However, for many if not most historians, it was the Little Bighorn that truly gave Marsh his river-pilot renown. More specifically, it was his legendary run down the Missouri to Fort Abraham Lincoln that gave him hero status. He made his run transporting wounded soldiers to much-needed medical care.

Early Career

Born in 1837 in Rochester, Pennsylvania, Marsh was cabin boy by the age of 12. At least one source states he ran away from home in order to do so. Regardless, he seems to have felt at home on the rivers and became a quick study. By 1858 he was a first mate on a riverboat and served with another man who claimed river roots – Sam Clemens, who went on to use the pseudonym “Mark Twain.” [See footnote.]

By the time America’s Civil War broke out, Marsh was piloting his own vessels. He served along strategic rivers, including the Ohio and Mississippi, supplying Union troops. He served at the Fort Donelson and Shiloh campaigns and then Vicksburg. The Confederate surrender of the strategic Vicksburg, the day after Gettysburg, marked the mid-point if not the turning point of the war.

After Vicksburg, Marsh turned to the Missouri River. He hauled supplies to remote military outposts in the Dakota Territory, where Sioux conflicts helped to strain Union resources. As the Missouri rose and fell, froze and thawed, and experienced shifting sandbars, Marsh gained experience and renown as a skilled pilot.

Post-War Piloting

After the war Marsh continued piloting. Booming gold strikes and other expansion led to great demand for supplies to be freighted up the Missiouri River in particular. That river became Marsh’s new home. He raised a family in riverside towns – mainly Yankton. Marsh also earned such respect that he oversaw the building of “shallow-draft” steamboats like the Far West and Josephine.

Steamboat Terms

A boat’s draft refers to how far its hull sits below a river’s surface. The Far West was built long and broad and drafted only two feet. Its draft remained shallow even when it was loaded with 200 or more tons of freight. Marsh was said to be able to move a steamboat “on a heavy dew.”

Marsh was known for his skill in using steam power to get boats over sandbars and shallow spots. One technique was known as “grasshoppering.” Captstans, or steam-powered spools, ran off the boats engine. They could be used as winches to drag a boat using ropes secured to trees or other solid anchors. They could also be used, along with upright poles or “spars,” to move much like a grasshopper’s legs. The boat would lurch forward or backward as the poles were moved by capstans and pulleys.

The First Highways

By 1876 the Northern Pacific Railroad had still reached only as far west as Bismarck, Dakota Territory. Construction had stalled due to the economic Panic of 1873. However, mining, ranching and other symptoms of westward expansion still grew and boomed. Unrest among non-treaty Indian tribes grew with it; therefore new military posts were built and existing posts still required supplies.

Some freight was hauled out by bull trains (ox trains) or other wagon types and also pack animals. Fort Benton, a trade fort acquired by the U.S. Army, sat at the highest point to which steamboats could ascend the Missouri. It served as a hub from which freight was hauled out in nearly every direction, including to North West Mounted Police forts in the new Dominion of Canada.

More Military Contracts

Some freight could be shipped up the Yellowstone River as well, but not much farther than the Big Horn River’s mouth. Its level fell rapidly as summer progressed, limiting steamboat travel. Still, General Terry saw its value and wisely made use of it for supplying his Sioux Campaign of 1876.

From Fort Abraham Lincoln in Dakota Territory, General Terry contracted with he Coulson Packet Company, in which Marsh was a partner. They would freight supplies up the Missouri and its tributary, the Yellowstone, to supply Terry’s Dakota Column. Its boats the Far West and the Josephine both transported supplies and even troops at times, but the troops mainly marched or rode overland by more direct routes. The Josephine remained at a supply base established at the Powder River’s mouth while the Far West continued up the Yellowstone with Terry’s troops.

Council in the Far West’s Cabin

Aboard the Far West, General Terry, Colonel Gibbon of the Montana Column, and Lt. Colonel Custer met to discuss plans and strategy the evening of June 21, 1876. Custer then set out with 12 troops of 7^th Cavalry the next day. Terry and Gibbon would descend the Yellowstone to the Bighorn River, then ascend the Little Bighorn toward a point where they believed non-treaty “hostiles” would be gathered. Things didn’t go as planned or expected.

Terry little imagined how badly the Far West would be needed. Rather than hauling jubilant troops it would transport most of the 52 surviving wounded soldiers from the 7^th Cavalry’s unimaginable defeat. Some wounded would have survived regardless, but we will never know how many lived due to Grant Marsh and the Far West’s rapid transport of wounded soldiers to hospital care 700 miles away.

A Versatile Resource

Colonel Gibbon had fallen ill. Grant Marsh skillfully ran the Far West up the Bighorn River and delivered Gibbon to the mouth the Little Bighorn. Gibbon was able to join his command on the morning of June 25^th. Whether for strategic reasons of in search of a challenge, Marsh ran the Far West further up the Bighorn but soon reached his limit and had to bring it back down to the Little Bighorn’s mouth.

Moored there, the Far West was found first by the Crow scout Curley. Due in part to language barriers, Curley’s account of Custer’s defeat met skepticism. However, scouts Henry Bostwick and Muggins Taylor had been sent by Gibbon to locate the Far West. After delivering the shocking news they returned, relaying to Gibbon and Terry that the Far West lay at the Little Bighorn’s mouth, 15 miles away.

With mule litters rigged and working smoothly, the general opted to keep moving the wounded rather than bivouac. They pressed forward into the dark, rainy night, not reaching the Far West until 1:30 a.m. As noted in the previous post, fires were built to make the route down a steep ridge to the boat. Its broad deck was covered with layers of grass covered with canvas in order to make beds for the wounded.

A Slow Start

The Far West left at noon June 30^th headed for Gibbon’s supply base on the Yellowstone’s north bank. The reason for its late start is uncertain. Exhausted, the remaining soldiers moved across to the north bank of the Little Bighorn and camped again for the night. Finally, they rose early and marched overland to the supply base, arriving late on July 2.

The Far West ferried soldiers across the Yellowstone on July 3^rd. She finally embarked with the wounded around 5 p.m. Normally steamboats would tie up along the banks at night rather than risk hitting snags, sawyers or unseen sandbars. Grant Marsh went “full steam,” however, hauling the wounded 710 miles to Bismarck in a record 54 hours.

The Far West ran with flags at half-staff and stopped briefly at Fort Buford and Fort Stevenson to obtain black bunting. Draped in black, it then steamed rapidly to Fort Abraham Lincoln to deliver the wounded and the shocking news of Custer’s annihilation. It arrived at 11 p.m. on July 5^th.

Breaking the Shocking News

On July 4^th America had celebrated its first centennial. Messengers had reached Fort Ellis and Helena, where news was telegraphed to Salt Lake City and sent out on AP “wires.” For many, the centennial was marred by this devastation. However, the New York Herald trumpeted more lengthy reports and sensational accounts telegraphed by the Bismarck Tribune for days to come.

Final Destination

Grant Marsh continued piloting on the Missouri until railroads replaced steamboats as the more efficient mode of transportation. He then moved eastward and continued as a pilot of various crafts on the Mississipi. He would eventually return to the Missouri, piloting boats until 1907.

Marsh died in Bismarck in 1916 and was buried on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. It was a fitting place. It had been the destination of his heroic, record-setting run with wounded soldiers from the Little Bighorn.

[Footnote: The name Mark Twain was not random. It played on a dual meaning. The term was used to assure river pilots that the water was at least two fathoms, or 12 feet, deep — enough for them to steer through safely. A 30-foot rope was knotted or at intervals of six feet (one fathom) and weighted at one end. When the rope descended to the second marker, “mark twain,” meaning two fathoms, was called out, assuring the pilot he could navigate safely.

The name Tome Sawyer used a riverboat term too. “Sawyer” referred to a submerged tree that “sawed” back and forth in currents and would reek havoc on hulls of passing boats.]

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George Armstrong Custer was known among Indians variously as “Yellow Hair,” “Long Hair” and other descriptors. Never mind the fact he’d cut his hair short before his last campaign.

Custer’s Sioux and Cheyenne adversaries, for the most part, did not even realize they were fighting against him until his last battle was done. It’s questionable whether they even recognized his body in the battle’s aftermath. But that’s a topic for another time.

“Wild Bill” Hickok

James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill,” is another legend of that time also known for his long hair. On August 2, 1876 he was murdered, shot from behind. He had more connection to Custer than just dying the same year. (That year was generally eventful, as chronicled in Chris Wimmer’s book The Summer of 1876.)

Wild Bill’s Background

First, some background. Born in Illinois in 1837, Hickok was raised an abolitionist. He helped in running part of an underground railroad until his father was killed for his beliefs in 1852. Hickok helped support his family by hunting wolves for bounty and driving freight wagons.

