Sunday, July 23, 1876. Custer insults Reno from the grave.

The commander of Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, Captain Henry M. Lazelle, wrote to his superiors stating:

While believing that there will be no trouble here with the Indians at this agency, two more companies should be sent to this post. The Indians are evidently much excited.

The post Little Big Horn blame game increased when the New York Herald published an article relating the supposed view of Custer, perhaps penned by him, that Reno had been cowardly in scouting the Tongue River and suggesting his court martial.  The article stated:

Letter from a Prominent Officer

Killed in Custer's Last Charge

Reno's Contempt of Orders

Something for Sherman and Sheridan To Investigate

Bighorn Expedition, on Yellowstone River

At the mouth of the Rosebud,

June 22, 1876

Gen. George Armstrong Custer MY LAST LETTER was sent from the mouth of Powder River and described our march from the Little Missouri. I fear it may not have reached its destination, or if it did it was in such a condition as to be illegible owing to a sad accident which befell our mail party. The latter consisted of a sergeant of the Sixth Infantry, Hazen's regiment, and two men of the same command. This party was to take the mail of this expedition on a small boat from the mouth of the Powder to Fort Buford at the mouth of the former. Just as the sergeant [Fox] with the mail bag on his arm stepped aboard the small boat and was about to push off the boat overturned, throwing all hands into the water. The sergeant at once disappeared below the surface and was never afterward seen. The other members of the party, being experienced swimmers, were, with the assistance of bystanders, rescued from a watery grave. When the sergeant disappeared in the water the mail sack went with him, but fortunately floated between the steamer and the shore, before sinking below the surface. By means of boat hooks the bag and its contents were recovered, but not until they had been under water several minutes. When opened on shore many of the letters were found opened by the influence of the water, and all the stamps displaced. Captain Grant Marsh, of the steamer Far West, the most popular steamboat captain on the Upper Missouri, took the mail in charge, and, with the aid of his assistants, devoted almost an entire night to drying and sealing the contents of the mail bag, a task they completed in time to start the mail on its journey at four o'clock the following morning. The sergeant who lost his life had been twenty-two years in the army, and had but recently returned from Washington, where he had been to file his application for appointment as ordinance sergeant, that appointment being considered the crowning ambition of the most faithful old soldiers.

Major Reno, whose departure with six companies of the Seventh Cavalry to scout up the Powder River was mentioned in my last letter, moved under written orders, which in substance directed him to scout up the Powder River as far as the mouth of the Little Powder, then across to the headwaters of Mizpah Creek, down that creek to near its mouth, then across to Pumpkin Creek, down that stream to its junction with Tongue River, then down Tongue River to its mouth on the Yellowstone, where he was informed the main part of the expedition would be by the time of his arrival at that point.

In the opinion of the most experienced officers it was not believed that any considerable, if any, force of Indians would be found on the Powder River; still there were a few, including Major Reno, who were convinced that the main body of Sitting Bull's warriors would be encountered on Powder River. The general impression, however, is and has been, that on the headwaters of the Rosebud and Little Bighorn rivers the "hostiles" would be found.

It was under this impression that General Terry, in framing the orders which were to govern Major Reno's movements, explicitly and positively directed that officer to confine himself to his orders and instructions, and particularly not to move in the direction of Rosebud River, as it was feared that such a movement, if prematurely made, might "flush the covey," it being the intention to employ the entire cavalry force of the expedition, when the time arrived, to operate in the valleys of the Rosebud and Bighorn Rivers. Custer and most of his officers looked with little favor on the movement up the Powder River, as, among other objections, it required the entire remaining portion of the expedition to lie in idleness within two marches of the locality where it was generally believed the hostile villages would be discovered on the Rosebud, the danger being that the Indians, ever on the alert, would discover the presence of the troops as yet undiscovered-and take advantage of the opportunity to make their escape.

Reno, after an absence of ten days, returned, when it was found, to the disgust and disappointment of every member of the expedition, from the commanding general down to the lowest private, that Reno, instead of simply failing to accomplish any good results, had so misconducted his force as to embarrass, if not seriously and permanently mar, all hopes of future success of the expedition. [Note: it is not true that Reno returned from the Powder River expedition "to the disgust and disappointment of every member of the expedition, from the commanding general to the lowest private." Neither Sgt. Dan Kanipe or Private John McGuire's accounts of the Powder River foray indicate any "disgust" at all.] He had not only deliberately, and without a shadow of an excuse failed to obey his written instructions issued by General Terry's personal directions, but he had acted in positive disobedience to the strict injunctions of the department commander. [Note: in his eagerness to wrap himself in the mantle of his commanding officer, Custer (or his mouthpiece) neglects to mention that Custer was himself arrested by Terry twice before the expedition got to the Powder River for trying to advance too far ahead of the main column, according to John McGuire.]

Instead of conforming his line of march to the valleys and water courses laid down in his written orders he moved his command to the mouth of the Little Powder River, then across to Tongue River, and instead of following the latter stream down to its mouth, there to unite with the main command, he, for some unaccountable and thus far unexplained reason, switched off from his prescribed course and marched across the country to the Rosebud, the stream he had been particularly cautioned not to approach.

