NPS Historical Handbook: Custer Battlefield (Little Bighorn) (2024)

Custer's last message, written by Custer's AdjutantLt. W.W. Cooke on a sheet torn from his field dispatch book. At the topand right of the message is a "translation" written by Captain Benteen.The original message is in the U. S. Military Academy Library, West Point,N.Y.
(Reproduced by courtesy of the U. S. Military Academy Library, West Point)

The March of Generals Terry and Gibbon and TheirArrival at the Battleground

Trumpeter John Martin who carried Custer's last message toCaptain Benteen.
(Photograph by D. F. Barry in 1906.)

The troops of Generals Terry and Gibbon, numberingabout 450 men, left the mouth of the Rosebud Creek on June 21, proceededup the Yellowstone River, and crossed to its south side just below themouth of the Bighorn River. On the night of the 24th they camped onlower Tullock Creek. The 25th, the day of Custer's battle, theytraversed the arid hills along the Bighorn River in an effort to get tothe mouth of the Little Bighorn River.

On Monday the 26th, near the mouth of the LittleBighorn River, these troops had sign talk with three Crow Indians whohad been scouts with Custer. The Indians told them all the white men hadbeen killed. None of the men fully believed this story. The entirecommand marched up the Little Bighorn Valley, continually noting Indiansfarther up the valley and on the bluffs to the right, some riding singlyand others in groups. That evening camp was made near the present siteof Crow Agency, Mont.

On the morning of the 27th no Indians were seen bythe troops and, following breakfast, the march southward began.Lieutenant Bradley, with a detail, was sent on special scout duty to theeast side of the river. After the main column of troops had marchedsouth up the valley about 3 miles, an officer saw men and animals movingon a hill 3 miles to the east across the valley. An officer, with a fewmen, was detailed to get closer to this group to identify them. Theyproved to be a detachment which had been sent by Reno. The story wastold of the disappearance of Custer and his battalion.

While this conference was in progress, LieutenantBradley and his scouting party returned. He brought the firstofficial news of the tragic loss. On July 27, 1876, in the HelenaWeekly Herald, Bradley made the following statement of what he hadfound:

"Of the 206 bodies buried on the field, there werevery few that I did not see, and beyond scalping, in possibly a majorityof cases, there was little mutilation. Many of the bodies were not evenscalped, and in the comparatively few cases of disfiguration itappeared to me rather the result of a blow than of a knife . . ."

Immediate action was taken to care properly for thewounded men in Reno's command. They were transferred before the dayended from the Reno defense area on the hills to the valley whereGenerals Terry and Gibbon had set up camp, and the men began work makinglitters on which to transport them.

Grave of Lt. John J. Crittenden, Twentieth United StatesInfantry. He was attached to the Seventh Cavalry for duty and killedwith Custer's troops. Photograph taken in 1877.
(Courtesy of theNational Archives.)

On the 27th, a group under the supervision of CaptainBenteen was sent to Custer's Battlefield to make a survey of the field.Early the next day the Seventh Cavalry proceeded to the battlefield tolocate, count, and bury the bodies of their comrades. Four officers and14 enlisted men were found to be missing, but none was foundalive. Accounts vary as to what percent of the bodies were scalped ormutilated. Much of the clothing and personal belongings was missing. Itis known that General Custer's body, though stripped of clothing, wasneither scalped nor mutilated. He had been struck twice by bullets,either one of which could have been fatal. The burials were made inshallow graves and properly marked wherever identification waspossible.

Previous to the arrival of the soldiers, the Indianshad carried away and cared for most of their own dead. The exact placeof their burials is not known. The loss of the Indians has never beensatisfactorily deter mined. Published figures vary from 30 to 300.