Marcus Reno: Custer’s Major Rival and the Powder River “Recon”

Born in 1834, Marcus A. Reno entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1851. He would go on to earn several brevets in America’s Civil War. However, he would always be overshadowed by the exuberant and fast-rising “Boy General” George Custer. It would lead, at best, to professional rivalry.

West Point Records and Early Career

At West Point, apparently, Reno did outdo Custer in one area: demerits. A notorious as Custer is for pushing the limits on demerits, Reno outdid him. Scheduled to graduate in 1855, Reno failed to finish until 1857 and may have set a record for demerits in a term with 1,031.

Entering “the Point” in 1858, Custer should have finished in 1862. He actually graduated sooner, in 1861 due to the Civil War’s outbreak. Trained officers were suddenly in demand. Unlike Custer, though, who finished last in his class, Reno managed to finish 20^th out of a class of 38.

Until 1861 Reno served as a junior officer at Fort Dalles and Fort Walla Walla. Assigned to cavalry in the Civil War, he became a captain and was breveted major after the Kelly’s Ford battle in 1863. In 1864 he was breveted lieutenant colonel, then gained the rank of full colonel in early 1865. He received the brevet rank Brigadier General of Volunteers in March 1863, shortly before the war ended.

Post-Civil War Career and the Springfield Specter

Like most officers continuing their careers, Reno dropped in rank and moved to assignments around the country, including the Reconstruction South. By 1869 he had become a major in the 7^th Cavalry at Fort Hays, Kansas but then served two years on the army’s Small Arms Board starting in 1871.

During Reno’s time there the army adopted the Model 1873 Springfield Trapdoor rifle and carbine. The carbines became well known for failing to eject spent cartridges. This may have contributed to Custer’s astonishing defeat that the Little Bighorn. Other aspersions fell toward Reno after that battle too.

Seventh Cavalry Career

Assigned to the 7^th Cavalry in late 1873, Reno missed his regiment’s 1873 and 1874 expeditions. In 1874 he was assigned, with two companies, as escort for America’s part of the joint Northern Boundary Survey. His wife died unexpectedly during that time. Requesting funeral leave, he received a sympathetic but firm denial. Worse, his wife’s family saw fit to deny him any of the family’s fortune.

After leave spent in Europe in 1875, Reno rejoined his regiment and assumed its command while Custer dealt with scandals and politics in Washington, D.C. When Custer returned in time to resume command, Reno allegedly was resentful. He also allegedly neglected drill and marksmanship practice in Custer’s absence.

The Powder River “Recon”

Questions regarding Reno’s performance began in earnest with the Little Bighorn battle. They first began, though, with his Powder River scouting assignment. On June 10, 1876, General Terry sent him with six companies to scout up the Powder River drainage. He was to reconnoiter its tributary Mizpah Creek as well, then range west to the Tongue River and down to its mouth back at the Yellowstone.

Colonel Gibbon would have already reported his scouts’ findings of a large hostile village up the Rosebud. Perhaps Mitch Bouyer, assigned to Reno, led his detachment there in hopes of an early attack. It appears, though, that General Terry wanted to rule out the possibility of any remnant hostiles still in the Powder or Tongue River drainages and their tributaries.

Custer had led a scouting foray up the Little Missouri. This time General Terry sent Reno with three cavalry troops. They took rations for 10 days. Watch for “Results of Reno’s Powder River Recon” coming on June 18. One result was Reno’s finding of a wide and heavy travois trail heading up Rosebud Creek. It would lead to the Little Bighorn.

Little Bighorn Legacy

Reno would come into question after Custer detached him and ordered him to attack the hostile camp on the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876. Reno ended up leading a headlong “charge,” as he described it, that has been characterized as a chaotic retreat. His behavior drew question after his men were besieged on the bluffs above the Little Bighorn for the next two days as well.

In fairness, at least some of his tactics and choices were later defended by knowledgeable military analysts. Much, however, remains subject to question or outright disgrace.

One charge against him was drunkenness during the fight. As with most or all of the battle, accounts are many and varied. Some eye witnesses stated they saw him drinking an “amber-colored” liquid from a flask, both during his attack/retreat and during his subsequent siege. Others state they never saw it. He was later quoted by Rev. Arthur Edwards in the Northwest Christian Review (Sept. 7, 1904) as stating he performed poorly there because he had been drunk. (Maybe just an excuse for poor performance, but a damning confession nonetheless.)

One virtually unforgiveable act by Reno was his willingness to abandon some of his wounded. Reno was said to have proposed to Captain Benteen that the combined battalions mount up and flee during the night. When questioned about moving the wounded, Reno was said to respond that they could mount those capable of riding; those unable would be left. Benteen, and apparently others, evaded questioning on this and other topics during Reno’s 1879 Court of Inquiry. Benteen later confirmed the conversation in a letter published long after his death.

Court of Inquiry

With relentless finger-pointing, questioning and criticism after the battle, Reno requested his own Court of Inquiry in hopes of exoneration. It is noted that he conveniently waited until the army’s two-year statute of limitations had expired. He was indeed exonerated, but much speculation and evidence point toward the witnesses “closing ranks” to protect the 7^th Cavalry’s reputation; the process is seen by as a sham.

Reno’s Final Battles

Reno was not particularly liked by most of his subordinates or fellow officers. Historian Thom Hatch notes two 7^th Cavalry officers, Benteen and Godfrey, who specifically disliked him. Plenty of subordinates did too. Young Lt. Hugh Scott, another contemporary who would go on to become a general also fell among them.

Many supported him though, in ways including their Court of Inquiry Testimony. Whether by coercion or fear of retribution, most of the regiment signed a petition asking that all officers move up in rank, filling voids including that left by Lt. Colonel Custer. Many later denied signing, but it requested that Reno fill Custer’s vacated position.

In following years Reno was Court-Martialed and convicted twice. His first sentence, including charges of drunkenness on duty, was commuted. Other charges were raised and dropped. He was accused of “peeping” into the parlor of a young woman with whom he had become enamored. She was the daughter of Colonel Samuel Sturgis. This conviction was not commuted and ended his military career.

Though Reno’s discharge was eventually changed to “honorable,” his struggles with alcohol would plague him. They would overshadow what he did well in America’s Civil War and at the Little Bighorn.