At age 18, thinking he had killed a man in a fight, Hickok went west to Kansas. While freighting to Santa Fe he tangled with a bear he had shot. He finally killed it with his bowie knife, but he was badly mauled in the fracas.

Early Exploits

While recuperating, Hickok shot and killed three men in a dispute. All armed, they pressed claims too aggressively against the stage company employing him. Thus began his reputation as a gunfighter.

Gunfights, Law Enforcement and Civil War Years

Hickok served briefly as constable of Monticello, Kansas, and accounts of his exploits soon were exploited and embellished by writers. He also found himself in “Bleeding Kansas” as an abolitionist. When America’s Civil War began Hickok enlisted in the Union Army at Fort Leavenworth.

Some of Hickok’s personal gun battles came at the start of and directly after the nation’s Civil War. Written embellishments came as well. Hickok had spent most of the war fighting against the South, however. He is better known as a Union scout, spy and sharpshooter than as a soldier.

Post-Civil War Career

After killing a man in July 1865 in a developing shoot-out, Hickok was found not guilty by a jury. He soon served as Deputy U.S. Marshal at Fort Hays, Kansas. He then served as a guide as General William T. Sherman made an official “visit” across Kansas and Nebraska.

In 1867 Hickok became a scout for General Hancock’s expedition against marauding Indians across Kansas and Oklahoma. That is where he first met Custer, who commanded the expedition in 1868 and 1869.

The Custer Connection

Custer found Hickok knowledgeable and tried to learn from him. Hickok continued as a scout through the winter of 1868-69 for both the 5^th and 7^th U.S. Cavalries. It can be said he was not present at the ill-vetted and ill-advised Washita attack.

Hickok suffered a leg wound in a Cheyenne attack while carrying dispatches to Fort Lyon, Kansas early in 1869. After healing he returned to law enforcement, serving as U.S. Marshal at Hays City, Kansas. That may not have ended his connection with the Custers, however.

Hickok was known as a tough and capable two-fisted marshal who was equally adept with fists and revolvers. George Custer was known as a tee-totaler since his sister’s temperance lecture while George was still a cadet at West Point. He was reputed to have little tolerance for drinking, or at least drunkenness, amongst his troops at the remote posts he commanded.

Tom Custer, however, was known as a rowdy drinker, often to excess. In one of his sprees he was said to have shot out lights and windows throughout Hays City and ridden his horse into a crowded saloon. Apparently this was not his first offense.

Historian Thom Hatch chronicled the incident, stating Hickok dragged Tom Custer off his horse and in before a justice of the peace, who fined him. Hatch says, “Tom was incensed with Hickok over the arrest and vowed revenge.”

Hatch goes on to state the younger Custer, on New Year’s Eve, returned to Hays City with three other soldiers and waited in the saloon. When Hickok strolled in unawares they cornered him, disarmed him and prepared to exact revenge physically.

A sympathetic barkeep tossed Hickok a shotgun or handgun, however, and soon Custer’s three comrades lay wounded but alive on the floor. Tom “lit out” for Fort Hays like a kid brother running to tell his big brother.

Lt. Colonel George Custer had left for Fort Leavenworth, however, to pass the holiday there. Tom then went to General Phil Sheridan. With military authority, Sheridan ordered Hickok’s arrest. Word reached Hickok before the soldiers did, however. As Hatch wrote, “Hickok thought it prudent to vanish for the time being and hopped a freight train headed for Ellsworth and Abilene until cooler heads prevailed.”

Written Descriptions

Apparently they did. Both George and Libby Custer wrote glowing descriptions of Hickok in their respective memoirs. In Following the Guidon Libbie wrote effusively describing Hickok’s frontier garb, his physique, his manner of walking or swinging down from a horse, and his general conduct. She concluded, “. . . his courteous manner gave one a feeling of confidence in his word and his undaunted courage.”

Libbie’s effusiveness has led some to speculate that she and Hickok had had an affair. That speculation reflects more on those who spread it than on Mrs. Custer, it appears. She suffered similar rumors regarding Captain Thomas Weir – who by protocol was her military escort in her husband’s absence on campaigns – and later regarding General Edward Godfrey. Such rumor mongering smacks more of childish whispering and gossip than of credible history.

In fact, Mrs. Custer was hardly the only writer to describe Hickok’s physique and appearance in glowing terms. George Ward Nichols seemed as awed by Hickok’s physical construction as by the buckskin clothes he wore or the Navy Colts in his belt.

Even George Custer, in My Life On The Plains, described Hickok effusively. He wrote, “Whether on foot or horseback he was one of the most perfect types of physical manhood I ever saw.” Like others describing Hickok, Custer could not help noting the plainsman’s broad shoulders and chest.

Custer paid Hickok perhaps the finest compliment, concluding, “His deportment . . . was entirely free from bluster or bravado. He seldom spoke of himself unless requested to do so. His conversation, strange to say, never bordered on the vulgar or blasphemous. His influence among the frontiersmen was unbounded, his word was law . . .”

Show Business

Hickok spent time acting, including in his old friend Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Eventually, though, he was drawn back to the frontier. However, as Custer’s final campaign began, Hickok married Agnes Lake, a widowed circus owner and performer. The marriage was short-lived, but only because Hickok was too.

Before settling down, Hickok migrated to the gold-rush town of Deadwood. Ironically, it lay in the Black Hills, to which Custer’s 1874 expedition had drawn much attention. While Hickok’s good friend “Buffalo Bill” Cody sought his fabled “first scalp for Custer,” Hickok’s failing eyes had driven him to tamer pursuits – or so he thought.

Hickok’s Last Hand

Seeking his fortune at the gambling tables rather than the mines, Hickok experienced ups, then downs. Most know that, in taking a seat at a poker table, he uncharacteristically accepted one at which his back was not against a wall. Jack McCall, whom Hickok had “cleaned out” in a game the night before, shot Hickok from behind. Thus died a long-haired legend connected to Custer. Through Custer, even Hickok had loose connections to the Little Bighorn.

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One such witness was Theodore Goldin. He was born July 25, 1858, possibly as John Stillwell, in Avon Township, Wisconsin. He had apparently been abandoned. He was then adopted by the Rueben Goldin family.

Theodore went on to a successful law career and was active in Wisconsin politics. He attained the rank of captain, and possibly colonel, in the state’s National Guard. However, his date of birth came back to haunt him – or at least his lack of honesty about it did.

A Legacy of Lying

Goldin lied about his age in order to enlist in the 7^th Cavalry in April, 1876. He later claimed he had been in the Seventh since 1873. Such unfounded claims may have been a pattern. Regardless, his dishonesty about his age when enlisting (not an uncommon practice) seems to give weight to others’ distrust of his Little Bighorn claims.

Goldin belonged to G Troop, which was part of Reno’s battalion when Custer divided his command. Goldin claimed to have been sent with Custer as an orderly and to have relayed a dispatch back to Reno. However, no one else in the command remembered such an occurrence.

Kanipe and Martin: Remembered Messengers

Trumpeter/Orderly John Martin belonged to H Troop, which had been sent south with Captain Benteen’s battalion. After Sergeant Daniel Kanipe was sent back with a message that Benteen and the pack train should hurry forward, Martin was then sent with a written message. It reiterated the command in urgent terms.

However, various members of Benteen’s command remembered seeing both messengers when they delivered their orders. They even recalled what the messengers said.

Goldin, on the other hand, later claimed he had handed a written message to Reno after Reno deployed his men as skirmishers. He stated Reno glanced at the message and then put it in his shirt pocket. When questioned, Goldin stated he did not know what was written on the sheet. No one, including Reno, remembered that occurrence.

Trailing behind, the pack train was escorted by Captain McDougal’s single company. After relaying Custer’s verbal orders to Benteen, Sergeant Kanipe rode on to find it. As Kanipe rode past Benteen’s three troops he was heard to holler, “We’ve got ‘em, boys!”

Martin was heard to tell Benteen the Indians were “skedaddling.” He handed the captain a message written hastily by Custer’s adjutant, Lt. W.W. Cooke. That message still exists. Its tattered remains were eventually given to West Point, where they remain.

Reiterations?

Some of what Goldin later related seems to have come from someone who actually had started out with Custer. Parts of his accounts jibe with those of Kanipe and Martin. They echo others like Peter Thompson, who belonged to Tom Custer’s C Troop. (More on Thompson will be written at a later date.)

However, parts of Thompson’s account were also later questioned and disputed – if not discredited – by his former fellow troop members. Regardless, parts of Goldin’s story may have developed from hearing accounts of those like Thompson who had been with Custer.

It seems some individuals tend to hear an account and then soon picture it in their minds as if they were actually there. That may have been the case with Goldin. He gave later accounts of having been numerous places during the battle, but no one seemed to remember his presence there.

