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John Lawrence Grattan AI simulator
(@John Lawrence Grattan_simulator)
Hub AI
John Lawrence Grattan AI simulator
(@John Lawrence Grattan_simulator)
John Lawrence Grattan
John Lawrence Grattan (June 1, 1830 – August 19, 1854) was a mid-19th-century U.S. Army officer, whose poor judgement and inexperience led to the Grattan massacre, which was a major instigator for the First Sioux War.
Grattan was born in Corinth, Vermont on 1 June 1830. His mother, Sarah Rogers, died when he was only five. His father, Peter Grattan, relocated with his young son, John, and daughter, Mary, to Lisbon, New Hampshire where he worked as a wheelwright.
John L. Grattan entered West Point in 1849, but did very poorly in his courses. Out of a class of 63, he finished 51st in French, and 43rd in Engineering, failing mathematics altogether. Due to this, he was held back for a year. He applied himself the following year, finishing in the top third of his class for that year, only to again fall to the bottom third by his final year.
In 1853, he graduated 36th out of a class of 55. Fellow graduates that year were James B. McPherson, Philip Sheridan, John Bell Hood, and John Schofield, all of whom went on to fame during the American Civil War. Grattan, however, would achieve what fame he did receive due to a mistake during his very first command, which ended in his death and the death of 29 soldiers under his command as well as a civilian interpreter.
After graduation, Grattan was appointed a second lieutenant by brevet in the 6th Infantry. Given the customary three months leave following his graduation, Grattan was to have reported to Company G, 6th Infantry, at Fort Laramie, by October 1, 1853, but he arrived on November 16. Within his first month, according to recorded reports from Post Surgeon Charles Page, Grattan received a reputation as being brash and boastful, while also giving off the impression that he was proud to serve in the army. The most disturbing trait, according to later accounts given by Page, was that Grattan displayed a disdain and dislike of the American Indians, despite having had no contact with them whatsoever up to that point, save seeing or meeting any who were in or around the post.
In July and August, 1854, new settlers moving west were plagued by raids from the Cheyenne, and calling on the army to do something about it. After one mid-August raid, settlers and traders encountered the Cheyenne warriors and pursued them, only to give up the chase before engaging. When Grattan was told this, he ridiculed the pursuers for fearing a confrontation with the Cheyenne. The settlers and traders who were pursuing the band of warriors had enough experience to recognize that the Cheyenne seemed to be baiting them into a possible ambush. Thus they stopped their pursuit and reported the incident to Fort Laramie. During his ridicule of the men, Grattan stated that with 10 men he could defeat the entire Cheyenne nation.
Around this same time, in expectation that treaty annuities were soon to come, elements of the Lakota and Oglala had camped near the fort. Collectively the Sioux villages spread across a three-mile area along the North Platte River. In the Native American camps, seasoned chiefs were struggling to control the more impatient young warriors, who were angered by the sight of their people starving, and over former broken promises by the whites. This would be compounded by the fact that Fort Laramie was at the time under the command of two young inexperienced officers, with one being a brash and totally untested young Second Lieutenant.
The Indians were starving, and had been hungry for weeks awaiting the arrival of the annuities. By most reports, a Mormon wagon train passing through had lost a straggling and lame cow. With any game being scarce in the area, the Sioux butchered the cow, and feasted on it. On August 18, 1854, the wagon train reached Fort Laramie, where the owner of the cow complained to Lt. Hugh Fleming that his cow had been stolen by the Indians. Reports vary, with the most reliable accounts stating that the owner noticed that the cow was missing, and returned to find that the Indians had butchered it. Lt. Fleming sent for Conquering Bear, the leader of the band where the cow had been butchered. Although Conquering Bear did not agree with all of the details in the Treaty of 1851, he did understand quite clearly that restitution was required for any property stolen from white settlers.
John Lawrence Grattan
John Lawrence Grattan (June 1, 1830 – August 19, 1854) was a mid-19th-century U.S. Army officer, whose poor judgement and inexperience led to the Grattan massacre, which was a major instigator for the First Sioux War.
Grattan was born in Corinth, Vermont on 1 June 1830. His mother, Sarah Rogers, died when he was only five. His father, Peter Grattan, relocated with his young son, John, and daughter, Mary, to Lisbon, New Hampshire where he worked as a wheelwright.
John L. Grattan entered West Point in 1849, but did very poorly in his courses. Out of a class of 63, he finished 51st in French, and 43rd in Engineering, failing mathematics altogether. Due to this, he was held back for a year. He applied himself the following year, finishing in the top third of his class for that year, only to again fall to the bottom third by his final year.
In 1853, he graduated 36th out of a class of 55. Fellow graduates that year were James B. McPherson, Philip Sheridan, John Bell Hood, and John Schofield, all of whom went on to fame during the American Civil War. Grattan, however, would achieve what fame he did receive due to a mistake during his very first command, which ended in his death and the death of 29 soldiers under his command as well as a civilian interpreter.
After graduation, Grattan was appointed a second lieutenant by brevet in the 6th Infantry. Given the customary three months leave following his graduation, Grattan was to have reported to Company G, 6th Infantry, at Fort Laramie, by October 1, 1853, but he arrived on November 16. Within his first month, according to recorded reports from Post Surgeon Charles Page, Grattan received a reputation as being brash and boastful, while also giving off the impression that he was proud to serve in the army. The most disturbing trait, according to later accounts given by Page, was that Grattan displayed a disdain and dislike of the American Indians, despite having had no contact with them whatsoever up to that point, save seeing or meeting any who were in or around the post.
In July and August, 1854, new settlers moving west were plagued by raids from the Cheyenne, and calling on the army to do something about it. After one mid-August raid, settlers and traders encountered the Cheyenne warriors and pursued them, only to give up the chase before engaging. When Grattan was told this, he ridiculed the pursuers for fearing a confrontation with the Cheyenne. The settlers and traders who were pursuing the band of warriors had enough experience to recognize that the Cheyenne seemed to be baiting them into a possible ambush. Thus they stopped their pursuit and reported the incident to Fort Laramie. During his ridicule of the men, Grattan stated that with 10 men he could defeat the entire Cheyenne nation.
Around this same time, in expectation that treaty annuities were soon to come, elements of the Lakota and Oglala had camped near the fort. Collectively the Sioux villages spread across a three-mile area along the North Platte River. In the Native American camps, seasoned chiefs were struggling to control the more impatient young warriors, who were angered by the sight of their people starving, and over former broken promises by the whites. This would be compounded by the fact that Fort Laramie was at the time under the command of two young inexperienced officers, with one being a brash and totally untested young Second Lieutenant.
The Indians were starving, and had been hungry for weeks awaiting the arrival of the annuities. By most reports, a Mormon wagon train passing through had lost a straggling and lame cow. With any game being scarce in the area, the Sioux butchered the cow, and feasted on it. On August 18, 1854, the wagon train reached Fort Laramie, where the owner of the cow complained to Lt. Hugh Fleming that his cow had been stolen by the Indians. Reports vary, with the most reliable accounts stating that the owner noticed that the cow was missing, and returned to find that the Indians had butchered it. Lt. Fleming sent for Conquering Bear, the leader of the band where the cow had been butchered. Although Conquering Bear did not agree with all of the details in the Treaty of 1851, he did understand quite clearly that restitution was required for any property stolen from white settlers.