Little Big Horn, A Study of a Cavalry Regiment in the Indian Wars

[dragoon500ly]

So why the hooplaa over a battle that took place on June 25-26, 1876? After all,the root cause was a insane, glory hound named George Armstring Custer, at least that's what numerous Hollywood movies, various TV miniseries and scores of authors have told us every since that hot, summer day on a Montana Territory hillside. But when studying history, what is unearthed is many times, not what popular history says it is.

The Battle of the Little Big Horn cost the US Army 268 men killed, or just over 1% of its total authorized strength of 26,312 men. Compared to the battles of the Civil War, LBH is at most, a minor skirmish. But to the regular army of the 1870s, 1 percent of its strength was a staggering loss. During the period of the Indian Wars (1866-1891) the US Army lost 1,128 men in the trans-Mississippi West. LBH accounts for one quarter of all the men killed during this period. This makes LBH a staggering defeat when viewed in the context of the small numbers of casualties that would normally be expected in an fight with Indians.

When the Civil War ended in 1865, it brought about a reorganization of the army. The army had two roles, the first of policing the reconstruction effort in the South and the second of restoring order on the frontier. During the war, the frontier was guarded by over-stretched regular regiments or by various state militia units. The Indians took advantage of this and committed a series of depredations against white settlers, particularly in the Great Plains.

The army, following the reorganization of 1866 consisted of twenty-five regiments of infantry (two colored), ten regiments of cavalry (two colored) and five regiments of artillery. The U.S. Seventh Cavalry was a brand new regiment created as part of the 1866 reorganization. In July, 1866, George Custer, brevet major general of volunteers and permament rank of captain in the regular army, was appointed as lieutenant colonel of the new regiment. Custer joined his new regiment at its permanent station at Fort Riley, Kansas.

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The organization of the regiment was comprised of a regimental staff and twelve companies (the official term is company for both the cavalry and artillery regiments, troop and battery were unofficial names, although widely used).

The Regimental Staff of the Seventh Cavalry consisted of

Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis (detached service to St. Louis, Missouri
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer (acting commander)
Major Joseph Tilford (leave of absence)
Major Lewis Merrill (detached service to Washington DC)
Major Marcus Reno
Adjutant First Lieutenant William Cooke (Custer Bn, killed in action)
Quartermaster First Lieutenant Henry Nowlan
Assistant Surgeon George Lord (Custer Bn, killed in action)
Acting Assistant Surgeon James DeWolf (Reno Bn, killed in action)
Acting Assistant Surgeon Henry Porter
Veterinary Surgeon C. A. Stein (detached to Yellowstone Depot)
Sergeant Major William Sharrow (Custer Bn, killed in action)
Quartermaster Sergeant (detached to Yellowstone Depot)
Commissary Sergeant
Saddler Sergeant John Tritten (detached to Yellowstone Depot)
Chief Trumpeter Henry Voss (Custer Bn, killed in action)
Chief Musician Felix Vinatieri (detached to Yellowstone Depot)
sixteen privates, regimental band, detached to Yellowstone Depot)

[dragoon500ly]

The Seventh Cavalry was made up of twelve companies. In spite of what Hollywood/TV would have you believe, Companies is the correct usage. Even the Artillery Regiments called their units companies instead of batteries. The terms troop and battery were in common use during this period. You would see written orders to "Commanding Officer of Company G" for example, while on the field the verbal order would be "G Troop will advance", of course this really depended on the senior officer involved!

The organization of the companies changed several times. There is the 1866, 1869, 1870, 1874 (twice!) and the 1875 reorganizations. The basic setup on July 28, 1866 provided for the following:

Captain
First Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
First Sergeant
Quartermaster Sergeant
5 Sergeants
8 Corporals
2 Trumpeters
2 Farriers & Blacksmiths
1 Saddler
1 Wagoner
78 Privates

The latest organization (the one used at LBH) was:

Captain
First Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
First Sergeant
5 Sergeants
4 Corporals
2 Trumpeters
2 Farriers & Blacksmiths
1 Saddler
1 Wagoner
54 Privates

At LBH the companies looked like this:

Company A: Captain Myles Moylan; one officer killed, one officer wounded, 8 enlisted killed, 6 enlisted wounded (1 died of wounds). Total=10 killed, 6 wounded out of 55 men on roster

Company B: Captain Thomas McDougall; 1 officer killed, 2 enlisted killed, 5 enlisted wounded. Total=3 killed, 5 wounded out of 71 men on roster

Company C: Thomas Custer; 3 officers killed, 36 enlisted killed, 4 enlisted wounded (1 died of wounds). Total=40 killed, 3 wounded out of 66 men on roster

