"Interment of the Custer Dead" Topic

"It was June 28, 1876, two days after the Battle of the Little Bighorn when the surviving officers and soldiers of the 7th U.S. Cavalry began the gruesome task of burying their fallen comrades. The bodies were decomposed, many beyond recognition, bloated and black; the effects brought about by three days of exposure from the intense sun thrashed upon the Montana prairie. To make matters even more terrible, there were widespread mutilations of the dead -- crushed or decapitated heads and disembowelments. Soldiers were seen to stop their unenviable jobs to vomit or wipe away a tear.

The first burial was incomplete, however, for there were only a handful of spades, so most of the dead were covered with only a few token shovelfuls of dirt or clumps of sage. More important were the wounded soldiers lying along the valley floor in dire need of immediate medical attention – the nearest hospital was 500 miles away over land and down rivers. This army would have to move soon and fast, so very little time could be given the dead.

The exemplar burial was given to Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer – only 18 inches deep, but six feet compared to the other 200 plus 7th cavalrymen. Stakes driven into the ground marked recognized officer's graves. The officer's name was written on a piece of paper, rolled up and slipped inside a spent cartridge, then pounded into the head of the stake for later identification. Additionally, the graves were numbered on a map. The private was not so lucky. His final resting place remained mostly unmarked; there just was not enough time to cut stakes from the trees along the river or salvaged tipi poles.

The field on June 28 was best described by Colonel John Gibbon, "…as thickly lying in all conceivable positions and dotted about on the ground in all directions are little mounds of freshly turned earth showing where each brave soldier sleeps his last sleep."

After the surviving soldiers were gone, predators scattered the remains of Custer's 7th Cavalry across the field. Eventually, the battlefield gleamed with tens of thousands of shining bones from man and horse. These would have to be reckoned with resulting in many reburials over the next five years…"
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Interesting comments about Benteen and others performance.

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Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

Very interesting! Thanks.

Having worked in the desert, it's incredible how fast bodies are consumed/scattered.

We're talking within 48 hours a body can be turned to nothing but bone (animals occasionally skip unpleasant bits like the bottom of human feet, and heavily worn fingers etc.)

In 72 hours you're gone…leaving a greasy stain and a pile of pink bones. (bones are actually pinkish in colour, and quite soft/bendable when they're "fresh"). Pretty amazing to watch nature work.

Glad you had enjoy it boys!.
Thanks for sharing your interesting experience TunrStyle.

Amicalement
Armand

I recently read a book about what happened to Company E. One of the side notes of the investigation was that over the years there was three burials of the dead. News reports kept talking about the bones laying scattered all over the prairie. So one military team collected up all the horse bones cause news reporters were claiming they were soldiers remains.

Another book which goes into depth on the topic is Francis Taunton's "A Field of Ghastly Sickening Horror." It describes the general look of the field, mutilations, etc. Many of the officers would often times sanitize the reports to spare the public and relations.

The pictures above are from the 1877 Stanley Morrow collection. As stated above by Tango01 the original 1876 internments were of cannibalized lodgepoles taken from the village. In 1877 Fort Keogh troops replaced the lodgepoles with cedar stakes (as seen above) and recovered the remains of the officers. As Tom Leforge observed, "…the remains taken out of the grave believed to be Custer's was not enough to fill up my hat." Those are the same remains now at West Point. Horse remains (also seen) were not buried until there was a cordwood monument erected on Last Stand Hill in 1879.

Turn Style, I did not know about the pink bones… i suppose when fresh they are quite full of blood still? A useful fact to squirrel away for painting reference