies had disappeared over the crest of the hill. Calhoun and 2nd Lieut. Most wanted criminal in France in 2013. It may seem hard to take human life, but he had been trying to take mine, and self preservation is the first law of nature. McDougal [Capt. We finally decided to go down the right bank of the stream and see if we could not get sight of Custer's command, and join our ranks where we were much needed. The squaws had got the fire under control and had it confined to a comparatively small space. I had made haste to fill the canteens and started on my way to camp bidding Mike Madden to be of good cheer and he made a cheerful reply. He was attended by John Mahoney [Pvt. He said Jackson was in a fearful state of mind. After his arrest, he brought a lawsuit against authorities charging the prison commissioners with illegal arrest and used the incident to plan his next escape. I called Watson's attention to it, but he did not think it was the same horse. John Fitzgerald], Brennan [Pvt. But in the meantime several accidents happened which helped to make it a serious matter for us. Camp, who had no battlefield experience at all, declared Medal of Honor winner Thompson's eye-witness account of his escape from the slaughter "impossible," a judgement that American historians have not revisited in almost a century. The men composing the four with myself were Fitzgerald [Pvt. After his second escape he was captured on September 21, 2007. Let's look first at the incident Thompson observed on the banks of the Little Bighorn River, where he said a Crow scout appeared with a Sioux woman on a tether moments before Custer himself rode into sight and ordered the woman released. Peter Thomson holds his third Open Championship trophy in 1956 In addition to his playing achievements, he went on to be president of the Australian PGA for 32 years and helped establish the. Again we were sent to cover by the approach of more Indians. In a short time I secured two canteens and a coffee kettle. While I was making calculations as to leaving my horse and trying my luck on foot, I thought I was seeing something familiar in their appearance. Some of the blankets were stamped with the large letters I.D. Fifeshire, Scotland. We stopped a moment to consider the best way to proceed and how to act. Benteen soon joined them and made a short speech. And with a cheer, away they dashed, their revolvers in one hand and their carbines in the other. Specifically, what about the kinky bit with the Crow scout and the Sioux squaw on the tether? He shook his head and said he did not know. Drawing my revolver, I made ready to defend myself. Tom Custer and other Seventh Cavalry troopers riding across the river in the moonlight, but it turned out to be Indians in captured Army uniforms.]. Benteen turned around and walked away to the extreme left, seemingly tireless and unconscious of the hail of lead that was flying around him. When the companies came in sight of the village, they gave the regular charging yell and urged their horses into a gallop. Weir. To answer that, you have to look at the numbers. On March 3, 1934, Dillinger escaped from the "escape-proof" (as it was dubbed by local authorities at the time) Crown Point, Indiana county jail, which was guarded by many police officers and national guardsmen. Peter Thompson 96K views 3 years ago. We wondered why none of his staff were with him. Going in the direction of the horses, I saw what suffering the poor brutes were enduring from thirst and hunger. I now looked around to see how I was going to make my escape, for I knew I could not retreat; with five I could not cope, and within the last few moments a few more Indians had gained the trail ahead of me; and to make my way down the face of the bluff, I knew was nearly impossible, as the Indians were climbing up to gain the trail. Peter graduated from their alma mater, General Assembly and is currently based in New York. On hearing me, he checked up his horse and looked around. ISBN: 978--593-31815-7. Confident this will flow on to benefits for SDG14 & Ocean biodiversity. Finckle had already missed the chance to carry Custer's last order -- and live -- because his mount was giving out.]. During the fight between Custer and the Sioux, scores of Indians had stationed themselves on the bluffs overlooking the village as far as we could see, so that any movement on our part would have led to our discovery; but nevertheless we made up our minds not to remain long in our present place of concealment. Not even close. We had two spades, the others having been either broken or lost, so our means of digging rifle pits were limited and natural defenses there were none. Thompson and Watson had spied a Seventh Cavalry guidon in the huge free Sioux and Cheyenne village across the river, and they were under the mistaken impression that they could rejoin their Seventh Cavalry comrades there. Wishing to have company, I was about to call for him to stop, but happily for me I did not, for I saw the reason why Watson, for such he proved to be, turned aside. He pointed down the stream, put spurs to his horse and disappeared at the ford, never uttering a word. I was still tugging away at the spurs, when Watson came up and asked what the trouble was and then passed on in the trail of the soldiers. He later turned himself in to authorities after being diagnosed with cancer in an attempt to take advantage of free medical care he would receive in prison. Custer had done so repeatedly on the Seventh Cavalry's approach to the Little Bighorn. Additionally, Thompson provides the last look at Custer alive; he shows that Indians used captured Cavalry bugles, as Roman Nose did at the Battle of Beecher's Island; and he describes the clever "stationary wheel" technique they employed in their attack on Custer, as well as its withering effect on the Americans: Round and round rode the savages in a seemingly tireless circle. On June 7, 2014, Serge Pomerleau, 49, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and Yves Denis, 35, escaped from a Quebec detention center with help from a helicopter. After Custer excused the scouts from further service, Goes Ahead said he and Hairy Moccasin and White Man Runs Him went together to the river on their own, and Sioux warrior White Cow Bull said he saw three Crows on the bluffs above Medicine Tail Coulee just before Cuter attacked the village. James Watson's experiences along the banks of the Little Bighorn on the afternoon of June 25th. Being afraid that the Indian would escape, I worked at it in a desperate manner and finally got it out far enough to use my thumb nail, which proved affective. We knew if we did not do so we would be picked off one by one. It was utterly impossible to move our wounded, as we had no means at hand with which we could do so. Watson took hold of the sleeve of my coat and pulled me down urging me to be careful, as the Indians might see me and called my attention to the village which was in a perfect state of turmoil. He said he was sick. But our men were still on the alert. I noticed numerous hoof prints showing that the Indians had made a desperate effort to make an opening through our place of defense by this route. There are 600+ professionals named "Peter Thomson", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. ( Meet our new Livable Planet desk. On June 8, 2014, Robert Elbryan, 42, George Broussard, 64, and Christopher Boris, 52, escaped from a Quebec detention center with help from a helicopter. In 1977, convicted murderer James Robert Jones escaped from prison in Kansas, and lived in Florida for 37 years under the alias of Bruce Walter Keith. So fierce did she look that my hand involuntarily sought the handle of my revolver. He must have gone thence directly to his command. We followed the trail for several hundred feet, then forced our way through the brush and with our revolvers cocked, lying at our feet and our guns in our hands we waited and watched for their appearance. As I ran up the hill, which was but a short distance, I was seized with a tendency to shrink up and was under the impression that I was going to be struck in the legs or feet. Most modern accounts of the Battle of the little Bighorn confidently state that Daniel Kanipe and John Martin -- or Curley, if they're being liberal enough to consider Indians human -- were the last Seventh Cavalry survivors to see Custer alive, even though Kanipe himself said that Thompson was the last one to see Custer alive. After we began to climb the hill, I found my strength was giving out, and in spite of the fact that we were in full view of the Indians, I laid down to rest and all my entreaties for Watson to go on and save himself were fruitless. He answered, "To our scouts, of course." Custer was mounted on his sorrel horse and it being a very hot day he was in his shirt sleeves; his buckskin pants tucked into his boots; his buckskin shirt fastened to the rear of his saddle; and a broad brimmed cream colored hat on his head, the brim of which was turned up on the right side and fastened by a small hook and eye to its crown. 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