by Thom Hatch
For Dr. DeWolf: “The Diary and Letters of Dr. James M. DeWolf, Acting Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army; His Record of the Sioux Expedition of 1876 as Kept Until His Death,” by Luce. A notebook belonging to DeWolf was stolen while on display in the museum at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and has never been recovered.
A biography of Dr. Porter is Walker’s Dr. Henry Porter: The Surgeon Who Survived Little Bighorn. His quote to Reno and Reno’s answer on the hilltop about the men being demoralized can be found in Graham’s Reno Court of Inquiry, 63.
Chapter Twelve
Battle Ridge
In 1908, Kanipe accompanied historian Walter Camp on a tour of the battlefield, which resulted in “Daniel A. Kanipe’s Account of Custer Fight Given to Me on June 16 and 17, 1908,” in Custer in ’76, edited by Hammer. Letters written by Kanipe to Camp are in the Walter M. Camp collection, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. See also: “A New Story of Custer’s Last Stand, by the Messenger Boy Who Survived,” by Aiken, and “The Story of Sergeant Kanipe, One of Custer’s Messengers,” by Kanipe, is in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham.
“Interviews with John Martin, October 24, 1908 and May 10, 1910,” can be found in Custer in ’76, edited by Hammer; “John A. Martin—Custer’s Last Courier,” by Ross; “Custer’s Battle Plan,” by Graham; a letter from Martin to D. R. Barry, dated April 7, 1907, can be found in the collection at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument; numerous references to Martin, including his own story, are in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham.
Another version of the Benteen duel with the young warrior is recounted in Hoig’s Battle of the Washita.
Although there are several sources for the attitude, reaction, and behavior of soldiers under fire listed in the bibliography, this version can be attributed to the author, based on his experiences and observations as a United States Marine Corps Vietnam veteran.
Custer’s quote about praying before each battle is on page 95 of Merington’s Custer Story. Libbie’s quote about the two of them dying together is also in Merington’s Custer Story, 144.
Chapter Thirteen
The Siege of the Hilltop
Reno’s plea to Benteen “For God’s sake…” can be found in Lonich, “Blacksmith Henry Mechling,” 31.
References with respect to Weir’s gallant actions at the Little Bighorn are contained in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham. See also “Tribute to Colonel Weir,” The Bismarck Tribune, January 3, 1877, and “Death of Tom Weir” in the Army and Navy Journal, December 27, 1876.
For more about Charles DeRudio, see: Charles C. DeRudio, by Mills; “Interview with Charles DeRudio, February 2, 1910,” in Custer in ’76, by Hammer; “Carlo di Rudio, 1st Lt. 7th U.S. Cavalry,” by Stone; and “Charles DeRudio: European Assassin,” by Shoenberger. According to DeRudio, the following article attributed to him was actually written by Major James S. Brisbin: “My Personal Story,” New York Herald, July 30, 1876, and reprinted in the Chicago Times, August 2, 1876.
An autobiography of Frank Grouard, which was written with the assistance of newspaperman Joe DeBarthe in 1894, does not mention Grouard’s involvement in the death of Crazy Horse and occasionally suffers from historical inaccuracies but nonetheless offers a fascinating insight into the life and exploits of this colorful character: The Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard by Joe DeBarthe, edited by Stewart. Grouard’s early life can be found in “Frank Grouard: Kanaka Scout or Mulatto Renegade?” by Gray. His association with Crazy Horse is contained in his own “An Indian Scout’s Recollections of Crazy Horse” and the less flattering Crazy Horse, by Sandoz.
Eyewitness testimony with respect to Reno’s actions on the hilltop can be found in Reno Court of Inquiry: The Chicago Times Account, by Utley; and Reno Court of Inquiry, edited by Nichols. Reno’s admission of being drunk is in Indian Fights and Fighters, by Cyrus Townsend Brady. Reno’s suggestion to abandon the hilltop is discussed at length in I Fought with Custer, by Frazier and Robert Hunt. Reno also told the Northwestern Christian Advocate in 1904 that “his strange actions” during and after the battle were “due to drink.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bodies on the Field
James Bradley, the man who found the bodies of Custer’s battalion, was killed while commanding a mounted detachment at the August 9, 1877, Battle of Big Hole during the Nez Percé Campaign. Bradley was a prolific writer, however, who maintained journals of various military operations in which he participated. His most famous work is an account of Gibbon’s Montana Column in 1876, which has been published as The March of the Montana Column, edited by Stewart. Other narratives by Bradley have appeared over the years in issues of Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana.