Company D: Captain Thomas Weir; 3 enlisted killed, 3 enlisted wounded. Total 3 killed, 3 wounded out of 64 men on roster

Company E: Captain Charles Ilsley; 1 officer killed, 37 enlisted killed, 2 enlisted wounded. Total=38 killed, 2 wounded out of 61 men on roster

Company F: Captain George Yates; 1 officer killed, 36 enlisted killed. Total=37 killed out of 68 men on roster

Company G: Captain Joun Tourtellotte; 1 officer killed, 13 enlisted killed, 6 enlisted wounded. Total=14 killed, 6 wounded out of 69 men on roster

Company H: Captain Frederick Benteen; 1 officer wounded, 2 enlisted killed, 20 enlisted wounded (2 died of wounds). Total= 4 killed, 19 wounded out of 55 men on roster

Company I: Captain Myles Keeogh; 2 officers killed, 36 enlisted killed, 1 wounded (died of wounds). Total=39 killed out of 65 men on roster.

Company K: Captain Owen Hale; 5 enlisted killed, 3 enlisted wounded. Total 5 killed, 3 wounded out of 69 men on roster

Company L: Captain Michael Sheridan; 1 officer killed, 44 enlisted killed, 1 enlisted wounded. Total=45 killed, 1 wounded out of 69 men on roster

Company M: Captain Thomas French; 1 officer killed, 12 enlisted killed, 11 enlisted wounded (1 died of wounds). Total=14 killed, 10 wounded out of 63 men on roster

Quartermaster Employees present: 21 men fall into this category: comprised of 3 Guides, 2 Interpreters, 1 Correspondent, 13 Packers, 1 Scout, 1 accompanying civilian. Of these, 3 Guides, 2 Interpreters, 1 Correspondent, 1 Accompanying Civilian, and 1 Packer were killed and 1 Packer wounded. Total 8 killed, 1 wounded out of 21 men present

Indian Scouts present: 51 Crow, Ree, Dak and Sioux scouts rode with the 7th Cavalry. Of these 2 were killed and 2 were wounded.

[dragoon500ly]

When GAC split the Seventh Cavalry up on June 25, 1876, this was the tactical orginzation:

Custer's Battalion
Regimental Staff: Lieutenant Colonel George Custer
Company C: Captain Thomas Custer
Company E: First Lieutenant Algernon Smith
Compant F: Captain George Yates
Company I: Captain Myles Keogh
Company L: First Lieutenant James Calhoun

Reno's Battalion
Battalion Staff: Major Marcus Reno
Company A: Captain Myles Moylan
Company G: First Lieutenant Donald McIntosh
Company M: Captain Thomas French

Benteen's Battalion
Battalion Staff: Captain Frederick Benteen
Company D: Captain Thomas Wier
Company H: First Lieutenant Francis Gibson
Company K: First Lieutenant Edward Godfrey

Pack Train Escort
Company B: Captain Thomas McDougall
detachement of 1 NCO and 6 enlisted men from each troop.

[dragoon500ly]

"Holy Shit! Look at all of those damned Ind----" Famous last words supposed to have been uttered by George Custer

So just how many Indians were supposed to have been present at Little Big Horn? The simple answer is that no one knows for sure.

What is known is that the villages in the Valley of the Little Big Horn River had grown considerably in size from earlier in the year. Families would leave the reservation and join others for a summer of freedom. The Indian Agents would under report these depatures in order to continue to receive supplies for the larger number, which they would then turn around and sell and pocket the profit. How large was the problem? The Standing Rock Indian Agency reported that 7,000 Indians were present, a count conducted by the Army confirmed only 2,300 were actually present.

In 1877, the Scott Expedition returned to the Little Big Horn to rebury the cavalry men, the commanding officer of the expedition, Lieutenant H.L. Scott took the time to count the number of lodge circles present in the valley. He stopped counting at 1,500. This effort, while intresting, proves little as many families often moved several times, each time leaving a lodge circle. In addition, Lt. Scott failed to count the hundreds of wickiups, brush shelters that housed one or two people.

The following are estimates of the numbers of warriors by various officers who either took part in the battle or examined the field afterwards:
Colonel John Gibbon, 2,500; 2nd Lt Luther Hale, 4,000; scout George Herendeen, 3,000; 1st Lt Charles DeRudio, 3-4,000; Captain Myles Moylan, 3,500-4,000; 2nd Lt Charles Varnum, 4,000. 2nd Lt George Wallace first estimated 3,000 and then changed his mind at the Reno Court of Inquiry, testifing that there were 9,000. Captain Frederick Benteen initially estimated 1,500 and then changed his mind and stated 8-9,000.