Deciphering the Differences

Much of what Goldin wrote is credible. The difficulty comes in knowing how much he witnessed and how much he imagined after hearing it from other sources. Beyond having lied about his age in order to enlist, he misrepresented several other aspects of his army career and other facts.

As examples, Goldin wrote that he had enlisted in the army in 1873 and had served with the 7^th Cavalry in the Dakotas until his discharge, except for a year spent on Reconstruction duty in 1875. In reality, Goldin did not enlist until April 1876, and he was discharged in November 1877.

Goldin claimed to have known Custer since 1873 and that he moved with his company to Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, from Shreveport, LA in early 1876. Given his actual enlistment date, neither could have been true, yet he stated them as fact.

Goldin concluded a letter to Cyrus Brady, who published Indian Fights and Fighters in 1904, that, “My experiences with Gen. Custer always led me to look upon him as somewhat recklessly brave, disposed to take chances without fully considering the odds against him.” It seems difficult to imagine that a buck private, a raw recruit, would have become that well acquainted with Custer during the 2 ½ months before Custer’s death. Custer’s only other campaign then was political.

Discharge and After

Military records show Goldin was discharged November 13, 1877 at the request of his adoptive parents. They had informed the army Theodore enlisted without their knowledge or consent and had given a false birth date in order to do so. While his discharge was not an “honorable” discharge, it did list him as a private of good character, discharged for “minority.”

Some accounts show that Goldin began studying law in 1881 and became a Mason in 1883. He later practiced law successfully with his brother-in-law, and he attained the 33^rd Masonic degree by 1902. He also became active in politics starting in 1882.

Goldin Goes Public

By 1886 Goldin began what might be considered self-promotion, or at least promotion of his version of Little Bighorn events. He also began correspondence with Benteen, who retired as a major. It is noted that a gap in the known and published letters between them stretched from April 1892 to July 1894.

That gap coincides with a time-frame in which Goldin seems to have prepared a series of Little Bighorn accounts. They were published in “Army Magazine” starting in June 1894, but neither the articles nor letters have been found. Col. William Graham believed the correspondence continued during that time, but he lamented the fact that by the 1950’s the material had not surfaced.

Goldin’s letters to Benteen have all been lost, apparently, but Benteen’s to Goldin were not. They were eventually, after years of reluctance, released by Benteen’s family for publication. They reveal what seems to be a mutual “back-scratching” between “birds of a feather.”

Oddly, Benteen refers to Goldin with honor and respect. He withheld such from fellow officers who maintained their regular army careers and later were discharged honorably.

Benteen also, oddly, castigates Lt. Edward Godfrey for his 1892 published account of Little Bighorn events. A fellow participant might have disagreed on some points, and it has been said Godfrey’s stance began to lean in a more pro-Custer direction as he aged and befriended Custer’s widow. However, Benteen also became “chummy” with Goldin, whose accounts were widely discredited.

A Wikepedia piece states Goldin later embellished his own biography as well as his Little Bighorn accounts. He claimed to have been born in 1855 and studied four years at a Tilton University before enlisting at age 20. It also states he claimed to have been wounded twice at the Little Bighorn. Other accounts fail to make mention of that. It sounds eerily like Peter Thompson’s story.

Medal of Honor

Eighteen men were awarded Medals of Honor in 1878 for their heroic actions in retrieving water for the wounded during Reno’s Little Bighorn siege. Goldin was not among them. He later petitioned to receive the medal. It is noted that he was chairman of Wisconsin’s Republican Party at the time. Joseph Doe, the Assistant Secretary of War at the time was a Democrat.

It is noted, or conceded, that Goldin’s receiving the medal through efforts of a prominent member of an opposing political party speaks well of him. The fact, however, that it came at his request and through political channels casts questions on its merit. Such seems to be the case also with his accounts of the Little Bighorn.

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The horse was too wounded, apparently, to be of value even to the Sioux or Cheyenne. As Plains Indians, those tribes treasured good horseflesh. However, that mount left on the field was not the only wounded horse left behind.

Other Survivors

Comanche is often described as the battle’s sole cavalry survivor. Of course that is not entirely accurate. An unknown number of additional cavalry mounts had been taken by the Sioux and Cheyenne. Months later, in the continuing conflict, horses bearing the U.S. brand were found in dispersed villages of non-treaty tribes.

“Horse Holders” Reduced the Fighting Force by 1/4

It might be mentioned again that in standard cavalry operations, members were often required to count off by fours. The fourth man was designated as a “horse holder.” He was out of action, holding his mount along with those of three other soldiers.

Private Wm. O. Taylor described this process on the morning of June 25^th. He had “drawn the short straw,” so to speak, finding himself as a fourth man. During much of Reno’s fiasco following his initial charge, Taylor was inert, merely holding his horse and those of three other privates.

It was likely not new to the Sioux and Cheyenne that every fourth soldier stayed out of action as a “horse holder.” Several accounts relate how they waved and snapped blankets around the held horses, trying to stampede them. It has even been stated that they tried to pick the horse holders off, thereby freeing the horses.

This tactic yielded several benefits. First, it left the attacking cavalry on foot. Also, half of the 100 rifle rounds each soldier carried were in his saddle bags. Without his horse, a soldier lost half his ammunition. Thirdly, of course, the horses could be captured and used by the Indians. They treasured these “spoils” of battle.

Other Equine Casualties

Even on the battlefield, other wounded horses remained when burial parties arrived. Only Comanche, however, was deemed salvageable. Even that might have been due to the sentiments of Lt. Henry Nowlan, best friend of Myles Keogh, who had owned Comanche. Other horses were deemed unsalvageable. Sadly, they had to be “put down” (shot).

Comanche was also severely injured, bearing as many as seven new battle wounds. At least one coincided with a severe bullet wound that had shattered Keogh’s left leg. The wounds included four in or near the mount’s forequarters, one in each hind leg, and one to a hoof. Blood also stained Comanche’s mane. He was not wounded there, and it has been surmised the blood could only have been Keogh’s.

These were hardly Comanche’s first battle wounds, but a bit more background or is in order.

Comanche and Keogh

The army regularly bought both beef for food and horses for transportation. Comanche was one of 41 horses bought in St. Louis in 1868 by Tom Custer, then a 1^st Lieutenant. Upon seeing him at Fort Leavenworth, where the mounts were taken for branding and processing, Keogh took a strong liking the horse.

An Irishman, Keogh had been a mounted soldier in Europe. After serving in the Union Army through America’s Civil War, he joined the 7^th Cavalry as a captain when it was formed in 1866. Officers often bought personal mounts to suit themselves (e.g. Custer’s favorite mounts “Vic” and Dandy.), but often bought them privately. Keogh, however, bought Comanche from the army as a second mount for $90.

Not that Comanche was the horse’s name at the time. It is said that on September 13, 1868 he received his name after an Indian skirmish on the Cimarron River. Unknown to Keogh at the time, the horse was wounded by an arrow that had broken off. Although skittish, the mount continued to serve admirably.

The remaining arrow shaft and head were removed by a cavalry farrier, but another soldier had witness the wounding. He said that when the arrow struck, the horse had squalled as loudly as a Comanche Indian. Keogh named the horse Comanche then and there. The stalwart, dependable horse sustained another arrow wound in 1870. He also suffered an undetermined shoulder wound in 1871 while Keogh was posted in Kentucky on Reconstruction duty.

The Bravest Man the Sioux Ever Fought?

An unknown soldier has been described by at least two Indian survivors as “the bravest man the Sioux ever fought.” We can only speculate as to that soldier’s identity, but Keogh somewhat fits the description, having long, dark hair and a big moustache. (After five weeks of campaigning, his hair may have been longer than what existing photos reflect.)

The brave soldier was  described as riding a sorrel horse with a white face and three white stockings. However, that doesn’t closely describe Comanche. Also, it was said a particular Cheyenne later took possession of the soldier’s horse.

Maybe Comanche sustained more wounds after the Cheyenne took him, but that seems unlikely. Therefore the description probably does not fit Keogh.

Regardless, Keogh’s body was stripped of its uniform. Unlike other soldiers, though, his body was not mutilated after the battle. As noted in earlier posts, he wore a Catholic Pro Petri Sede medal, which was left around his neck. Either the medal was viewed as “strong medicine” by the victors, or he had conducted himself in such a way as to earn their respect for his bravery. Comanche may have played a part.

Worth The Effort

Keogh’s friend Nowlan chose to make the effort to save Comanche. The horse was later described as having wounds that were “serious, but not necessarily fatal if looked after properly . . .” The account was given by farrier John Rivers of I troop, Keogh’s company, to a Bismarck Tribune reporter on May 10 of 1878.

Rivers stated that Comanche had been found huddled in a ravine but had been “raised up and tenderly cared for.” Three bullets were reported as being removed on the battlefield and a fourth was removed back at Fort Abraham Lincoln the next year. Comanche was not big for a cavalry mount, but he was tough if nothing else.