The quotes of the Seventh Cavalry officers upon viewing the dead bodies on the field can be found in a letter from Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey to John Neihardt, January 6, 1924, Francis R. Hagner Collection. See also: Godfrey’s article “Custer’s Last Stand,” first published in Century Magazine 43 (January 1892) and reprinted in The Custer Reader, edited by Hutton; and “After the Custer Battle,” by Partoll. Other testimony and quotes can be found in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham.
The controversy over Rain-in-the-Face’s assertion that he cut out and ate Tom Custer’s heart can be found in Custer and the Great Controversy, by Utley.
The statements by Kate Bighead and Wooden Leg have been attributed to Thomas Marquis. The careful researcher should be warned that Marquis occasionally had trouble separating truth from fable in his Custer Soldiers Not Buried, She Watched Custer’s Last Battle, Two Days After the Battle, and other publications.
For more about William Van Wyck Reily, see “Profile: Lieutenant William Van Wyck Reily, 7th Cavalry,” by Pohanka. A ring that Reily wore when he was killed is on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
Biographical material on John J. Crittenden can be found in The Crittenden Memoirs, by Crittenden, and “Lt. Crittenden: Striving for the Soldier’s Life,” by Cecil.
For Dr. Lord, see “Dr. George E. Lord, Regimental Surgeon,” by Vaughn and “Custer’s Surgeon, George Lord, Among the Missing at Little Bighorn Battle,” by Noyes.
David Humphreys Miller, who consulted dozens of Indian participants for his Custer’s Fall: The Indian Side of the Story, lists the names of only twelve Cheyenne and twenty Lakota Sioux who were said to have been killed. And one of those, Cheyenne chief Lame White Man, was shot and scalped by a Sioux who mistook him for an Arikara or Crow, perhaps because he was wearing a captured cavalry uniform. In addition to the preceding source, an excellent commentary with plentiful references can be found in Custer’s Luck, by Stewart. Also see Hokahey! A Good Day to Die!: The Indian Casualties of the Custer Fight, by Hardorff.
The best account of news of Custer’s defeat can be found in “Montana Editors and the Custer Battle,” by Myers, which has been reprinted in The Great Sioux War 1876–77, edited by Hedren. See also “Why Helena Instead of Bozeman Scooped the News in 1876” in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham.
Excellent information about Mitch Bouyer can be found in Gray’s Custer’s Last Campaign: Mitch Bouyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed. See also: Memoirs of a White Crow Indian, by Marquis; “Mitch Bouyer, a Scout for Custer,” by Hickox; and a letter from W. B. Logan, Fort Belknap Agency, to Walter Camp, dated May 17, 1909, in the Walter Camp Collection, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. In 1987, it was announced that bone fragments discovered on the battlefield had been identified as belonging to Bouyer.
The remarkable journey of the Far West can be found in The Conquest of the Missouri: Being the Story of the Life and Exploits of Captain Grant Marsh, by Hanson.
The letter to Libbie Custer from Major Joseph G. Tilford was quoted from General Custer’s Libbie, by Frost. The original was part of Frost’s personal collection.
Final resting places of the officers who were killed on June 25, 1876, are as follows:
First Lieutenant James Calhoun
—Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, August 3, 1877
First Lieutenant William W. Cooke—Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Second Lieutenant John J. Crittenden—Custer National Cemetery, September 11, 1931
Captain Thomas W. Custer—Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, August 3, 1877
Dr. James M. DeWolf—Woodlawn Cemetery, Norwalk, Ohio, August 1, 1877
Second Lieutenant Henry M. Harrington—body never found
Second Lieutenant Benjamin H. Hodgson—Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, October 1877
Captain Myles W. Keogh—Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn, New York, October 25, 1877
Dr. George E. Lord—Custer National Cemetery
Second Lieutenant Donald McIntosh—Arlington National Cemetery, July 28, 1909
First Lieutenant James E. Porter—body never found
Second Lieutenant William V. W. Reily—Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Washington, D.C., August 3, 1877
First Lieutenant Algernon E. Smith—Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, August 3, 1877
Second Lieutenant James G. Sturgis—body never found
Captain George W. Yates—Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, August 3, 1877
Harry “Autie” Reed was killed alongside his three uncles on Custer Hill and temporarily buried on the field. His body was later exhumed and reinterred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Monroe in January 1878. His name on the battle monument is listed as “Arthur Reed.” See “Autie Reed’s Last Letters,” by O’Neil.