Even the Indians themselves could not provide an exact number. Chief Gall refused to offer any estimate; Flat Iron, 8,000; Chief Runs-the-Enemy, 2,000; Flying Hawk, 1,000 and Crazy Horse, at least 7,000. Red Cloud estimated 2,000. Allegedly, Indians believed that the number was less than a 1,000 and that anyone who counted higher than a 1,000 was dishonest.

Even the various historians have different values: Stanley Vestal, 2,500; Frazier Hunt, 1,800 to 2,000; Lewis Crawford, 2,000-2,500; Fred Dustin, 3,000-3,500; Charles Eastman, not more than 1,400; Edgar Stewart, 3,000; Robert Utley; 2,000; Jeffery Wert, 2,000; anf George Grinnell, 4,500-6,000.

The best estimate of the actual number of lodges was provided by John Gray:
Northern Cheyenne: 120
Oglala Sioux: 240
Blackfoot, Brule and Two Kettle Sioux: 120
Sans Arc Sioux: 110
Minniconjou Sioux: 150
Hunkpapa Sioux: 235
Yanktonnais and Santee Sious: 25

Gray estimates the total number of lodges at 1,000, but he does not include any Arapaho, members of this tribe were known to be present. It is estimated that each lodge would be home to two warriors, perhaps more if the older boys were counted. Add to this the large number of wickiups on the north end of the village which housed young warriors who did not live with their families; subtract the number of men who had reached old age (after their 40th birthday).....

Whatever the exact number, it is fair to assume that the Seventh Cavalry was outnumbered.

As for the Indian losses, estimated varily wildly from a low of 30-40 to as many as 500. As Custer had observed earlier "The Indians invariably endeavored to conceal their exact losses." The only Indian casualties that were found after the battle, consisted of eight bodies left within two lodges in the abandoned village. These warriors were dressed in their finest clothing and were lying on scaffolds.

Even the Indians are divided on thier own losses. Red Horse later stated that "the soldiers killed 136 and wounded 160 Sioux".

[dragoon500ly]

What is today considered the Little Big Horn Battlefield lays on the northern side of the Little Big Horn River. Running from east to west:

The Reno-Benteen Defense Site: Here seven companies of the Seventh under the command of Major Reno held a defensive position ontop of this bluff after Renos rout from the valley floor. It lies about 600 yards north of the LBHR. Remains of the crude trench and rifle pits dug by the troopers can still be scene.

Next is Sharpshooter's Ridge located about 500 yards north of the Reno-Beenteen Defense Site. On this ridge, throughout July 26th, an Indian sharpshooter killed or wounded a number of the pinned-down troopers. This Indian gained a grudging respect for his marksmanship before being either killed or forced away from the rdige by the troopers concentrated fire.

Wier Point, located about a mile northwest of the RBDS is a small promontory above Medicine Tail Coulee. This is the location that Captain Wier and his company advanced to without orders from Reno/Benteen. From this point, Captain Wier was able to observe Indians in the distance firing at objects on the ground around Custer Hill. Weir was forced back from this point and driven back to the RBDS.

Medicine Tail Coulee runs from north of Wier Point about 300 yards to the river at the southern end of the Indian village on the opposite bank. Indians tell of a movement by part of Custer's Battalion down this ravine (either as a feint or as an attempt to attack the village). This movement met with fierce opposition and retreated north and east (up Deep Coulee?) to Battle Ridge. There are also stories that Custer was either killed or wounded during this fight.

Nye-Cartwright Ridge forms part of the divide between Medicine Tail Coulee and Deep Coulee and was named for two students who located numerous firing positions in the area. It is believed that troopers deployed in this position to cover Custer's right flank and cover the approach of the pack train.

Deep Coulee leads to the LBHR near the center of the Indian village and is located at the northern end of the Nye-Cartwright Ridge, just south of Calhoun Hill. It is believed that elements of Custer's Battalion may have retreated up this coulee after attacking down Medicine Tail Coulee and then being repulsed by the Indians. Gall and a group of warriors rode up this coulee to attack Battle Ridge near Calhoun Hill.

Calhoun Hill overlooks Deep Coulee and is the southern end of Battle Ridge. This is the location that Lieutenant Calhoun and Company L were overrun and killed by Gall and Crazy Horse.

Battle Ridge is a half-mile long ridge that is bordered by Custer Hill on the north and Calhoun Hill on the south. This us where most of the Custer Battalion fought and died. Crazy Horse is believed to have rallied a group of warriors in the village, crossed the river and then swept down Battle Ridge from Custer Hill to Calhoun Hill, killing everyone in his path.

