Sir, - I wish to enlist the assistance of your readers in tracing a very famous medal indeed. It was the medal that Sitting Bull wore around his neck at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, in which he defeated Lieutenant Colonel George Custer.
What therefore is my interest in this medal? It concerns the Wild Geese and their involvement in this famous battle.
The Wild Geese were forced to leave Ireland in the 17th century, and became soldiers of fortune, fighting on every inhabited continent. Sometimes they fought each other, but their main foe was the British, who had forced on them. their dangerous and bitter exile. They made their presence felt in the world. They fought in every major conflict from the days of Louis XIV to the last World War. They founded four navy's and were particularly active in the foundation of the United States, Chile, Peru and Mexico.
They were to a great extent responsible for opening up the western states of America, and were particularly active in the Boer War in South Africa. They fought on both sides in the American Civil War, and they fought for the French Revolution. Four were Washington's principal aides just as four others were signatories of the American Declaration of Independence. Over 60 fell at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Sitting Bull wore this medal until his death in 1890. It was given to him by one of the Wild Geese. I am therefore seeking further information about it, and I would like to have same included in the proposed Wild Geese Heritage Museum and the Wild Geese Library at Portumna Castle. - Yours, etc.,
(hon sec),
Portumna Twinning
Committee,
Auvergne Lodge,
Dominick Street,
Portumna,
Co Galway.