Boston Custer was initially buried on the battlefield. His body was exhumed in 1878 and reinterred in the family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan. See: “Letters from Boston Custer,” by O’Neil.
The best source for this subject is The Custer Battle Casualties: Burials, Exhumations, and Reinterments, by Hardorff. See also “With the Indian and the Buffalo in Montana,” by McClernand, an officer with Gibbon’s column who witnessed the burials.
George Armstrong Custer’s funeral is covered in “The Funeral of General Custer,” Harper’s Weekly (October 27, 1877), and “Custer’s Burial Revisited: West Point, 1877,” by Barnard.
Chapter Fifteen
Custer’s Avengers
The best overall account of the period immediately following the Little Bighorn battle is in Frontier Regulars, by Utley. See also: Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876–77, by Greene; War-Path and Bivouac, by Finerty; and The Great Sioux War 1876–77, edited by Hedren. For a detailed account of Colonel Miles’ 1876–77 campaign, see Yellowstone Command, by Green.
The story of Cody’s “duel” can be found in First Scalp for Custer: The Skirmish at Warbonnet Creek, Nebraska, July 17, 1876, by Hedren, as well as in any Cody biography.
The Slim Buttes battle is covered nicely in Slim Buttes, 1876: An Episode of the Great Sioux War, by Greene and Campaigning with Crook, by King.
The text of the Agreement of August 15, 1876, in which the Sioux signed over the Black Hills, has been reprinted from the U.S. Statutes at Large, 19, which has been conveniently reprinted in the appendix of Custer’s Gold: The United States Cavalry Expedition of 1874, by Jackson.
The Dull Knife battle is covered in Mackenzie’s Last Fight with the Cheyennes, by Bourke, The Fighting Cheyennes, by Grinnell, and The Dull Knife Fight, by Werner.
The best source for the Wolf Mountain battle is “The Battle of Wolf Mountain,” by Rickey; see also Faintly Sounds the War-Cry: The Story of the Fight at Battle Butte, by Werner.
For the Lame Deer fight, see “The Last Fight of the Sioux War of 1876–77,” by McBlain.
The flight of Dull Knife and Little Wolf has been sympathetically and vividly portrayed in Cheyenne Autumn, by Sandoz.
The surrender and death of Crazy Horse can be found in any of the previously mentioned biographies of him. See also: The Killing of Crazy Horse, by Clark and Friswold; “Chief Crazy Horse, His Career and Death,” by Brininstool; “The Man Who Killed Crazy Horse,” by Carroll; and chapter 5, “The Death of Crazy Horse,” in Camp on Custer, edited by Liddic and Harbaugh.
The Nez Percé War can be found in The Flight of the Nez Perce: A History of the Nez Perce War, by Brown.
For Sitting Bull’s adventures in Canada, see “Sitting Bull and the Mounties,” by Anderson. The surrender and death of Sitting Bull can be found in any of the previously mentioned biographies of him. Also see: My Friend, the Indian, by McLaughlin; “The True Story of the Death of Sitting Bull,” by Fechet; and “Surrender of Sitting Bull,” by Allison.
A few of the better sources for the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee affair are: Eyewitness at Wounded Knee, by Carter, Jensen, and Paul; Wovoka and the Ghost Dance, edited by Lynch; The Ghost Dance Religion and Wounded Knee, by Mooney; and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Brown.
Chapter Sixteen
Mysteries, Myths, and Legends
The mystery of the missing bodies from Company E has been covered in most books about the battle—in particular Hammer’s Custer in ’76 and King’s Massacre. One 350-page book, Michno’s Mystery of E Troop, has been dedicated to the subject and should have been condensed into a short article. Michno’s conclusion, incidentally, was that the bodies could have been found in an adjoining ravine.
The intriguing story of Harrington is covered in Hammer’s Custer in ’76; “Another Custer Mystery,” published in the Pony Express Courier, Placerville, California, August 1936; and “Echoes of the Custer Tragedy,” by Scott. Another version of Gall’s story about a trooper committing suicide is told by King in his “Custer’s Last Battle,” which has been reprinted in The Custer Reader, edited by Hutton. King states that a year after the battle one of the Sioux pursuers of this rider pointed out a skeleton to officers of the Fifth Cavalry. King also writes that three years after the battle Harrington’s watch was returned to his father after being traded by a Sioux who had fled to Canada.