Deep Ravine is also sometimes called North Medicine Tail Coulee by some researchers. It is located near the end of the slope that runs from Custer Hill west to the LBHR. This line is sometimes referred to as the South Skirmish Line, although there is little or no evidence of any major fighting. Indian stories hint at an attempt by a company-sized force attempting to break-out from Custer Hill/Battle Ridge. Testimony by soldiers burying their dead two days later state that 28 men of Company E were buried in a mass grave at a point some 2,000 feet from Custer Hill, near the end of Deep Ravine. These bodies have never been recovered.

Custer Hill, this is the northern part of Battle Ridge and is the location where the body of Custer and 40 of his men were found. The location is currently marked a monument erected in 1881 and bearing the names of all the officers and enlisted killed in the battle stands on top of the hill. The graveyard of Custer and his men was actually relocated to their present positions when the monument was erected.

[mikeo80]

I thought it might help to see where BLBH took place and the best know movements of the pricipals involved.

http://www.nps.gov/libi/planyourvisi...d/LIBImap1.pdf

Hope this helps.

Mike

[dragoon500ly]

Of the men of the Seventh, about 57% were born in the United States, remember those old classic John Ford cavalry movies with the old First Sergeant with a thick Irish accent?

Canada = 14
Denmark = 3
England = 40
France = 8
Germany =126
Ireland = 128
Italy = 6
Scotland = 12
Switzerland = 13
Other = 17

Connecticut = 8
Illinois = 17
Indiana = 23
Kentucky = 20
Maine = 13
Maryland = 15
Mass. = 45
Michigan = 8
Missouri = 8
New Hampshire = 7
New Jersey = 11
New York = 101
Ohio = 61
Penn. = 81
Other = 59

Immigrants were not confined to the lower ranks:

Captain Myles Keogh: Ireland
1st Ly Henry Nowlan: Corfu
1st Lt Charles DeRudio: Italy
1st Lt W.W. Cooke: Canada
1st Lt Donald McIntosh: Canada
1st Lt Henry Jackson: England
1st Lt Edward Mathey: England

Finally, a brief of mention of race. The Army of this period has a segregated one until the Korean War. The Seventh was a white regiment. Only two members were of other races. Civilian Interpreter Isaiah Dorman was African-American and married to a Santee Sioux woman, he was killed in the rout from the valley fight. First Lieutenant Donald McIntosh was of mixed ancestry, Scottish-Indian, he was a member of an old Canadian trading family.

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"There was Sergeant John McCaffery and Captain Donahue,They made us march and toe the mark, in gallant Company Q. Oh the drums would roll upon my soul, this is the style we'd go. Forty miles a day on beans and hay, in the Regular Army O."

Two New York vaudevillians sang this song in 1876, popularizing a song to which the Regulars themselves would add verses. But often public irreverence was a less pleasant affair. With the end of the Civil War, the beloved Boys in Blue had, once again, became hated mercenaries---an army that was dismissed by the New York Sun as "composed of bummers, loafers, and foreign paupers."

The Regular of 1876 was paid $13.00 a month in federal greenbacks that was often not accepted in the various frontier towns, to add insult to injury, the soldier would often have to "redeem" his paper money with coinage, and often had to pay a fee to do this. From his pay, the soldier would have deductions for such things as drawing too much clothing (especially if the issue boots wore out before they were due to be replaced) as well as the requirement to pay the company tailor at least once every three months, Charges for this service could range from $6.00 for altering a dress coat, $1.00 for alterations to the service blouse and $3.00 for letting out or taking in the seams of his pants. Ten dollars every three months was a high price when the soldier only earned $39.00 and many soldiers bitterly complained about why they had to pay the company tailor for work that the government had already paid the contractor for.

Typically, the soldier would receive very rudimentary training (little more than close-order drill) and his first issue of clothing at one of the recruit barracks and then was transferred to his post. Where he often shared a straw-filled mattress with his "bunkie". If he had enlisted in the infantry, he would serve three years, five years as a cavalryman, unless, of course, he deserted (about one third of those enlisted inbetween 1867 and 1891 deserted). If the trooper stayed, he faced isolation, wretched food, shoddy clothing and sometimes ferocious discipline. Enterainment might include bad whiskey and fornication with laundresses, Indian women or prostitutes.

The Regular's best hope of overcoming the Indian's superiority as a fighter lay in his steadiness and discipline. But his training in marksmanship, horsemanship and the other skills needed by a soldier was often neglected, mostly due to soldiers being kept busy as manual labor to build or sustain their posts.

