Col. Lewis Merrill-- Part 7: Some Serious Accusations

Another reason it took so long for his promotion to lieutenant-colonel in the Regular Army took so long was that he was now much respected by fellow officers in the 7th Cavalry.

Major Marcus Reno called Merrill a "notorious coward and shirk."   Captain Frederick Benteen, who also didn't like Reno, commented: "Poor a soldier as Reno was, he was a long way ahead of Merrill."  he also labeled Merrill as a "chump."

Finally, Merrill was accused of accepting cash awards from a Carpetbagger government for the Ku Klux Klan members he captured and of accepting a bribe while serving as judge advocate in a court martial.

He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

These are some really strong charges that I'll have to investigate some more on.  At this point, Merrill would, if these are true, to be somewhat like the charges and comments about Jacob Smith in the U.S. Army.

I have also heard somewhere that a lot of the pacification techniques used by Merrill and his commands were a bit excessive.

--Old Secesh