what became of the wife of lt. charles gatewood?

Answer 1

Lieutenant Charles Gatewood is almost lost to American history, but was recently revived somewhat by the movie "Geronimo," in which he was a central character.
A graduate of West Point in 1877, he was posted to the Cavalry in the West, eventually serving under Brigadier General Nelson Appleton Miles in Arizona and New Mexico. After forces serving under Miles were unable to capture Geronimo and his small band of Indians, Gatewood (who had put a lot of work into learning the ways of the Indians - including their language) was given the task of proceeding into Mexico and convincing Geronimo to surrender to Miles. This job was successfully carried out, but Gatewood ran politically afoul of Miles when he (Gatewood) began to get too much of the credit for the capture of the great Indian chief. He was banished to service with the Cavalry in the Dakotas.

There he participated in keeping the peace between rival factions of ranchers. He was badly injured in these efforts and was moved, on sick leave, to Washington, DC. At that time he was the senior Lieutenant in the 6th United States Cavalry and the 8th ranking Lieutenant in the entire Army.

After returning to Washington he began suffering from painful stomach pains and was transferred to the Army Medical Facility at Fort Monroe, Virginia. He died there of stomach cancer on May 20, 1896, never receiving his richly-deserved promotion to Captain. He is interred in Section One of Arlington National Cemetery, alongside his beloved wife, who traveled the West with him for years.


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Born at Woodstock, Virginia, in 1853, he was from a military family. He was appointed to West Point in 1873, graduated four years later and was assigned to the 6th Cavalry. From then until the fall of 1885 he was almost constantly on field duty in New Mexico and Arizona. He saw combat in the Victorio campaign of 1879-80 in Mexico, received special commendation from Colonel A. P. Morrow for his efforts. He was a member of Crook's expedition into Sonora in 1883, which resulted in Chatto's surrender, serving in (Emmet) Crawford's command. For this he was mentioned in War Department orders. In 1885 in published General Orders in Arizona, described as having "seen more active duty in the field with Indian scouts than any other officer of his length of service in the Army." He still had not been promoted beyond First Lieutenant, however.
The son of a Confederate soldier, he stood about 5 feet 11 inches tall, had gray eyes, and a dark complexion. His most prominent feature was his nose, which was quite large. At West Point his fellows had dubbed him Scipio Africanus because his profile was said to resemble that of Roman General Indians were not so classical and referred to him as "Nanton Bse-che," translated as Big Nose Captain. His wife was was from Frostburg, Maryland, the daughter of T. G. McCullough, a local judge with minor political connections. To he and wife three children were born while they lived in the Southwest. One child died and was buried at Fort Wingate, leaving a son and daughter to grow to maturity. Through all the hardships encountered, the disappointments, even death of a child, his wife never complained. Nor did he. Apparently he personified the motto of West Point, "Duty, Honor, Country." Even his spare time was spent on the history of artillery, which he hoped would be published. Unpretentious and unassuming, he never sought to glorify himself, doing extraordinary deeds of valor as if they were commonplace.