The soldier might never see a hostile Indian, but when he did, he was always outnumbered. Congress limited the strength of the Army at 25,000 in 1874 and the Army usually numbered under 19,000. Much of this force was still serving on Resonstruction duty in the South. A German immigrant, a former Prussian military officer, had this to say about his fellow soldiers: "The handsome, finely organized cavalries of Europe know nothing of real hard cavalry work. For the work I have seen a squadron of United States Cavalry perform on the plains, German would send two regiment, and deem it hard service."

In spite of the fighting of the Indian Wars, Congress provided no moral support, in 1877, barely a year after the Little Big Horn, a appropriations dispute left the Army payless from June until November, even as soldiers died fighting in the Nez Perce War.

If the solder proved himself brave, he might receive the nation's only military decoration, the Medal of Honor (Thomas Custer, brother of George, was one of only a handful of men to win the Medal of Honor, twice). The only other acknowledgement of valor was the seldom adwarded Certificate of Merit. The Certificate was rarely adwarded because money was often tight and its recipients were paid an extra two dollars a month.

Hollywood often characterizes the soldier as little more than a brute, murdering and raping helpless Indians as part of the country's brutal drive westward. The reality was that the soldier often sympathized with the plight of the Indains and often married Indian women. If the trooper stayed in service after 1905, he could wear the Indian Campaigns Medal, forever marking him as a soldier on a vanished frontier.

[dragoon500ly]

Each and every day of a trooper's day was carried out in a rigidly organized routine. Here is a typical "training roster".

5:45am Assembly for trumpeters
6:00am Reveille and roll call
6:30am Mess Call (breakfast)
7:30am Fatigue Call (work details)
8:00am Sick Call
8:55am Assembly of trumpeters
9:00am Assembly of Guard Detail
9:45am Recall from Fatigue Duties
10:00am Drill
11:30am Recall from Drill
11:45am First Sergeant's Call (for morning reports)
12:00pm Mess Call (lunch)
1:00pm Drill for target practise (Mon/Weds/Fri);
drill for saber practise (Tue/Thur)
2:00pm Fatigue Call
4:15pm Recall from Fatigue duties
4:30pm Stable Call (care for horses)
5:30pm Recall from stable
6:00pm Mess Call (dinner)
7:00pm Retreat and Roll Call
8:55pm Assembly for trumpeters
9:00pm Last Call
9:30pm Lights Out


You will note that there was daily weapons practise. This did not necessarily mean with ammunition since the Army only issued 90 rounds per man, per year. This would be firing drill, cleaning weapons or close-order drill with weapons.

[dragoon500ly]

For the enlisted men there was a prescribed daily ration of 12oz of pork or bacon(20oz of salt or fresh beef could be substituted); 22oz of bread (if the post had a bread oven) or 16 ounces of hard bread (often called hard crackers; this was a simple flour and water biscuit measuring 3 1/8" by 2 7/8" by 1/2") substituted when the trooper was on field rations. In addition, the commissary would issue, each day, the following rations for 100 men: 8lbs of ground coffee; 15lbs of beans or peas; 10lbs of rice or hominy; 30lbs of potatoes; 1qt of molasses; 15lbs of sugar; 3lbs 12oz of salt; 4oz of pepper; 1 gallon of vinegar. In addition, each company was required to raise a garden in order to provide fresh vegetables for its men, but in the harsh Plains climate, these gardens often failed.

In garrison, the troopers endured countless rounds of hash, stews and salt meat, with very little variation. In the field, their ration was salt pork or bacon, hard crackers and coffee, sometimes with wild game added to the mix.

Officers, received the same basic ration of salt meat and bread as the troopers, they also received a monthly allowance of foodstuffs: 2 cans of peaches; 1 can of oysters; 1/2 can of jam; 1/2 can of jelly; 4 cans of tomatoes; 2 cans of corn; 1 can of peas; 2 cans of milk; 3lbs of soda crackers; 2 1/2lbs of mackerel; 1 1/2 lbs of dried beef; 2lbs Coffee; 2 1/2lbs of sperm candles; 1/4lb of officer's soap; 1/4 gallon maple syrup; 1 1/2lbs of dried peaches and 2lbs of lard.

Both officers and enlisted could supplement thier rations by purchasing supplies from the post sutler. The sutler enjoyed the sole monopoly for selling goods to the soldiers and often charged exorbitant prices, for example, a sutler could purchase a can of oysters for 29 cents and then retail it for $1.00, fruits in cans were higher priced.

Troopers could purchase items at the sutler on a credit system, to be redeemed on the next pay day. If a trooper was approaching his discharge date and owed the sutler money, the sutler could prevent the discharge from being completed, until the trooper had paid his bill, in full.