He struck the Rosebud about twenty-five miles above its mouth, and there -- as Custer had predicted from the first -- signs indicating the recent presence of a large force of Indians were discovered, an abandoned camp ground of the Indians was found, on which 380 lodges had been pitched. The trail led up the valley of the Rosebud. Reno took up the trail and followed it about twenty miles, but faint heart never won fair lady, neither did it ever pursue and overtake an Indian village. Had Reno, after first violating his orders, pursued and overtaken the Indians, his original disobedience of orders would have been overlooked, but his determination forsook him at this point, and instead of continuing the pursuit and at least bringing the Indians to bay, he gave the order to countermarch and faced his command to the rear, from which point he made his way back to the mouth of Tongue River and reported the details of his gross and inexcusable blunder to General Terry, his commanding officer, who informed Reno in unmistakable language that the latter's conduct amounted to positive disobedience of orders, the sad consequences of which could not yet be fully determined. The details of this affair will not bear investigation.

A court-martial is strongly hinted at, and if one is not ordered it will not be because it is not richly deserved. The guides who were with Reno report that the trail where the latter was abandoned indicates that the Indian village of 380 lodges was moving in such deliberate manner and left so recently that Reno's command could have overtaken it in a march of one day and a half. Few officers have ever had such a fine opportunity to make a successful and telling strike and few ever failed so completely to improve their opportunities.

Gen. Alfred Terry, who assigned a scout, George herendeen, to watch Gen. George A. Custer. Of course there was but one thing to do and that was to remedy as soon as possible the effects of Reno's blunder. Custer's entire command, consisting of twelve companies of the Seventh Cavalry and a detachment of Indian scouts arrived at this point yesterday evening, where the steamer Far West, with General Terry and staff on board had already preceded them, General Terry having transferred his headquarters to the Far West before her departure from the mouth of Powder River. Gibbon's command was encamped on the left bank of the Yellowstone, opposite the mouth of the Rosebud.

Yesterday, Terry, Gibbon and Custer got together, and, with unanimity of opinion, decided that Custer should start with his command up the Rosebud valley to the point where Reno abandoned the trail, take up the latter and follow the Indians as long and as far as horse flesh and human endurance could carry his command. Custer takes no wagons or tents with his command, but proposes to live and travel like Indians; in this manner the command will be able to go wherever the Indians can. Gibbon's command has started for the mouth of the Bighorn. Terry in the Far West starts for the same point today, when with Gibbons force, and the Far West loaded with thirty days' supplies, he will push up the Bighorn as far as the navigation of that stream will permit, probably as far as old Fort C. F. Smith, at which point Custer will reform [rejoin?] the expedition after completing his present scout. Custer's command takes with it, on pack animals, rations for fifteen days. Custer advised his subordinate officers, however, in regard to rations, that it would be well to carry an extra supply of salt, because, if at the end of fifteen days the command should be pursuing a trail, he did not propose to turn back for lack of rations, but would subsist his men on fresh meat-game, if the country provided it; pack mules if nothing better offered. The Herald correspondent will accompany Custer's column and in the event of a "fight or a foot race," will be on the ground to make due record thereof for the benefit of the Herald readers. Upon the march from Powder to Tongue River, Custer, who was riding at the head of the column as it marched through a deserted Indian village of last winter, came upon the skull and bones of a white man. Near these was found the uniform of a cavalry soldier, as shown by the letter "C" on the button of the overcoat and the yellow cord binding on the dress coat. Near by were the dead embers of a large fire; showing, with attendant circumstances, that the cavalryman had undoubtedly been a prisoner in the hands of the savages, and had been put to the torture usually inflicted by Indians upon all white men falling into their hands as captives. Who the unfortunate man was and the sad details of his tragic death will never be known.

Court martials were nearly routine in the Frontier Army, with officers constantly leveling charges against each other.  Custer himself had been court martialed in 1867 and found guilty of being absent without leave, having abandoned his post to visit his wife, and for his harsh treatment of deserters.  He had been suspended from active duty for a year.

A courier from Crook's command arrived at Ft. Fetterman with details as to his actions. 

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 18, 1876. Vigilantes.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, New Mexico, New Mexico (Lincoln County)

Thursday, July 13, 1876. Grant informs Congress of what is known.

Complying with a request from Congress, President Grant sent what information was known about the Battle of the Little Big Horn to Congress.

Last edition:

Monday, July 10, 1876. Lead founded.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Battle of Little Big Horn, George A. Custer, Great Sioux War, Montana, Sioux, South Dakota, South Dakota (Lead), The written word

Monday, July 10, 1876. Lead founded.

From far Montana’s canons,/ lands of the wild ravine, the dusky Sioux,  the lone-/some stretch, the silence,/ haply, to-day, a mournful wail/ haply, a trumpet/ note for heroes.

Walt Whitman, “A Death-Sonnet for Custer,”  July 10, 1876,

Lead, South Dakota founded.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 9, 1876. Carrying a dispatch from Terry to Crook.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Alfred Terry, Army, Catholic, Christianity, Colombia, Colombian Civil War of 1876, George Crook, Great Sioux War, Heroes, Immigration, Ireland, Montana, religion, Wyoming

Thursday, July 6, 1876. Custer's defeat hits the New York Times.

 The New York Times and the Bismarck Tribune reported the disaster at the Little Big Horn.

Last edition:

Wednesday, July 5, 1876. Reno writes a report.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Battle of Little Big Horn, cavalry, Great Sioux War, Marcus Reno, The Press, Yellowstone Expedition, Yellowtone River

Tuesday, July 4, 1876. The Centennial.