(In 1868 the horse was processed as “a 925-pound cross listed as ¾ American and ¼ Spanish descent.” Indian ponies, descendants of Spanish mustangs, were known for being smaller than cavalry mounts.)

A Tough Trip To the River For the Wounded

How Comanche was moved to the steamboat 15 miles downriver is uncertain. One account states he was carried by wagon, but that seems very unlikely. Both Custer’s and Gibbon’s commands had relied on pack mules for moving supplies. No record of a wagon at the battlefield seems to exist.

Even if a wagon had reached the battlefield, its usefulness for moving a wounded horse over rough ground seems extremely improbable. Gatling guns were taken off their limbers in an effort to move the wounded soldiers via wheeled contrivances, but that option was quickly found unworkable across the rough and often-steep terrain.

It appears the wounded Comanche had to walk, limp or hobble the rough and uneven 15 miles down to the steamer Far West. From there, however, he received almost hallowed treatment. One account says a stall was improvised between the rudders, where he was supported by a sling. He was taken the 700 miles downriver to Fort Abraham Lincoln with the wounded soldiers.

Comanche’s Later Life

All accounts state that Comanche was adopted as a regimental mascot from that point forward. He seemed to embody the resilience needed and admired by the shaken troops. He was carefully nursed back to health by blacksmiths Gustavus Korn and John Rivers.

It appears wives and other young ladies at the fort enjoyed riding Comanche after his convalescence, and a rivalry or competition for him ensued. By April 10, 1878 Colonel Samuel Sturgis issued the order that Comanche not be ridden or put to work by anyone from that time forward.

Sturgis, still grieving the loss of his son James at the Little Bighorn, appreciated what Comanche represented. His order included the words, “Though wounded and scarred, his very silence speaks in terms more eloquent than words of the desperate struggle against overwhelming odds . . .” He decreed that Comanch be saddled, bridled and led by a mounted trooper of I Troop (Keogh’s) and paraded with the regiment in all ceremonial occasions in which the regiment rode in formation.

Comanche was allowed to roam freely about the post. He followed Korn like a pet. He also apparently developed a taste for beer (not too surprising for a beast that feeds on grain). He was reputed to have begged for buckets of the stuff at the enlisted men’s canteen.

After Korn was killed at Wounded Knee in 1890, Comanche was said to have appeared despondent. Although not young (he was listed as 5 years old in 1868) his health failed steadily. He died November 6, 1891.

Preserved for Posterity

A taxidermist/naturalist at the University of Kansas made a life-sized mount of Comanche on the condition the mount would remain in the school’s museum in Lawrence. The it was restored in 2005. Thankfully, it stays inside a climate-controlled display where vandals can’t steal tail hairs “for good luck” before exams.

Comanche’s coloration has been described alternately as sorrel, or claybank, or bay dun. The horse’s appearance is not impressive, and it apparently never was. He was beloved by Keogh, though, and the two together form a heart-warming story, one of the few positives remaining from the battle along the Little Bighorn.

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A Reporter Riding Along

General Alfred Terry had been sent in charge of the Dakota Column. Lieutenant Colonel Custer had angered President Grant. Initially he was denied permission to go. However, with support from his Civil War superiors and mounting political pressure, the popular Custer was finally allowed along.

While admonishing Custer, Commanding General of the Army William T. Sherman ordered Terry not to take reporters, “who always make mischief.” Kellogg came anyway. The Bismarck Daily Tribune benefitted, along with the New York Herald. Kellogg, a stringer for both newspapers, did not.

A Prophetic Preamble

Kellogg is best known for his classic lines to the Tribune, “We leave the Rosebud tomorrow and by the time this reaches you we will have met and fought the red devils, with what result remains to be seen. I go with Custer and will be in at the death.” [italics added]  In hindsight those words ring poetic, prophetic and ominous.

The Bismarck Tribune’s editor agreed. It led off its astounding July 6, 1876 extra with Kellogg’s prophetic words. Word of Custer’s unthinkable defeat and annihilation had just reached Bismarck the night of July 5^th when the steamboat Far West arrived bearing the battle’s wounded.

A Phantom Telegraph?

Oddly, several writers overlook the obvious; they ignorantly state that Kellogg telegraphed his last dispatch to the Tribune. Nothing could be farther from the truth. One of the distinct challenges of Custer’s last campaign was the lack of telegraph wires or other efficient forms of communication.

In fact, the entire campaign was hampered by that distinct challenge. Three military columns had all been sent to seek out and attack non-reservation Indians, viewed as “hostiles,” in the Powder, Tongue, and Bighorn River region. No command really knew the others’ whereabouts most of the time.

The three “converging” columns were effectively unable to communicate. In fact, Reno was within roughly 40 miles of General Crook’s Wyoming Column at the time of the Rosebud Battle. Reno went north up Rosebud Creek while Crook was attacked and turned back south.

The communication challenge was two-fold. First, couriers had to ride miles and days through lands teeming with hostile Sioux and Cheyenne. The closest telegraphs were at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Fort Ellis, or Fort Fetterman respectively. These posts lay 200 to 300 miles or more from the Powder River, Rosebud, and Bighorn drainages.

Any telegram would had to be sent by courier back to one of the forts. Then, the messages were telegraphed to the Department Headquarters in Chicago or St. Paul – or at best to whichever fort might served as the recipient’s home base. Then that message must be relayed by courier out to the officer for whom it was intended.

Any reply would require that the process be reversed. Return messages then had to be taken back by courier to the nearest fort, then telegraphed to the recipient’s home fort. Another courier then had to relay it to its recipient at an unknown location.

All of that to say that Kellogg’s final dispatch was hardly telegraphed. He had to send his missives downriver by whatever boat might be travelling that way. His previous dispatch, dated June 12, had been dropped into the Yellowstone River with an entire mail bag of mail while being loaded onto the steamboat Josephine. Some diligent souls spent an entire night opening letters and messages, then spreading them out and drying them by a fire.

Slow News Days

Kellogg had chronicled parts of the column’s travels and experiences thus far. However, he had relatively little to report. In more than 300 miles of marching, patrolling and scouting, the Dakota Column had not seen a single Indian – except their own Ree scouts.

That was about to change. It might be understandable that most in the command were eager for some action. In fact, Gibbon’s column held the same anticipation, which would soon turn to disappointment.

Kellogg’s final dispatch, hand-written, described the changing terrain and natural history. He even commented on how ripe the Rosebud drainage looked for “economic” development. He castigated Reno and praised Custer. It might well have appealed to Bismarck Tribune readers.

Aside from that, Kellogg had no action to report – except that he planned to march out with Custer’s 12 cavalry troops, and that he expected they would find “hostiles” and fight them. He expected to be “in at the death.” He neglected to specify whose death.

At The Death?

Kellogg’s words “at the death” ring poetic. Several writers have noted that they are an expression used previously in fox hunts. Apparently those who rode fancy horses and chased foxes with hounds strove to finish the fox and be “at the death.”

The expression, interestingly, was used by two other members of that campaign. In his journal, also on June 21, Lt. James H. Bradley expressed frustration and disappointment when he wrote, “. . . it is understood that if Custer arrives first, he is at liberty to attack at once if he deems prudent. We have little hope of being in at the death [my italics], as Custer will undoubtedly exert himself to the utmost to get there first and win all the laurels for himself and his regiment. . .”

In his excellent book Custer’s Luck historian Edgar Stewart noted a New York Herald article printed July 8,1876 amidst the battle’s aftershocks. The piece mentions General Terry’s meeting with his higher-ranking officers. It then states, “It was announced by General Terry that General Custer’s column would strike the blow and General Gibbon and his men received the decision without a murmur. There was great rivalry between the two columns and each wanted to be in at the death. . .” [italics mine]

Stewart stated the article was written by a member of Gibbon’s command. He believed Major James Brisbin was likely the source. Brisbin led the 2^nd Cavalry troops that were combined with infantry under Gibbon. Brisbin was noted for some published writings. Given the duplicated wording and Bradley’s literary bent, however, it seems he also could have been the source.

Regardless, the repeated use of “at the death” makes Kellogg’s final dispatch and others stand out stark and ominous. Four days later, on June 25, 1876 Kellogg would be in at his own death at the Little Bighorn.

Remains and Relics

Gibbon’s troops would arrive, somewhat as predicted, to deal with the aftermath. When combing the battlefield for survivors or corpses, Gibbon’s men found Kellogg’s body well below most of Custer’s dead. It lay and closer to the Little Bighorn near a ravine where others had apparently attempted to escape.

