"Hoping That God Will Spare Me," William A. Losee Writes From Fort Lincoln, "We Expect Trouble... So Farewell All... My Eyes Are Dim With Tears"

Background

Maybe, parading out of Fort Abraham Lincoln on the morning of May 17, 1876, the band playing the jaunty “Garryowen," General, Custer, prancing ahead on his horse, maybe then, Private William A. Losee of New York, just six months in the Army, felt brave and proud; but a little less than a month before that departure, he wrote of this upcoming moment with tears in his eyes. 

I will tell you the Sad News that we are going out on the trip now in about two weeks… We Start out on the trip we expect to be out four or five months and have Some fighting to do this Summer for the Indians have all broke lose [sic] and we expect trouble… About two thousand men well armed going out this Summer and are all well prepared. Well I will Close hoping that God will Spare me to hear from you again next fall So farewell all and may the Blessing rest upon you give my love to all… My eyes are dim with tears So good Bye all and a Kiss for all…

When the approximate 2,000 soldiers and officers rode out of Fort Lincoln on May 17, 1876, this large force was soon divided into three separate battalions, in order to cover hundreds of miles of terrain, under the command of either Gen. Alfred Terry, Col. John Gibbon, or Lt. Col. George Custer, each in pursuit of purported large gatherings of Indians. Custer headed southwest with about 700 troops. One month later, on June 25, 1876, Custer divided his men into three forces under the command of himself, Maj. Marcus Reno, and Capt. Frederick Benteen, a fatal decision that would culminate in the massacre of all 280 men under Custer, Losee among them. The rest of the 7th Cavalary fought off the Indians, with serious casaulties, but managed to avoid Custer's fate.  

Losee’s letter stands in stark contrast to Custer’s profound complacency, as seen in his February 8,1876 and March 1, 1876 letters to his friend Edwin W. Stoughton and to his cousin, Augusta Ward Frary, in Canandaigua, New York. Losee – his name often recorded as Lossee or Losey – was 24 years old when he died somewhere, it is believed, near Custer. 

Physical Description

Autograph Letter Signed, 2 pages, recto and verso, quarto, Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, April 20, 1876. To “Dear Father and Mother.”