The Centennial Fair in Philadelphia.

July 4, 1876 was of course the Centennial of American independence and accordingly was widely celebrated throughout the US.  The country was also a mere eleven years out of the Civil War, which nearly split the country into two, and was dealing with the ongoing consequences of that.

President Grant, of course a general of the recent war, issued a proclamation calling the nation to prayer:

Proclamation 229—Recommending Religious Services on July 4, 1876

June 26, 1876

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The centennial anniversary of the day on which the people of the United States declared their right to a separate and equal station among the powers of the earth seems to demand an exceptional observance.

The founders of the Government, at its birth and in its feebleness, invoked the blessings and the protection of a Divine Providence, and the thirteen colonies and three millions of people have expanded into a nation of strength and numbers commanding the position which then was asserted and for which fervent prayers were then offered.

It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country.

I therefore invite the good people of the United States, on the approaching 4th day of July, in addition to the usual observances with which they are accustomed to greet the return of the day, further, in such manner and at such time as in their respective localities and religious associations may be most convenient, to mark its recurrence by some public religious and devout thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us as a nation during the century of our existence, and humbly to invoke a continuance of His favor and of His protection.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 26th day of June, A. D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundredth.

U. S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

Secretary of State.

Members of the National Woman Suffrage Association crashed the Centennial Celebration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to present the “Declaration of the Rights of Women.”  It stated:

While the nation is buoyant with patriotism, and all hearts are attuned to praise, it is with sorrow we come to strike the one discordant note, on this one-hundredth anniversary of our country's birth. When subjects of kings, emperors, and czars, from the old world join in our national jubilee, shall the women of the republic refuse to lay their hands with benedictions on the nation's head? Surveying America's exposition, surpassing in magnificence those of London, Paris, and Vienna, shall we not rejoice at the success of the youngest rival among the nations of the earth? May not our hearts, in unison with all, swell with pride at our great achievements as a people: our free speech, free press, free schools, free church, and the rapid progress we have made in material wealth, trade, commerce and the inventive arts? And we do rejoice in the success, thus far, of our experiment of self-government. Our faith is firm and unwavering in the broad principles of human rights proclaimed in 1776, not only as abstract truths, but as the corner stones of a republic. Yet we cannot forget, even in this glad hour, that while all men of every race, and clime, and condition, have been invested with the full rights of citizenship under our hospitable flag, all women still suffer the degradation of disfranchisement.

The history of our country the past hundred years has been a series of assumptions and usurpations of power over woman, in direct opposition to the principles of just government, acknowledged by the United States as its foundation, which are:

First – The natural rights of each individual.

Second – The equality of these rights.

Third – That rights not delegated are retained by the individual.

Fourth – That no person can exercise the rights of others without delegated authority.

Fifth – That the non-use of rights does not destroy them.

And for the violation of these fundamental principles of our government, we arraign our rulers on this Fourth day of July, 1876, - and these are our articles of impeachment:

Bills of attainder have been passed by the introduction of the word "male" into all the State constitutions, denying to women the right of suffrage, and thereby making sex a crime – an exercise of power clearly forbidden in article I, sections 9, 10, of the United States constitution.

The writ of habeas corpus, the only protection against lettres de cachet and all forms of unjust imprisonment, which the constitution declares "shall not be suspended, except when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety demands it." is held inoperative in every State of the Union, in case of a married woman against her husband – the marital rights of the husband being in all cases primary, and the rights of the wife secondary.

The right of trial by a jury of one's peers was so jealously guarded that States refused to ratify the original constitution until it was guaranteed by the sixth amendment. And yet the women of this nation have never been allowed a jury of their peers – being tried in all cases by men, native and foreign, educated and ignorant, virtuous and vicious. Young girls have been arraigned in our courts for the crime of infanticide; tried, convicted, hanged – victims, perchance, of judge, jurors, advocates – while no woman's voice could be heard in their defense. And not only are women denied a jury of their peers, but in some cases, jury trial altogether. During the war, a woman was tried and hanged by military law, in defiance of the fifth amendment, which specifically declares: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases . . . . of persons in actual service in time of war." During the last presidential campaign, a woman, arrested for voting, was denied the protection of a jury, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a fine and costs of prosecution, by the absolute power of a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Taxation without representation, the immediate cause of the rebellion of the colonies against Great Britain, is one of the grievous wrongs the women of this country have suffered during the century. Deploring war, with all the demoralization that follows in its train, we have been taxed to support standing armies, with their waste of life and wealth. Believing in temperance, we have been taxed to support the vice, crime and pauperism of the liquor traffic. While we suffer its wrongs and abuses infinitely more than man, we have no power to protect our sons against this giant evil. During the temperance crusade, mothers were arrested, fined, imprisoned, for even praying and singing in the streets, while men blockade the sidewalks with impunity, even on Sunday, with their military parades and political processions. Believing in honesty, we are taxed to support a dangerous army of civilians, buying and selling the offices of government and sacrificing the best interests of the people. And, moreover, we are taxed to support the very legislators and judges who make laws, and render decisions adverse to woman. And for refusing to pay such unjust taxation, the houses, lands, bonds and stock of women have been seized and sold within the present year, thus proving Lord Coke's assertion, that "The very act of taxing a man's property without his consent is, in effect, disfranchising him of every civil right."