It is unknown if Kellogg was killed there early in Custer’s advance, or in a later attempt to flee. His body, curiously, had been stripped. He had been scalped, and an ear was missing (given his ‘mutton-chop’ whiskers, perhaps one of those had been scalped away, as Lt. W.W. Cooke’s had been.)

Kellogg could be identified only by his civilian clothes and the unique boots he wore. They had an unusual strap that buckled over the arch, and they had not been taken.

Some of Kellogg’s belongings had been left back at a supply base at the Powder River. They now belong to the North Dakota State Historical Society and may be displayed in its museum. A notebook of Kellogg’s is also there, but it holds no entries past June 9, 1876. It is unknown if the notebook was found near his body or had been left behind.

Kellogg’s Legacy

The Bismarck Tribune was in close cahoots with the New York Herald. Even in death Kellogg helped the Herald sell countless copies. In an earlier Kellogg bio it was noted that the New York Herald’s publisher helped Kellogg’s two daughters financially, along with the aunt who had taken them in. In the end, maybe being “at the death” did benefit Kellogg in some way, as his lifeless body rested near the Little Bighorn.

EXTRA: THE BIG SKY SCOOP

News of Custer’s defeat had reached Bozeman, MT via courier on July 3rd. Due to telegraph wires being down, a stringer instead sent the dispatch to Helena, but not before the Bozeman Times ran an ‘extra’ at 7 p.m. on July 3^rd. The Helena Herald received the report on July 4^th and ran its astounding ‘extra’ that evening. It also sent the new by wire to the Associated Press in Salt Lake City.

The steamboat Far West, bearing Reno and Benteens’ wounded survivors reached Bismarck the night of July 5,1876 on the heels of America’s first centennial celebration. The New York Herald then got the news by telegraph and published it on July7. It followed up with several reports, including the letter above.) Other papers had gotten the AP report, but the New York Herald ran ongoing reports for more than a week, due to its Bismarck Tribune connection.

The post “At The Death:” Reporter Mark Kellogg’s Final Dispatch: (“I Go With Custer . . .”) appeared first on Bighorn, Big Hole and Beyond.

A few particularly peculiar parallels exist between 7^th Cavalry captain Myles Keogh and Fetterman’s bugler Adolph Metzger. One such parallel might relate to Indian accounts of one soldier who stood out. If all accounts describe only one of the many soldiers, then he alone stands out as the bravest man the Sioux and Cheyenne fought that day. Several candidates exist, however.

Metzger and Myles Keogh Similarities

One thread that connects Metzger and Keogh is their horses that survived. Metzger had ridden a horse named “Dapple Dave.” When more troops arrived, they found all of Fetterman’s command, including two civilians, dead. Only Dapple Dave survived, too badly wounded to be valued by the victors. Due to severe wound(s), though, Dapple Dave had to be shot.

Myles Keogh’s mount Comanche is well known as the only cavalry survivor found by General Terry’s troops after the Little Bighorn battle. Comanche had been wounded seven times, but he was kept alive and became a mascot for the surviving soldiers. He managed to make the 12-mile journey to the Little Bighorn’s mouth, where the steamboat Far West waited.

Comanche was then shipped downriver with the wounded. After the 700–mile trip to Fort Abraham Lincoln, Comanche was never used by soldiers again. When he died in 1891 his remains were preserved through taxidermy. They remain on display in a University of Kansas museum.

A more striking parallel between the two soldiers is that their remains were not mutilated. All soldiers were stripped of their uniforms. Accounts vary, but most were mutilated by the victors in some form. Metzger’s story remains sketchy because no soldiers survived, but by many accounts Indians later attested that he had fought bravely to the end.

Metzger is said to have fired a Spencer carbine until he ran out of ammunition. He then used his bugle, his only remaining weapon, as a bludgeon. He fought so bravely and tenaciously that warriors showed him respect. Not only was his body not mutilated, it was found covered with either a blanket or buffalo hide.

Keogh, likewise, was found stripped but unmutilated. Equally interesting is that he wore a Catholic Pro Petri Sede medal, which was not taken by the victors (most items of interest of value were taken when bodies were stripped). Awarded after his service in the Irish papal guard and conflicts, the medal is believed by some to have been seen by Indians as “strong medicine.”

Others believe Keogh remained un-desecrated because of his bravery – a possible parallel to Metzger. Coincidences might hint at a pattern of thought or behavior.

The Little Bighorn’s Bravest Soldier

A number of Indians, including Sitting Bull and Gall, later credited Custer’s soldiers for fighting bravely. Granted, some accounts may have been tailored to suit what the tellers thought white recorders wanted to hear – or to what would spare them possible retribution. However, the Sioux warrior Red Horse and the Cheyenne Wooden Leg both specifically spoke of one who stood out as the bravest soldier they had ever fought against. Keogh might have been that man.

Wooden Leg’s account says that the last soldier to die with Custer’s command was finished off as non-combatants swarmed the battlefield. He said one officer, wounded, raised up on one elbow and “glared wildly” at the Indians as he wielded his revolver. The Indians withdrew, thinking he had “returned from the spirit world.”

A warrior finally approached and turned the man’s own pistol on him. Some accounts say the man wore “white metal bars.” That would indicate he was a captain, maybe Keogh.

Red Horse and others spoke of a man wearing a buckskin shirt and either leading troops bravely or turning his horse to protect troops as they retreated. Two Moon’s and Wooden Legs’ accounts describe a man dressed in buckskin, with long, black hair and a moustache. The man “fought hard with a big knife.” (Custer’s troops had left their sabers back at the Powder River supply depot.) They describe witnessing this bravery on the ridges where Custer’s troops were surrounded. 

Two Moon describes the man’s horse as a sorrel with a white face and white forelegs. The description could fit Custer’s horse Vic, but it also could fit a dust-covered Comanche (especially if the mount’s forelegs had gotten wet in the Little Bighorn and then caked with the dust that was plentiful on the battlefield.) However, that description could also have fit other horses, including some ridden by those with Reno’s command.

In two accounts Red Horse described an “officer” wearing a buckskin coat and a wide-brimmed hat. He said he, and numerous other Indians, believed this was the bravest man they ever fought. He stated the man rode a horse with four white feet.

However, in both accounts Red Horse places the man at the camp’s south end, early in the battle when Reno attacked and retreated. Red Horse said of the man, “He alone saved his command a number of times in the retreat.” This matches the account of Captain Thomas French.

Captain French’s Account

French later wrote in a personal letter, “I don’t wonder that Red Horse thought me a spirit from the bad place. . .” He went on to state that in Reno’s retreat alone he had shot eight pursuers and had seen them fall from their ponies.

In his letter French had questioned Reno’s retreat. He stated, “And when all had gone for safety was when I sought death – and tried to fight the battle alone . . . If one man could hold back seven or eight hundred, what might not a hundred and twenty have done . . .” French also hinted, not-so-subtly, that it had crossed his mind he should have shot Reno.

Who Wore Buckskin?

French might have worn buckskin that day, but at least eight men in Custer’s command had done so also. Multiple witnesses, including trumpeter John Martin, stated Custer had not worn his buckskin coat that day but wore a blue-gray flannel shirt. Others in Reno’s command might have worn buckskin, including Lonesome Charley Reynolds, another possible candidate for “bravest” honors.

Eye witnesses seem not to have recorded the actual death of Reynolds, but it is known he remained behind Reno’s wild retreat. It appears Reynolds was abandoned. The scout’s horse is not described either. Regardless, accounts indicate Reynolds was “unhorsed” at some point. Spent cartridges around his body showed he had fought fiercely to the end.

Reynolds may have used his horse, or another dead mount, as a barricade. Accounts do indicate he was seen deliberately fighting a “rear-guard” action singlehandedly. Red Horse may have referred to Reynolds.

Long Black Hair and a Big Moustache

A photo of French shows thick dark hair and a very large moustache. However, that description seems to belong to the brave man described by Two Moon on Custer’s battlefield. French was with Reno. Wooden Leg described his possible last man to die as having long black hair and a stubbly beard, with a moustache bigger than the beard.

Bear in mind the 7^th Cavalry had been campaigned more than five weeks before the Little Bighorn battle. Some may have shaved, but not frequently. Many who appear trimmed and clean-cut in prior photos may have had longer hair and stubbly beards by then. Even Reynolds, who was described by Libby Custer as unusually clean-cut for a scout, might well have fit that description.

Mysteries surround the Little Bighorn fight. They always will. One that remains is who that bravest soldier might have been. Others include the question why Myles Keogh, like Adolph Metzger 10 years prior, was not mutilated at the Little Bighorn.

The post The Metzger/Myles Keogh Connection and the Little Bighorn’s Bravest Soldier appeared first on Bighorn, Big Hole and Beyond.

Life-saving Assignments

Dutifully, Godfrey checked in only after ensuring his troop was duly prepared. As a result he was assigned to the rear, along with the regiment’s mule train. It saved his life. Those who went ahead with Custer – and many who went with Major Reno – died at the Little Bighorn.

