Old Nash

WARNING: This is a sad one

No one ever said a frontier soldier’s life is easy. But what about their wives?

Sgt. Noonan directly behind Custer

In January 1872, a 25-year-old John Noonan enlisted with the 7th Cavalry.

Noonan had previously served, but where and with whom I do not know. What’s clear, however, is that John was one helluva soldier, quickly working his way up to the rank of Sergeant.

And it wasn’t just his fellow troopers who admired the man. According to Libby Custer, the wife of Noonan’s commander, General George A. Custer, “He was the handsomest soldier in his company,” and his uniform displayed his “well-proportioned figure.”

Dang, Libby. Tell us how you really feel.

Not to take anything away from Sgt. Noonan’s physique, but one of the reasons his uniform looked so good was because he was married to the Regiment seamstress, a lady affectionately known to all as Old Nash.

Unfortunately, we do not know Old Nash’s true identity. Nash was simply the last name of her second husband, which she continued to go by during her association with the 7th Cavalry.

What we do know is that Nash’s life was not an easy one. Originally from Mexico, she drove oxen over the Santa Fe trail before signing on with the 7th Cav as a seamstress. According to Mrs. Custer, Nash was also highly in demand as a midwife.

“Her two children had died in Mexico, but she – Old Nash – assisted many a Seventh Cavalry child into the world as she had learned midwifery from her mother and was a skilled practitioner of that art. Often, she would say, “Are you comph?” in a labored accent to the young pregnant wives. The phrase became a favorite in the regiment.”

This was backed up by Custer orderly John Burkman, who stated that no one was more in demand to “chase the rabbit” than Old Nash.

Drawing of Old Nash from an 1879 edition of New York’s National Police Gazette

Life wasn’t kind to Old Nash, though.

Her first husband, a clerk by the name of Harry Clifton, stole half her money before abandoning her. Sgt James Nash, her second husband, ended up doing the exact same thing.

Once again, according to Libby Custer, “When she first came to our regiment, she was married to a trooper who, to all appearances, was good to her. My first knowledge of her was in Kentucky. She was our laundress, and when she brought the linen home, it was fluted and frilled so daintily that I considered her a treasure.”

Regarding Old Nash’s physical appearance and disposition, Libby stated, “She was tall, angular, awkward, and seemingly coarse, but I knew her to be tender-hearted.”

Hope is a hard thing to kill, though, and her coarse appearance aside, Old Nash would give love a try yet again, this time to the aforementioned Sgt. John Noonan, who I assume was more than a few years her junior.

In all honesty, this was most likely a marriage of convenience. Old Nash was a hard worker and a great cook. And, what’s more, she could ensure her man’s uniform was always clean and crisp.

Then again, who am I to question their union? We’ll never know the motivations of either Sgt. Noonan or Mrs. Nash, and that’s okay too.

Now, through a stroke of good luck, Sgt. Noonan was not present for the battle of Little Bighorn, and afterward, he and Old Nash would be stationed out of Bismark, where, by all accounts, they enjoyed their marriage.

Sadly, on October 30th, 1878, while Sgt. Noonan was out chasing hostiles, Old Nash grew ill and passed away. Her dying wish was that they’d place her body in a coffin immediately and bury her right away.

It was an unusual request, to say the least. And besides, the men of the 7th Cavalry revered Old Nash and thought highly of her husband. Wouldn’t do to stick her unceremoniously in the ground before Noonan came back, right?

With what I imagine was a well-meaning gesture, the post-surgeon and the other ladies of the 7th began preparing Old Nash for a proper burial, which included cleaning her body.

And it was while undressing her that a startling discovery was made.

Turns out old Nash had male genitalia.

To quote soldier John Burkman, “We was flabbergasted!”

A dispatch from Bismark shed a little more light on the subject:

“A singular development transpired at Fort Lincoln today. Mrs. Sergeant Noonan, who died last night, turns out to be a man. There is no explanation of the unnatural union except that the supposed Mexican woman was worth $10,000 and was able to buy her husband’s silence. She has been with the 7th Cavalry nine years.”

These printed assumptions aside, Sgt. Noonan was mortified when he heard the news. Not only of his wife’s death but also of the fact that their secret was now known to all.

After returning from his scout and hearing the tragic events, Noonan’s face “went white and kinda jerked. After that, everywhere he went, the regiment joshed him.”

Noonan did not initially take this all lying down. He told local papers that the rumors about his wife were a lie and that people were slandering a good woman’s name. He also told fellow soldiers that he and Nash had recently been trying to conceive. Try, I suppose, being the operative word.

Poor Sergeant Noonan would only live another month. I reckon either the grief of losing his Old Nash and/or the constant torment from his fellow soldiers caused him to take his own life.

Per John Burkman, “Noonan walked in, his face was gaunt and sorta set. The carpenter looked up. ‘Hello, Noonan!’ he says. ‘Say, you and Mrs. Noonan never had no children, did you?’ We all started laughin’ and then we stopped sudden. Noonan was standing, look at us like an animal that’s been hurt. Then, afore we had sense to stop him he pulled out his gun and shot hisself dead, right there at our feet.”

According to an article published by the Army and Navy Journal, shortly thereafter, Noonan “crawled away lonely and forsaken and blew out the life that promised nothing but infamy and disgrace. The suicide was committed with a pistol, and Noonan shot himself through the heart. The affair created as intense excitement at the post as did the announcement of the death of Mrs. Noonan, but there was a sight of relief on the corporate lips of the 7th Cavalry when its members heard that Noonan by his own hand had relieved the regiment of the odium which the man’s presence cast upon them.”

For what it’s worth, Noonan’s fellow troopers did seem to regret pushing him over the edge. Burkman would later claim that he and the others were terribly ashamed for ribbing him as they did:

“It takes all kinds of men to make up an army. Officers, of course, whose doings is writ up in books, but it takes a lot of common fellers too, like me and Noonan. Men that don’t know nothing except what they’re told to do and that’s kill and get killed and that the world never hears about. And yet to ourselves we seemed important. Noonan’s troubles meant just as much to him as though he’d been a major. Hundreds of graves scattered over Dakota and Montana of men that’s never been missed, never been writ up, but they was good soldiers just the same, and without ‘em there wouldn’t been no country.”

Sgt. John Noonan was buried there at Fort Lincoln, and despite the suicide, taps were played over his grave. Not only that but a few years later, he’d be reinterred at the Custer Battlefield National Cemetery, where he rests to this day right alongside the men who perished at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Mrs. Nash’s remains weren’t so fondly cared for. While buried at Fort Lincoln, she would not accompany her husband to Montana. Upon the Fort’s closing, Nash and the other unclaimed civilians were transferred to St. Mary’s cemetery and buried in unmarked graves.

Wherever she is, I hope she’s finally “comph” at last, likewise for the good sergeant.