Unequal codes for men and women. Held by law a perpetual minor, deemed incapable of self-protection, even in the industries of the world, woman is denied equality of rights. The fact of sex, not the quantity or quality of work, in most cases, decides the pay and position; and because of this injustice thousands of fatherless girls are compelled to choose between a life of shame and starvation. Laws catering to man's vices have created two codes of morals in which penalties are graded according to the political status of the offender. Under such laws, women are fined and imprisoned if found alone in the streets, or in public places of resort, at certain hours. Under the pretense of regulating public morals, police officers seizing the occupants of disreputable houses, march the women in platoons to prison, while the men, partners in their guilt, go free. While making a show of virtue in forbidding the importation of Chinese women on the Pacific coast for immoral purposes, our rulers, in many States, and even under the shadow of the national capitol, are now proposing to legalize the sale of American womanhood for the same vile purposes.

Special legislation for woman has placed us in a most anomalous position. Women invested with the rights of citizens in one section – voters, jurors, office-holders – crossing an imaginary line, are subjects in the next. In some States, a married woman may hold property and transact business in her own name; in others, her earnings belong to her husband. In some States, a woman may testify against her husband, sue and be sued in the courts; in others, she has no redress in case of damage to person, property, or character. In case of divorce on account of adultery in the husband, the innocent wife is held to possess no right to children or property, unless by special decree of the court. But in no State of the Union has the wife the right to her own person, or to any part of the joint earnings of the co-partnership during the life of her husband. In some States women may enter the law schools and practice in the courts; in others they are forbidden. In some universities girls enjoy equal educational advantages with boys, while many of the proudest institutions in the land deny them admittance, though the sons of China, Japan and Africa are welcomed there. But the privileges already granted in the several States are by no means secure. The right of suffrage once exercised by women in certain States and territories has been denied by subsequent legislation. A bill is now pending in congress to disfranchise the women of Utah, thus interfering to deprive United States citizens of the same rights which the Supreme Court has declared the national government powerless to protect anywhere. Laws passed after years of untiring effort, guaranteeing married women certain rights of property, and mothers the custody of their children, have been repealed in States where we supposed all was safe. Thus have our most sacred rights been made the football of legislative caprice, proving that a power which grants as a privilege what by nature is a right, may withhold the same as a penalty when deeming it necessary for its own perpetuation.

Representation of woman has had no place in the nation's thought. Since the incorporation of the thirteen original States, twenty-four have been admitted to the Union, not one of which has recognized woman's right of self-government. On this birthday of our national liberties, July Fourth, 1876, Colorado, like all her elder sisters, comes into the Union with the invidious word "male" in her constitution.

Universal manhood suffrage, by establishing an aristocracy of sex, imposes upon the women of this nation a more absolute and cruel depotism [sic] than monarchy; in that, woman finds a political master in her father, husband, brother, son. The aristocracies of the old world are based upon birth, wealth, refinement, education, nobility, brave deeds of chivalry; in this nation, on sex alone; exalting brute force above moral power, vice above virtue, ignorance above education, and the son above the mother who bore him.

The judiciary above the nation has proved itself but the echo of the party in power, by upholding and enforcing laws that are opposed to the spirit and letter of the constitution. When the slave power was dominant, the Supreme Court decided that a black man was not a citizen, because he had not the right to vote; and when the constitution was so amended as to make all persons citizens, the same high tribunal decided that a woman, though a citizen, had not the right to vote. Such vacillating interpretations of constitutional law unsettle our faith in judicial authority, and undermine the liberties of the whole people.

These articles of impeachment against our rulers we now submit to the impartial judgment of the people. To all these wrongs and oppressions woman has not submitted in silence and resignation. From the beginning of the century, when Abigail Adams, the wife of one president and mother of another, said, "We will not hold ourselves bound to obey laws in which we have no voice or representation," until now, woman's discontent has been steadily increasing, culminating nearly thirty years ago in a simultaneous movement among the women of the nation, demanding the right of suffrage. In making our just demands, a higher motive than the pride of sex inspires us; we feel that national safety and stability depend on the complete recognition of the broad principles of our government. Woman's degraded, helpless position is the weak point in our institutions to-day; a disturbing force everywhere, severing family ties, filling our asylums with the deaf, the dumb, the blind; our prisons with criminals, our cities with drunkenness and prostitution; our homes with disease and death. It was the boast of the founders of the republic, that the rights for which they contended were the rights of human nature. If these rights are ignored in the case of one-half the people, the nation is surely preparing for its downfall. Governments try themselves. The recognition of a governing and a governed class is incompatible with the first principles of freedom. Woman has not been a heedless spectator of the events of this century, nor a dull listener to the grand arguments for the equal rights of humanity. From the earliest history of our country woman has shown equal devotion with man to the cause of freedom, and has stood firmly by his side in its defense. Together, they have made this country what it is. Woman's wealth, thought and labor have cemented the stones of every monument man has raised to liberty.

And now, at the close of a hundred years, as the hour-hand of the great clock that marks the centuries points to 1876, we declare our faith in the principles of self-government; our full equality with man in natural rights; that woman was made first for her own happiness, with the absolute right to herself - to all the opportunities and advantages life affords for her complete development; and we deny that dogma of the centuries, incorporated in the codes of all nations – that woman was made for man – her best interests, in all cases, to be sacrificed to his will. We ask of our rulers, at this hour, no special favors, no special privileges, no special legislation. We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever.