It appears the designation of orderlies followed a similar process. On June 25^th trumpeter John Martin was designated as the colonel’s Orderly of the Day, or one of several. As with Godfrey, it saved his life.

Developing Battle Plans

Custer divided his command as he approached the sought-after village of “hostiles” on the afternoon of June 25^th. First he sent Benteen, the regiment’s senior captain, with three troops sweeping southward. He was to ensure the command would not miss hostiles encamped or fleeing in that direction. The regiment’s pack mules lagged behind under the protection of a single cavalry company.

Custer then detached Major Reno with a second battalion of three troops. Reno was ordered to proceed as fast as he could and charge into the encampment’s south end. Tall hills and bluffs obscured the village from Custer’s view, so he did not yet realize its exact location or extent. He told Reno he would support him with the whole regiment.

After separating northward from Major Reno’s attack, Custer topped a hill and saw more of the village and its layout along the Little Bighorn. However, he saw only a portion of the village. He did not fully realize what he was up against (despite repeated warnings from his scouts that they would face an overwhelming force.) Custer saw enough to make him realize he needed Benteen’s battalion to complete his developing battle plan. He wanted more ammunition too.

Misconstrued Call For Cartridges

Some writers construe Custer’s call for ammunition as a sign of desperation. History, including Martin’s later account, show it was more an afterthought. Troopers carried 50 rifle rounds in their ammunition belts and 100 more in saddle bags. They also carried 24 revolver rounds apiece. Custer’s message was not sent under duress.

Martin’s Account

Trumpeter Martin’s written account nearly 50 years later provides some of the best insight into Custer’s plans and intentions. As Custer’s orderly, Martin rode within a few yards of Custer until detached with a message for Benteen. Martin heard and witnessed most of the orders as they were given out. They reveal a great deal.

Martin states Custer told Reno he would have Benteen hurry northward and attack the village’s center. Custer would “drive them” (the hostiles) from the north.

Martin’s account is included, along with numerous others, in Colonel William A. Graham’s tremendous resource book “The Custer Myth, A Source Book of Custeriana.” The only caveat is that Martin was an Italian immigrant who had just arrived in America two years prior. His difficulty with English may have caused misunderstanding of some statements, or miscommunication of others. (He referenced that in regard to his 1879 testimony in the Reno Court of Inquiry.)

Custer’s First Impressions

Martin relates that upon seeing the village Custer first noticed no warriors. He was unable to see Reno’s advance or the warriors that were rushing to meet him. Custer is said to have commented the men appeared to be asleep still in their tepees. (Some, in fact, were rising late after their large social dances the previous night.) Martin related that Custer then commented only that his command had “got them this time.” He was likely still under the impression the hostiles were fleeing.

Custer turned and yelled, according to Martin, “Hurrah, boys, we’ve got them! We’ll finish them up and then go home to our station.” Then he and Martin returned to the troops, conferred with adjutant Cooke, and proceeded another mile northward at a trot and gallop. Martin estimated they had gone three miles from where Reno was detached.

Only after reaching a ravine leading downward toward the Little Bighorn (Medicine Tail Coulee) did Custer detach Martin with his classic message to Benteen. First Custer ordered Martin to ride as fast as he could to Benteen and tell him to hurry. Martin recounts Custer’s mention of a big village and Benteen’s need to be quick – and to bring the ammunition packs.

The Historic Dispatch

Custer’s adjutant, Lt. W.W. Cooke, told Martin to wait while he hurriedly wrote the command out in a small memo book. He then tore the page out and handed it to Martin. That message is the classic, “Benteen, come on – big village – be quick – bring packs. P.S. – bring packs.” Even most casual students of the battle know of it.

Martin related that his horse was fatigued, but he rode as fast as he was able over the troops’ back trail. He was fired on by a small group of warriors and was thankful he was not hit. He realized only later that a round had hit his horse. He related that when he topped the hill where he and Custer first surveyed the village, he could now see Reno’s skirmish line as it fell back under attack.

Boston Custer had left his brothers’ battalion earlier when his horse “played out.” He had gone back to the pack train in order to obtain a replacement. Martin met him near the high hill. Boston asked where the “general” was, and Martin directed him northward. Boston’s body was later found near those of his brothers. Under orders to hurry, Martin continued south.

Martin’s Message

Finally locating Benteen, Martin conveyed his message. Benteen asked, “Where’s the General now?” Martin relates he replied they had seen Indians running and he believed by that time Custer had charged through the village. That information undoubtedly played into Benteen’s subsequent course of action. Reno would soon appear far more in need of help than Custer did at that time.

Martin belonged to Benteen’s company and was directed to stay with it. That order also helped preserve his life. He remained with Reno and Benteen’s combined forces under siege for two days but survived. He related an attempt to move the forces in Custer’s direction once they had reorganized (despite the challenge of caring for wounded troopers). Overwhelming numbers of Indians prevented the move, and the besieged forces fell back. They believed Custer had withdrawn northward to join Terry and Gibbon’s column.

Background and Military Career

Born Giovanni Martini in Rome in 1851, Martin had been a drummer boy in the Army of Liberation by age 14. By 1866 he apparently served as a soldier against Austrians in Italy’s armed conflict. He came to America in 1873 and soon enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Benteen’s H Company, 7^th Cavalry in time to experience its Black Hills Expedition. His name was “Americanized” to John Martin.

A Grateful Immigrant

A grateful immigrant, Martin served out a 30-year army career. He is said to have taken pride in his service and in the fact that his two sons both served honorably too. He admired Custer and even named a son for him. Army lawyer Col. William Graham noted Martin donned his old uniform for years and never missed a chance to “honor the Stars and Stripes.”

Martin retired to New York City in 19004 and worked as a subway ticket agent for years, dying in 1922. His long and productive life were made possible because he had been designated for orderly duty. They were ensured when Custer detached him with a classic dispatch at the Little Bighorn.

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Exactly two months later, on June 17, 1876 the Cheyenne and Sioux surprised Crook. They stopped his advance and sent him back southward He retreated once again, in effect, to rehabilitate, re-supply and await reinforcements.

Many Cheyenne were present at both engagements; they would also be present at the Little Bighorn battle. Two stood out, not only through their actions at that time but also for their valued accounts later recorded by researcher Thomas Marquis. They are Two Moon and Wooden Leg.

The Cheyennes, sadly, had direct and indirect connection to conflicts farther south as well. They began in part with Colonel John Chivington’s despicable 1864 attack on Black Kettle’s village. The treachery took place along Sand Creek in present-day Colorado and at best can be called a massacre. 

Tragically, Custer’s Washita attack in November 1868 also came against Black Kettle’s village of generally peaceable Southern Cheyennes. It was part of a campaign targeting Cheyenne raiders. They had carried out a pattern of depredations ranging north into Kansas. Their raids included murders and kidnapping of women and children.

Custer had followed a band of raiders who left a trail to Black Kettle’s camp. Unbeknownst to Custer and his scouts, the culprits had already moved on to other villages strung out over miles along the creek. Black Kettle and his wife were both killed, along with other innocents.

At Washita, soldiers witnessed a Cheyenne woman killing a white child to keep him from being freed. They also found a captive white woman and her child who had been killed for the same purpose. The entire affair was tragic.

Following Chivington’s debauched massacre, a number of Cheyennes engaged in hostilities against increasing numbers of white intruders into their traditional homelands. These included the elder Two Moon. He and other Cheyennes also joined Sioux allies in what would be called Red Cloud’s War.

Across expansive distances, word of conflicts, intrusions and wrongs traveled with impressive effectiveness. When Sitting Bull summoned tribes to gather in 1876, most who came belonged to Sioux sub-tribes. A large contingent of their Northern Cheyenne allies came too.

The Cheyennes would play a large and significant role in the defeats of Crook on the Rosebud and Custer at the Little Bighorn. It is asserted that some there remembered Custer’s attack at Washita.

Two Moon

Accounts involving Two Moon become confused because two Cheyennes actually bore that name. The elder was a chief and leader. His nephew, the younger Two Moon apparently was born around 1857 and participated in actions against Crook and Custer in 1876. The elder Two Moon is said to have led an attack against Fort Phil Kearny in 1866 in Red Cloud’s War; he also refused to sign the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.

Both Two Moons were likely present when General Crook attacked their Powder River camp in March 1876. Before the Rosebud Battle in June, a hunting party including Two Moon noticed Crook’s Wyoming Column well before it knew of their tribe’s location. Soon a raiding party made an attempt to steal the column’s horses and mules. In May 1876, Two Moon had helped steal horses from Crow scouts with Colonel John Gibbon’s Montana Column.

