Love him or hate him - this guy WAS astonishing in surviving and thriving

NH Civil War Gal

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The Astonishing Life of an Italian American Civil War Soldier

by David T. Dixon
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Lt. Charles DeRudio US 7th Cavalry

Lt. Charles DeRudio inched along on his belly through dense underbrush to the bottom of a dry creek bed, concealing himself to avoid capture and certain death. Pistol shots rang out nearby, followed by female voices. DeRudio raised his head gingerly and observed two Lakota women scalping a dying US soldier while two others danced around the mutilated body. Then a crackling noise broke the spell. The lieutenant realized that the Lakota had set fire to the grasses, hoping to flush more blue clad enemies out of their hiding places. DeRudio crawled back up the bank and heard a friendly voice call out to him. Three of his comrades and their two horses had also taken refuge in the creek bottom. They elected to wait six hours for darkness in order to cover their escape.
 
According to DeRudio's Wikipedia bio, he was nicknamed "Count No Account" by Captain Frederick Benteen because of his boasting of his prior exploits and disparaged by the officers that were in the inner circle of George Custer. I imagine they all thought his stories were all bs, but from all appearances this was a man who not only "talked the talk" but also "walked the walk."
 
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