The presentation of the declaration was a serious event, marking a rising movement that had taken strength from the Abolitionist movement, which they had largely supported.

The location of the demonstration is interesting in our current context.  Expositions were hugef deals at the time and would remain so up until after World War One, when they started to fade.  World's Fairs, a similar event, still continue to exist, but you hear very little about them, the last big one I recall hearing about being Toronto's Expo 67.  The current illegitimate occupant of the White House attempted to revive the centennial fair tradition with a "Great American State Fair"  running from June 25 through July 10, 2026,  but the public does not appear to be very interested in it.  

It's somewhat confusing on what day this article first appeared, and I've already noted it.  It was likely penned on July 2, and published in the Helena newspaper on July 4:

A TERRIBLE FIGHT

Gen. Custer and his Nephew

KILLED

The Seventh Cavalry cut to pieces

The Whole Number Killed 315

From our Special Correspondent

Mr. W. H. Norton

Stillwater, M. T.,

July 2nd, 1876.

Muggins Taylor, scout for Gen. Gibbons, got here last night, direct from Little Horn River with telegraphic despatches. General Custer found the Indian camp of about two thousand lodges on the Little Horn, and immediately attacked the camp. Custer took five companies and charged the thickest portion of the camp.

Nothing is Known of the Operation of this detachment, only as they trace it by the dead. Major Reno commanded the other seven companies and attacked the lower portion of the camp. The Indians poured in a murderous fire from all directions. Besides the greater portion fought on horseback. Custer, his two brothers, a nephew and a brother-in-law were

All Killed and not one of his detachment escaped, 207 men were buried in one place and the killed are estimated at 300 with only 31 wounded. The Indians surrounded Reno's command and held them one day in the hills

Cut Off from Water until Gibbons's command came in sight, when they broke camp in the night and left.

The Seventh Fought Like Tigers and were overcome by mere brute force. The Indian loss cannot be estimated, as they bore off and cached most of their killed. The remnant of the Seventh Cavalry and Gibbon's command are returning to the mouth of the Little Horn, where the steamboat lies. The Indians got all the arms of the killed soldiers. There were seventeen commissioned officers killed.

The Whole Custer Family died at the head of their column. The exact loss is not known as both Adjutants and the Sergeant Major were killed. The Indian camp was from three to four miles along and was twenty miles up the Little Horn from its mouth. The Indians actually pulled men off their horses in some instances. I give this as Taylor told me, as he was over the field after the battle.

The above is confirmed by other letters which say Custer met a fearful disaster.

The initial article was fairly accurate.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 2, 1876. Terry reaches the Yellowstone, Crook reaches Cloud Peak, News hits the Press

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Alfred Terry, Battle of Little Big Horn, Frederick Benteen, Great Sioux War, hunting, Montana, The Press, Wyoming, Wyoming (Cloud Peak), Yellowstone Expedition

Wednesday, June 28, 1876. Burial detail.

Marcus Reno's detail began burying the dead on Last Stand Hill in shallow graves.

The graves were very shallow, reflecting that cavalry in the field really didn't have equipment suitable for digging graves.  During the battle itself digging in had proven to be difficult.  The extent to which the soldiers were barely covered would be shocking under modern circumstances, but then burying men where they fell would be too.  In the 19th Century, however, there was little other choice.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 27, 1876. Terry and Gibbon arrive.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Alfred Terry, Army, Battle of Little Big Horn, cavalry, Frederick Benteen, George A. Custer, Great Sioux War, Indian Wars, Little Big Horn River, Marcus Reno

Tuesday, June 27, 1876. Terry and Gibbon arrive.

Alfred Terry.

Terry's column arrived at the Little Big Horn.  He wrote his report to Gen. Sheridan on Last Stand Hill.