One or both Two Moons would have been present on June 17^th, 1876 when Cheyenne and Sioux warriors surprised Crook’s column on Rosebud Creek. While the battle is considered a tactical draw, the attack had the strategic affect of turning Crook back southward. Had he continued northward, one can only speculate as to  what might have unfolded involving the Little Bighorn a week later.

While neither Two Moon is noted for specific actions at the Little Bighorn, each continued leading the tribe in the trying times after the battle. After Nelson Miles’ attack on Cheyenne chief Dull Knife’s band in early 1877, Two Moon surrendered and went to a reservation. Before the year’s end, at least one of the two served as a scout in Mile’s campaign against the Nez Perce in their flight toward Canada.

Like Red Cloud and other Indian leaders, Two Moon traveled to Washington, D.C. as a diplomat for his people’s cause. Accounts vary as to the model for the Indian profile on the 1913 Indian Head/Buffalo nickel Historian Thom Hatch specifies a James Fraser designed the 1913 nickel using Two Moon’s likeness. Fraser actually said he used a composite of three different models. Two Moon was one of them.

Wooden Leg

Also born in the late 1850’s, Wooden Leg is thought to have been 16 years old at the Little Bighorn battle. He had actually played a significant earlier role. Wooden Leg was part of the hunting party that discovered Crook’s Wyoming Column as it wandered off-course near the Tongue River. He was also likely a part of Little Hawk’s raiding party that skirmished with Crook a few days later.

The skirmishes yielded no real casualties on either side, other than a few horses killed. They may, however, have misled Crook’s men into overconfidence (just as past successes against Indians may have influenced Custer.) Crook had made camp below a bluff, from which Cheyennes rained potshots down at long distance. Each time soldiers advanced toward them, they wisely moved accordingly, keeping out of range of the infantry’s long-barreled rifles.

Wooden Leg was likely present when Cheyennes joined Sioux allies in their surprise attack on Crook’s column on Rosebud Creek. The attack occurred June 17, 1876. Again, while it resulted in little more than a stalemate, it affected what would occur over the following eight days.

Wooden Leg claimed no outstanding exploits at the Little Bighorn. However, he was present in the routing of Reno at the village’s south end. He then moved north to join the defense and attack against Custer’s battalion. He did state he took a carbine from a retreating trooper during Reno’s disorganized dash back across the Little Bighorn. However, his notable contribution would come later.

Decades later physician and Custer researcher Thomas Marquis interviewed Wooden Leg, who by then was in his 70’s. Wooden Leg described in detail the phases of Indian movement as they overwhelmed Custer’s command. He also added notable insight into what might have been a large factor in the battle.

Again, accounts are many and varied. However, Marquis firmly believed multiple Cheyenne accounts. Wooden Leg stated that many of Custer’s troops either shot each other or shot themselves in the face of overwhelming warriors surrounding them. He also stated many troopers’ canteens contained whiskey (bought from a trader at the mouth of the Rosebud before they embarked).

Wooden Leg and other Cheyennes believed the soldiers showed signs of intoxication, which might have contributed to individual or mutual suicides. Even dehydration due to alcohol consumption would have diminished fighting abilities on that notably hot afternoon. Regardless, Marquis believed multiple Cheyenne accounts regarding whiskey and soldiers killing themselves.

Wooden Leg was sent to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) after joining Dull Knife’s 1877 surrender. He was allowed to return and served as a scout for the U.S. Army in the 1880’s. He then served as a tribal judge as his people assimilated, living until 1940.

Neither Two Moon or Wooden Leg became notorious for battle exploits. However, each was present and played noteworthy roles before and after the Little Bighorn.

The post Two Moon and Wooden Leg: Cheyennes Who Shared In Honors appeared first on Bighorn, Big Hole and Beyond.

Frederic Girard

Boyhood and Background

Frederic Girard (sometimes spelled Gerard) was an interpreter for the Dakota Column. His parentage was mixed only in the sense that his father was Canadian (perhaps a French Canadian trader) and his mother American. Gruard, on the other hand, was of both mixed race and a checkered past. He became a scout and interpreter for General Crook’s Wyoming Column.

Girard was born in St. Louis in 1829. He attended St. Xavier Academy for four years and was quite literate compared to many on the frontier. (Actually, a number of officers and enlisted men wrote very well, but many did not.) In fact, Girard was employed by the St. Louis Republic newspaper for a time, but by 1848 he had ventured up the Missouri to Fort Pierre in Dakota Territory. He worked as a clerk for the American Fur Co.

On the Upper Missouri

The company moved Girard up to Fort Clark, where he learned the Arikara and Sioux tongues. By 1855 he was moved to Fort Berthold, another trade fort. There in 1863 he and 17 other occupants stood off an attack by 600 Yankton Sioux. They claimed they killed at least 40 and wounded 100. When Assiniboines drove the Sioux off, the white traders all left.

By 1869 Girard became an independent trader at Forts Buford and Stevenson, also on the upper Missouri. By 1873, though, he was hired as a post interpreter for the Sioux and Ree scouts at Fort Abraham Lincoln. He also farmed nearby, selling vegetables and milk at the fort.

Interpreter and Impromptu Scout

Girard’s first foray into scouting duties came with the Dakota Column in 1876. He was employed as an interpreter at $75 per month (as compared to $150 a month for Mitch Bouyer, who served the Montana Column as both interpreter and scout.) When Custer climbed to the Crow’s Nest on June 25^th after Crow scouts spotted the hostiles’ encampment, he took Girard along.

With others, Girard saw a distant body of Indians moving away, toward the larger village. It appeared the Indians were already fleeing, which made a quick attack imperative. Girard joined the scouts, though, in warning Custer just how large that village was. Custer denied being able to see it. Confident, he forged ahead.

Later, as Custer split his command and sent Reno to attack, Girard peeled off and rode up a small knoll. Again he spotted a group of Indians moving away. He galloped back and told the command, “There go your Indians, and they are running like devils.” Custer continued to press the attack. The scouts were sent with Reno.

Surviving Reno’s Retreat

Girard was negatively impressed with Reno’s attack, retreat and subsequent conduct. Like many, including trained officers, he believed Reno abandoned a defensible position after moving his troops backward into a stand of timber. When Reno led a disorganized “charge,” or retreat, out of the timber up to the bluffs, many in his command were left behind. Girard was among them.

Girard later remarked how the Indians (accustomed to running buffalo) rode near and shot many soldiers in the back. Left behind, he met up with Billy Jackson, another mixed-blood (half-blackfeet) scout as well as Lt. Charles DeRudio and Private O’Neil. Girard and Jackson still had mounts; the other two were on foot.

The group hid until dark. Then, encountering hostiles, the two mounted scouts charged away and hid another day in brush along a tributary. They remained hidden the next day until dark, as did DeRudio and O’Neil. Both pairs managed to sneak up to the siege lines, joining their comrades on the bluffs at dusk on June 26^th.

Court Witness and Civilian Life

Girard, like George Herendeen, was called to testify at Reno’s Court of Inquiry in 1879. He seemed to echo the belief that those present had “closed ranks” and colluded to protect the hapless major. Regarding those officers, Girard later commented he was “amused to see how bad their memories became.” By 1883 he embraced civilian life, mainly working for Pillsbury Mills. He died in 1913.

Frank Gruard

Birth and Background

Frank Gruard mainly ranged further south. Regarding his past, it seems difficult to discern fact from embellishment. His Buffalo, Wyoming biographer in 1891 is said to have embellished freely.

Some accounts state Gruard was born on a Polynesian island to a Mormon missionary and a native girl. Others assert he was actually born to a French Creole father and a Sioux mother. Still others say his father was a black steamboat cook and his mother an Indian of unspecified tribe. Regardless, his dark skin seems to have helped him gain acceptance among the Sioux tribe.

Early Career and Captivity

Some accounts have Gruard doing honest work as a mail carrier when he ran afoul of either a Crow or Sioux party. One version, not necessarily contradictory, says he stole mail horses and fled, ending up amongst the Sioux. Some say he was captured.

Gruard may have lived with Assiniboine or Yankton Sioux, but it is generally accepted he was adopted into the family of Hunkpapa Sioux leader Sitting Bull. He may have remained as a de facto captive until gaining freedom at the Fort Robinson Sioux agency in Nebraska.

Gruard has been described as “hulking;” it is believed he was named Standing Bear because his buffalo coat made him look like one. The account says he was grappling with one of his captors who tried to steal the coat. Sitting Bull mistook him for a large bear.

Gruard lived among the Sioux for several years. He is said to have joined the 1873 attacks against Custer’s troop along the Yellowstone. He may have raised Sitting Bull’s ire by reporting an inside deal with traders to the soldiers at Fort Peck. Whatever his motivation, he soon parted ways with the Sioux.