There is no lack of information about the horse Comanche, with my “The Story of Comanche” leading the way. See also: Comanche (the Horse That Survived the Custer Massacre), by Amaral; Comanche of the Seventh, by Leighton; His Very Silence Speaks, by Lawrence; and Keogh, Comanche and Custer, by Luce.
Red Horse’s statement about the bravest man can be found in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham. Luce’s version is in his Keogh, Comanche and Custer, and Stewart’s story is in his Custer’s Luck. The statement by Cheyenne chief Two Moon can be found in the article “General Custer’s Last Fight as Seen by Two Moon,” by Garland. Cheyenne warrior Wooden Leg’s version is in Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer, by Marquis.
Those historians who believe Keogh was the bravest man include Kuhlman in his Legend into History, Rosenberg in his Custer and the Epic of Defeat, and Miller, who interviewed seventy-one Indian survivors of the battle for his Custer’s Fall.
Curley’s story can be found in “Was There a Custer Survivor?” by Brininstool; Indian Fights and Fighters, by Brady; and “Unwritten Seventh Cavalry History,” by Brininstool.
A collection of newspaper clippings and personal material about Frank Finkel’s claim can be found in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Public Museum. His story can be found in Stewart’s Custer’s Luck.
The William Heath mystery is covered in The Billings Gazette, June 28, 1999.
A list of the signers of the Enlisted Men’s Petition can be found in The Custer Myth, edited by Graham.
Chapter Seventeen
Clearing the Smoke from the Battlefield
The most convenient reprint of Terry’s order to Custer can be found in Stewart’s Custer’s Luck, 249–50.
Just about every volume that chronicles the battle discusses Terry’s orders. In addition to those, some of the best sources include: Did Custer Disobey Orders at the Battle of the Little Big Horn? by Kuhlman; “Sufficient Reason?” An Examination of Terry’s Celebrated Order to Custer, by Taunton; Indian Fights and Fighters, by Brady; Custer and the Great Controversy, by Utley; and “A Modern Look at Custer’s Orders,” by O’Neil and Vande
nberg.
Terry went as far as to delay the departure of the Far West, with the wounded aboard, in order to closet himself with his staff to craft a report that would deflect criticism from him as much as possible. That claim can be found in Walker’s Dr. Henry R. Porter. The statement from Terry that Custer would have faced a court-martial can be found in the Chicago Times, September 16, 1876.
The remarks from Mary Adams are in Graham’s Custer Myth, 279. Graham’s work also includes other quotes and opinions about this subject from participants.
The controversy about readiness arose from an article, “Varnum, Reno and the Little Bighorn,” written by W. J. Ghent for Winners of the West. In this article, battle participant Second Lieutenant Charles Varnum alleged that the number of recruits participating in the battle was greatly exaggerated at the Court of Inquiry in order to aid Reno’s case. Varnum went on to claim that most of the new recruits had been left back at the Powder River base camp and that no company had more than two recruits on the march. Regimental records confirm that statement.
The opinion about how soldiers respond under fire can be attributed to the author, a United States Marine Corps Vietnam veteran.
With respect to the malfunction issues concerning the Springfield carbines, the best source is Fox in his excellent Archaeology, History, and Custer’s Last Battle. See also: “Carbine Extractor Failure at the Little Big Horn,” by Hedren and “The Cartridge Case Evidence on Custer Field,” by Trinque.
Custer’s refusal to drag along Gatling guns has been covered in Noyes’ “The Guns ‘Long Hair’ Left Behind.” Kit Carson’s battle at Adobe Walls can be found in my The Blue, the Gray, and the Red.
A grasping at straws allegation of Custer’s ambition to quickly end the battle and arrive triumphantly at the Democratic Convention to accept the presidential nomination is in Sandoz’s Battle of the Little Bighorn. Red Star’s account appears in “The Arikara Narrative of the Campaign Against the Hostile Dakotas,” edited by Libby. Another embellishment of Red Star’s alleged statement can be found in Custer’s Fall: The Indian Side of the Story, by Miller. See also Custer for President? by Repass.