It is my painful duty to report that day before yesterday, the 25th instant, a great disaster overtook General Custer and the troops under his command. At 12 o'clock of the 22nd instant he started with his whole regiment and a strong detachment of scouts and guides from the mouth of the Rosebud; proceeding up that river about twenty miles he struck a very heavy Indian trail, which had previously been discovered, and pursuing it, found that it led, as it was supposed that it would lead, to the Little Big Horn River. Here he found a village of almost unlimited extent, and at once attacked it with that portion of his command which was immediately at hand. Major Reno, with three companies, A, G, and M, of the regiment, was sent into the valley of the stream at the point where the trail struck it. General Custer, with five companies, C, E, F, I, and L, attempted to enter about three miles lower down. Reno, forded the river, charged down its left bank, and fought on foot until finally completely overwhelmed by numbers he was compelled to mount and recross the river and seek a refuge on the high bluffs which overlook its right bank. Just as he recrossed, Captain Benteen, who, with three companies, D, H, and K, was some two (2) miles to the left of Reno when the action commenced, but who had been ordered by General Custer to return, came to the river, and rightly concluding that it was useless for his force to attempt to renew the fight in the valley, he joined Reno on the bluffs. Captain McDougall with his company (B) was at first some distance in the rear with a train of pack mules. He also came up to Reno. Soon this united force was nearly surrounded by Indians, many of whom armed with rifles, occupied positions which commanded the ground held by the cavalry, ground from which there was no escape. Rifle-pits were dug, and the fight was maintained, though with heavy loss, from about half past 2 o'clock of the 25th till 6 o'clock of the 26th, when the Indians withdrew from the valley, taking with them their village. Of the movements of General Custer and the five companies under his immediate command, scarcely anything is known from those who witnessed them; for no officer or soldier who accompanied him has yet been found alive. His trail from the point where Reno crossed the stream, passes along and in the rear of the crest of the bluffs on the right bank for nearly or quite three miles; then it comes down to the bank of the river, but at once diverges from it, as if he had unsuccessfully attempted to cross; then turns upon itself, almost completing a circle, and closes. It is marked by the remains of his officers and men and the bodies of his horses, some of them strewn along the path, others heaped where halts appeared to have been made. There is abundant evidence that a gallant resistance was offered by the troops, but they were beset on all sides by overpowering numbers. The officers known to be killed are General Custer; Captains Keogh, Yates, and Custer, and Lieutenants Cooke, Smith, McIntosh, Calhoun, Porter, Hodgson, Sturgis, and Reilly, of the cavalry. Lieutenant Crittenden, of the Twelfth Infantry, along with Acting Assistant Surgeon D. E. Wolf, Lieutenant Harrington of the Cavalry, and Assistant Surgeon Lord are missing. Captain Benteen and Lieutenant Varnum, of the cavalry are slightly wounded. Mr. B. Custer, a brother, and Mr. Reed, a nephew, of General Custer, were with him and were killed. No other officers than those whom I have named are among the killed, wounded, and missing.

It is impossible yet to obtain a reliable list of the enlisted men killed and wounded, but the number of killed, including officers, must reach two hundred and fifty. The number of wounded is fifty-one. The balance of report will be forwarded immediately.

 Benteen walked the ground of Last Stand Hill.  He later recounted:

I went over the battlefield carefully with a view to determine how the battle was fought. I arrived at the conclusion then, as I have now, that it was a rout, a panic, until the last man was killed ...

That there was no line formed on the battlefield. You can take a handful of corn and scatter it over the floor, and make just such lines, there were none. The only approach to a line was where 5 or 6 horses found at equal distances, like skirmishers. Ahead of those 5 or 6 horses there were 5 or 6 men at about the same distances, showing that the horses were killed and the riders jumped off and were all heading to get where General Custer was. That was the only approach to a line on the field. There were more than 20 killed there to the right. There were 4 or 5 at one place, all within a space of 20 to 30 yards. That was the condition all over the field and in the

I think, in all probability, that the men turned their horses loose without any orders to do so. Many orders might have been given, but few obeyed. I think that they were panic stricken; it was a rout, as I said before.

Last edition:

Monday, June 26, 1876 Day two of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Reno fights to hold his positions and against thirst, Gibbon marches south, Crook camps on Goose Creek.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Alfred Terry, American Centennial, Battle of Little Big Horn, Frederick Benteen, George Crook, Little Big Horn River, Marcus Reno, U.S. Grant, Yellowstone Expedition

Sunday, June 25, 1876. The Battle of the the Little Bighorn.

Today In Wyoming's History: June 25: 

June 25

1876  The legendary Battle of the Little Big Horn occurs in southeastern Montana. On this date, in 1876, a large combined group of Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapaho and maybe even a few Metis, defeated an assault by the 7th Cavalry in southern Montana, resulting in the complete elimination of one prong of a split assault, and the retreat and desperate defense by two other elements of the command. The 7th's effort was part of a summer 1876 campaign on the northern plains, which had seen a the defeat of a combined unit of elements of the 2d & 3d Cavalry, 4th and 9th Infantry, and Crow and Shoshone scouts in southern Montana several days earlier. Both Plains Indians victories marked the high water mark, and the rapidly receding tide, of Indian power on the northern plains.

Little Big Horn is by far the most famous of American Indian battles, and almost defines them for the average person. It remains one of the most written about of all American historical events. It was a huge shock to the American psyche at the time, and resulted in the Army being expanded by 2,500 men for Plains service.

In terms of actual casualties, the 7th suffered about 52 percent casualties of the force that was deployed, in a battle that saw fighting at widely separated points, several miles distant, including 16 officers and 242 enlisted men killed. One officer and 51 enlisted men survived the battles with wounds. The battle is mostly remembered due to the fact that the every man in Custer's immediate command was killed, which makes up the bulk of the casualties. This may be a bit unfair, as it somewhat discounts the effective defense put up by Reno and Benteen's men in a separate location.

Of interest, 22% of the 7th Cavalry was detached prior to the expedition on other duties, a fairly common occurrence. 166 men and officers therefore were not present on the campaign, and missed the battle.

Some may wonder why I have included this even in a Wyoming daily history blog, as I included an item about Colorado's Sand Creek Massacre yesterday, but these are all regional events, which had an enormous impact on Wyoming at the time.  For the Indians in particular, the territorial borders did not exist.

The battle remains the greatest single defeat, and the greatest single loss of life in a single battle, in the post 1865 Indian Wars.  It is not, however, the U.S. Army's worst day during the long struggle with Native Americans.  That day was the Battle of the Wabash in 1791 in which the Northwestern Confederacy of Native Americans decisively defeated the U.S. Army with the Army loosing 656 men to the Natives 21 in spite of the forces being evenly matched.  It was by some measures the worst day in American military  history.