Scouting for General Crook

When General George Crook tried to recruit scouts at a Sioux reservation, “using Indians to find Indians,” he found no Sioux willing to assist. He did recruit Gruard, however. Given Gruard’s knowledge of Sioux habits and patterns, he became invaluable – at least in terms of finding their winter camps. Crook was later quoted as saying he would rather lose a third of his command than lose Gruard’s services.

Gruard led Crook’s forces to a Cheyenne and Sioux camp on the Powder River in March, 1876. Crook delegated the attack to a Colonel, and it was poorly coordinated, then botched. In June 1876 Gruard again accompanied Crook’s Wyoming Column into Montana Territory. Before they located the hostiles, the tribes attacked unexpectedly, again turning Crook back.

The Little Bighorn

When Custer was defeated just eight days later, Crook’s scouts apparently knew of it before Crook was informed. Gruard was said to have seen smoke signals that indicated the annihilation. Officers did not believe him.

Gruard was then said to have dressed as an Indian and ridden to confirm the message. He may have passed undetected near Reno’s besieged troops.

The Killing of Crazy Horse

Accounts also vary regarding Gruard’s involvement with the death of Crazy Horse. In 1877, after the war chief’s surrender, the U.S. army asked Sioux to act as scouts to against the Nez Perce in Montana Territory. Crazy Horse was among them, and Gruard acted as interpreter. Some say he was drunk. Others speculate he intentionally misinterpreted to spite Crazy Horse.

Either way, when asked, Crazy Horse is said to have replied he would help until all Nez Perce were dead. Gruard’s interpretation led officers to believe Crazy Horse said he would fight until all whites were dead. He was arrested, and when he saw he would be placed in a guard house he resisted. He was bayoneted by a soldier and soon died.

Although highly regarded as a scout, Gruard is viewed with suspiscion due to the chief’s scandalous death. Girard and Gruard traveled different paths, but those paths may have nearly crossed at the Little Bighorn.

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Background and Early Army Career

Benteen was born in August 1834 at Petersburg, Virginia, virtually the place where America’s Civil War ended. That war was the making of Benteen’s military career. By its end he had progressed through each rank to that of full colonel, and he was breveted a brigadier general.

Benteen’s career path was anything but conventional, however, which may have led to his apparent bitterness in much of life. He did not attend West Point, as most career officers had. As a boy he moved with his family to Missouri, where he was apparently a commoner.

Benteen’s father, a true Virginian, not only remained an ardent slave holder but viewed Southern slavery as a divine institution. At the Civil War’s outbreak Frederick aligned with the Union and enlisted. His father not only disowned him but stated he would pray daily that Frederick would be killed – ideally by a bullet fired by one of his own kin.

Distinguished Civil War Service

By September 1961 Benteen was a First Lieutenant in the 10^th Missouri Volunteer cavalry, and within a month he had become a captain. By 1962’s end he earned the rank of major, and early 1864 he was made Colonel in charge of a regiment. His brevet to brigadier general was made after the war’s end.

Benteen distinguished himself in numerous actions and conflicts during the Civil War. As Missouri was heavily divided between slavery and abolition, a good deal of military effort and resources went toward fending off secessionist forces and driving them from the state. Benteen was in the thick of much of it.

In Colonel Graham’s summary of Benteen’s career, he describes a family secret later “let out” by Benteen’s 10-year-old son Freddie. Benteen’s embittered father served the Confederacy as a blockade runner on “the great inland rivers.” Those apparently included the Mississippi and Missouri. Regardless, knowing his vessel and mission, Frederick used his 10^th Missouri to capture and confiscate the vessel and contraband cargo. His father remained in federal prison until paroled in 1865. He learned only years later that his capture had come at his son’s hands.

Benteen would distinguish himself beyond Missouri during the Civil War as well. He was conspicuous in his regiment’s actions in Alabama and Georgia too as the war progressed, thus earning his recommendation for the brigadier-general brevet.

Post Civil War Career

Unlike many career officers, Benteen retained his rank as Colonel of the 138^th “colored” regiment in 1865. As Custer historian William A. Graham wrote, “Benteen found this service personally distasteful,” and noted he “surrendered” the rank in July 1866 when the new 7^th Cavalry Regiment was organized. Benteen joined the Seventh as a captain and held that rank for most of his remaining career.

It is uncertain why Benteen disliked leading the “colored” regiment. Some writers allege he exhibited racial prejudice. It is also alleged he disliked or mistreated black interpreter Isaiah Dorman while later stationed at Fort Rice in Dakota Territory. He has generally been described as generally disliking most people.

A Sports Perspective

Benteen does appear to have appreciated various sports and their benefits, both to him and to his enlisted subordinates. Historian Thom Hatch quotes Private Thomas Ewert, who wrote to the Yankton Press and Dakotaian:

“On the first day of March, 1873, ‘H’ company seventh cavalry, stationed at Nashville, Tennessee, resolved to organize a club with the view of having games, sports and exercises to be known as the ‘Benteen base ball and gymnasium club’ (in honor of our company commander, captain F.W. Benteen, Brevet Colonel U.S.A.).”

Numerous accounts exist of baseball contests played between teams from Forts Rice and Lincoln as well as against civilian teams or clubs from nearby cities. In 1877 during the Nez Perce campaign, a trooper noted contests between the 2^nd and 7^th Cavalries along the Yellowstone River drainage.

Benteen seems to have enjoyed the merits of fishing as well. Frontier military troops often loved to supplement their mundane rations with either wild game or trout and other fish teeming in the streams along which they camped and campaigned. Reno himself made several mentions of the fishing rod he took along and enjoyed using during his western campaigns.

The Custer Controversy

When it came to Custer, however, Benteen had plenty of dislike and criticism. As with Reno, this may have stemmed from professional envy, given Custer’s youth and rapid success without seniority. It relates to other sources as well, however.

Benteen was close to Major Joel Elliot, who was wiped out along with 20 troopers during the Washita attack. Officers must have leeway to make decisions independently based on circumstances at hand. Acting independently, Elliot broke off his attack and pursued fleeing warriors away from the point of attack. Only much later was his squadron found, all dead and mutilated. No one had known he had left, or where he had gone.

Weather conditions were extreme, men and horses were already at risk due to the previous day and night’s march, and overwhelming numbers of warriors were appearing from nearby villages. Custer felt compelled to leave after scouts failed to find Elliot’s squadron. Benteen always felt Custer had abandoned him.

Custer fumed after he was criticized publicly in an “anonymous” letter published by a newspaper following Washita. The letter had been written to a friend by Benteen without intent to publish it. (At least one anonymous letter would appear in the New York Herald exposing tradership scandals under Grant’s administration. Ironically, Custer was a suspected source.) For any other faults, Benteen owned what he said. Custer, in effect, backed down when Benteen claimed authorship.

Little Bighorn Legacy

Animosity simmered beneath decorum through subsequent assignments and campaigns. It would lead to questions after the Little Bighorn. Among the first might be why Benteen’s battalion sent southward, away from the Sioux/Cheyenne village. It likely reflects trust rather than spite. Someone did need to ensure no “hostiles” were fleeing southward.

When Benteen decided (independently) his assignment was futile, he returned toward the other two battalions. Custer sent a message to Benteen directing him to hurry northward and bring the ammunition packs. The mule train was detached separately, but it reached Reno’s demoralized and routed troops about when Benteen’s did. Unanswered (and unanswerable) questions arise from there.

Disconcerted, Reno directed Benteen to help his troops; Benteen’s superior, he effectively countermanded Custer’s order.  Benteen was widely commended for taking command and control of the combined troops entrenching on those bluffs. He directed at least one surprise offensive movement, undoubtedly saving troopers’ lives. None other than George Herendeen described him as exceedingly brave.

Could He Have Saved Custer?

Benteen also led a troop movement toward Custer’s location, which was unknown to him. By that time, hordes of warriors were streaming en masse toward Reno’s position. It was later realized they had finished annihilating Custer’s troops. Further advance would have been suicidal. Only coordinated rear-guard action saved them.

Benteen’s Biggest Battles

Benteen continued his career as the 7^th Cavalry rebuilt. In 1877 he distinguished himself against the Nez Perce at Canyon Creek and was breveted colonel. He was promoted to major in 1882. However, after performing honorably in numerous battles from 1861 on, he effectively lost his battle with alcohol. As with Reno, drunkenness led to debauchery and discharge.

As with virtually all aspects of the Little Bighorn, many continue to question Benteen’s actions that day. In retirement he found mutual empathy with former trooper Theodore Goldin, whose Little Bighorn accounts are highly suspect. Letters between the two show Benteen’s bent for sarcasm and critique.

President Cleveland amended Benteen’s army dismissal to a one-year suspension. He then retired on disability. He was event breveted brigadier general for his actions against the Nez Perce and for what he is known best: the Little Bighorn.

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