This is also the most written about even in American military history of all time.  Only the Battle of the Bulge and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor rival it, which shows what a major psychologic impact it had on American culture and historical memory.  There are, of course, a number of reasons for that which remain worth considering for a number of reasons.

To start off with the battle was, of course, a major shock at the time that it occurred, although it was no unprecedented.  Fetterman's detachment being wiped out on December 21, 1866 outside of Ft. Phil Carney provided an earlier example which its always temping to draw analogies too.  That particular battle, which resulted in the loss of 81 soldiers and armed civilians at the hands of some of the same combatants, and at the hands of the same tribes, actually had a more dire immediate effect on the survivors in that the post was so remote it was in serious danger of being overrun, had the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho bothered to attempt it, which they did not.  81 men, of course, is considerably less than 242.

A big part of the shock was due to the early press reporting.  In spite of the Fetterman Fight, the press and the public was not prepared for such a singular defeat at the hands of Plains Indians, even though Custer's detached command was considerably outnumbered at the time of the attack.  Custer was thought of as a real Indian Fighter, which he in fact was not, and the result was nearly inconceivable, resulting in a lot of fanciful speculation.  To add to this the surviving officers had a built in incentive not to be responsible for what occurred, and indeed in the 7th Cavalry's case, they really were not.  That didn't keep, however, some from trying to blame them just as Custer was elevated to an absolute hero.  As time went on it was fairly clear to the U.S. Army what had happened, even if it wasn't necessarily to civilian writers.  Early histories, moreover, assumed a level of knowledge about certain things, particularly horses, that later historians lacked, resulting in both of them omitting them.  All of this contributed to a sense of romantic mystery that endures to the present day.

Evan as that mystery has endured, however, Custer became a symbol for the entire American effort against the Native Americans, from 1620 through Wounded Knee, a fact that his peculiar character lent itself to.  Hated by many of his men, and detested by many of his fellow 7th Cavalry officers, he made a ready and easy scapegoat that further allowed some historians to assign personal blame to him for what occurred on this day in 1876.

In truth, what occurred at Little Big Horn is really obvious if a person is actually familiar with the conditions of frontier campaigning, which unfortunately many of the post 1930 or so historians have not been.

Alfred Terry had detached Custer's command on June 22, 1876, because it was a cavalry command and he needed a force to cover vast distances quickly.  Cavalry suited that purpose.  But even as it did, it was saddled with certain distinct limitations, the most pronounced being the very thing that gave it mobility, the horse.

American cavalrymen, like European cavalrymen, and the cavalrymen of ever modern army (and yes this was a modern army) assigned one mount per man.  Officers often had a second.  This was not, it might be noted, the historical norm.  Mongols, for example, had multiple mounts per man.  

In fact, Native Americans had multiple mounts per man.  And so did cowboys when working cattle, in spite of what the movies may have falsely told us.  The cowboy norm was seven mounts per man.  The Native American situation depended upon his personal wealth, often measured in horses, but to be an effective warrior he needed more than one.  Indeed, the entire culture of horse raiding is explained by this.

The reason for this is that horses "break down".  In a campaign, at first, this is not a factor.  But by June 21, 1876, when Custer's command was detached, his troopers, and their horses, had been in the field for weeks.  By that time the horses were undoubtedly fatigued.

Moreover, American cavalrymen were mounted on American Horses, big cavalry mounts that were strong and adept at covering ground, but also horses bread for more temperate conditions.  In the East, there was always plenty of feed, but that was not true in the West.  As a result, horses "broke down" quickly.  Once a mount "broke down", a cavalryman was converted into a foot soldier for the rest of the campaign, attached to the baggage train.

The Army was well aware of this problem and studied it constantly  One solution was to pick up local mounts, like those the Indians were using, and like those used by cowboy.  "Range horses" were really ponies, but were tough and acclimated to their conditions.  Like any horse, they would break down, but they'd endure much more than American Horses would.  In some commands cavalry units going West swapped out American Horses for Range Horses, much like Marines deploying to combat during part of the Vietnam War swapped their M16s for M14s.

The Army had also long attempted to address this by severely limiting the weight load of a horse.  Cavalrymen themselves were limited in height and weight.  They were short, generally not being taller than 5'6", and the were light, generally not weighing more than 140 lbs.  The McClellan saddle they used was very light weight.  They carried very little. Even at that, however, they were faced with the problem of horse fatigue.

Indeed, while cavalry was critical, the problems it faced were so severe that at one point one Army commander lobbied for only having infantry.  That was extreme, but it shows the difficulty that could exist.  In contrast, Crook routinely mounted his infantry on the pack trains mules, mounting them on the mules, a double tough animal that wasn't as fast as a horse, but which was faster than walking, and saved fatigue on the nervous infantryman.

On walking, cavalrymen walked a lot in order to save their horses.  This differed greatly from the native practice.  Natives in transit didn't walk at all.

The Cheyenne, Sioux and Arapaho, in contrast to the Army, had all Range Horses and large numbers of them.  This avoided the problems noted above, but in a camp of this size, it meant that they had to move every few days as they'd wipe out the forage.  Ultimately, they couldn't keep a camp this size together at all.

Custer's command spent the night of June 24 in the Wolf Mountains. At 3:00 a.m. his scouts climbed a peak called "the Crow's Nest" and at first light, 5:00 a.m. they sighted it.  It was 15 miles distant.  The 7th Cavalry started its advance on the camp at 8:00, an hour after Custer was informed of the camp's presence.  It took the 7th Cavalry four hours to cover the ground.  Once the command departed at 8:00, it was committed to action, albeit with no plan in place, as the risk of the natives detecting the dust of the huge  number of  horses was too great not to advance to conclusion.

At noon Custer's command had a good view of a portion of the camp and he divided his command, detailing Maj. Reno to hit what would have been the left flank, from his prospective.

This brings up a couple of things that need to be addressed in any discussion of the battle.  One thing is that there was no reconnaissance of the position being attacked whatsoever.  This probably isn't surprising, however, even though reconnaissance was a function of cavalry.  Once committed at 8, as noted, the command was committed and there was no choice but to go forward.

But was committing itself a mistake. Terry suggested, but did not command, that Custer wait for Gibbons and Terry to advance from the north.  The location of Terry and Gibbon, however, was completely unknown, and it was clear to all that a large camp would move.  Native camps, moreover, were notoriously able to move without being detected.  Custer had some justification for attacking when he could.  By the same token, however, shadowing the camp, was a bit of an option, although the longer the cavalry was nearby the greater the risk that it would be attacked itself.  Custer's decision, therefore, was not unreasonable.

Added to that, Custer did not really have very much experience in Indian warfare.  Nobody in the post Civil War Army did.  There had been men with vast frontier fighting experience n the Army prior to the Civil War, but the war had consumed them in one form or another, and  they were not the field commanders of the post Civil War Army.  Custer had campaigned against natives before, but those campaigns had been largely ineffectual with no trace of the natives being found. The exception was Washita in 1868 which had been a near disaster and a moral travesty.  

Custer had, of course, a lot of Civil War experience. Every officer in his command did. That, however, was not particularly useful on the plains.

The second part of this is that once the location of the camp was determined, Custer had a choice of hitting it from one side, with a unified command, or trying to effectively surround it, and hit from both sides.  He opted for that latter option.  In theory, that was a good decision, but it depended on the right flank being found and hit with no reconnaissance.  

Once the decision was made, it took from noon until 3:00 for Reno's troops to charge the village.  He hit alone, with Custer's command detached and its location unknow to Reno.  It's known now that Custer personally advanced down to the river several times to try to determine where to hit the Indian village, only to find that he was not yet on its edge.  It took Custer an hour to find a location to attempt to charge the camp.

All of this means that as this was occurring the entire command was mounted on horses that were fatigued to start with. During the last phase of the operation horses would have been kept at a fast gait the entire time.  From something like 2:30 until 4:00 every mount in the command was at a canter or faster.

Reno's charge immediately stalled out and he was forced to have his troops dismount and fight a defensive action from 3:00 to 3:40, at which point the survivors retreated in the hills, to be later joined by Benteen who was bringing up the pack train.  This means that Custer actually committed his command after Reno had already retreated.  The native camp covered an expanse of three miles. not a great distance, but a difficult one for cavalrymen because of it hilly terrain, where as the Sioux and Cheyenne were on the flat river bottom.   The native combatants, mounted on fresh mounts, were able to cover the distance from Reno's failed retreat to Custer's new charge in no time.  Reno in contrast was effectively immobilized, in spite of later criticism that he should have attempted to ride to Custer's aid.  In reality, he could not have and that would have resulted in the elimination of his command as well.

Custer's command was destroyed over a period of an hour, much longer than popularly imagined, with a huge volley of fire being heard at one point.  The last of his troops were overrun at about 5:30.  Native combatants thereafter drifted back to where Reno was to take potshots at his dug in troops.  They kept it up all the next day until they decamped and departed the night of June 26.

Last edition:

Saturday, June 24, 1876. Custer marches into the Wolf Mountains, Terry starts down the Big Horn.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Alfred Terry, Battle of Little Big Horn, Big Horn River, cavalry, Cheyenne people, George A. Custer, Great Sioux War, Indian Wars, John Gibbon, Little Big Horn River, Montana, Sioux, Yellowstone Expedition

Saturday, June 24, 1876. Custer marches into the Wolf Mountains, Terry starts down the Big Horn.

The 7th Cavalry halted at where Busby Montana presently is.  Knowing that the Sioux were somewhere in the vicinity, scouts were sent ahead to the Crow's Nest in the Wolf Mountains. The command then married a further fifteen miles at night towards the location.

Keeping in mind that sundown occurs in this region on this day at about 9:00 p.m., this means the already exhausted command was making a difficult night march.

Not all that far off, the Sioux/Cheyenne camp was holding the Dying Dancing Ceremony in which teenagers vowed to lose their lives in battle to defend the camp.

Terry's command was ferried to the southside of the Yellowstone near the mouth of the Big Horn to proceed up the river's valley with the goal of reaching the mouth of the Little Big Horn by June 26.  It was hoped that Custer's command would have maneuvered to the south of the camp by the 26, which was an approximate date, allowing the camp, which was known to exist somewhere in the area, to be trapped.  As it was, Custer had maneuvered to the southwest of the camp by the late night of the 25th.

Last edition:

Friday, June 23, 1876. Camp on the Rosebud.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, California, cavalry, George A. Custer, Great Sioux War, Indian Wars, Montana (Rosebud Creek), U.S. Grant, Yellowstone Expedition