This Week in Little Bighorn History

James Harrison Smith was born on April 9, 1848, in Madison, Indiana. He was a Private in Company G and one of three James Smiths in the Seventh Cavalry at the time. He was the only one of the three who was present at the battle. The other two who shared his name were killed with Custer’s Column and are buried on Last Stand Hill.

Morris Mason Farrar died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1899, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania. He was a Private in Company E who participated in the hilltop fight.


Henry W. B. Mechlin died on April 10, 1926, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the U.S. Soldiers’ Home Cemetery there. He was a blacksmith in Company H who participated in the hilltop fight. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions there.

 

Robert Rowland died near the Cannonball River, North Dakota, around April 11, 1879, of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head. He was a Private in Company G who was not present due to detached service at the Powder River Depot.

William E. Robinson was born on April 12, 1842, in County Down, Ireland. He was a Private in Company M who participated in the valley and hilltop fights.

Henry M. Brinkerhoff was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on April 12, 1854. He was a Private in Company G who participated in the valley and hilltop fights.

John McShane died at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, on April 13, 1877, and was originally buried in the Post Cemetery there and later reinterred in the Custer National Cemetery in Montana. He was a Private in Company I who was with the pack train and participated in the hilltop fight.

Joseph H. Green died on April 13, 1922, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the Soldiers’ Home Cemetery there. He was a Private in Company D who participated in the hilltop fight.

Patrick Carey was born on April 14, 1828, in Tipperary, Ireland. He was a Sergeant in Company M who participated in the valley and hilltop fights.


John Dolan (left), who was also known as Thomas Brown, was born in Dublin, Ireland, on April 14, 1843. He was a Private in Company M who was not present at the battle due to detached service.

John W. Sweeney died in Kentucky on April 14, 1884. He was a Private in Company F who particpated in the hilltop fight.

 


This Week in Little Bighorn History

 

 

The Training School for Bakers and Cooks was established at Fort Riley in 1905 to teach soldiers about food preparation, including methods for preparing food in the field. Bakers were taught how to make ovens in the field in order to bake bread. Bromwell may be in this U.S. Army photograph.

Latrobe Bromwell was born about 1847 in Frederick County, Maryland, the son of Louisa E. Meriweather and Hosea J. Bromwell. He served in the 11th Maryland Infantry during the Civil War. While with the Seventh Cavalry, he was a Private in Company E who was not present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn because he became ill on Rosebud Creek and was sent back to the Powder River Depot. Those in his company who went to battle were killed. He was the instructor in cooking at the Training School for Cooks and Bakers at Fort Riley, Kansas, until he retired in 1909. Bromwell died on April 2, 1923, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the Soldiers’ Home National Cemetery.

Other Seventh Cavalry milestones this week include:

  • Charles Clinton Barnett died in Anacortes, Skagit County, Washington, on April 3, 1935, and was buried there in Grand View Cemetery. He was a Private in Company G who was not present at the battle due to detached service.
  • William Frank died on April 6, 1880, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a Private in Company B who was with the pack train and participated in the hilltop fight.
  • John Curtis Hall died in Warsaw, Indiana, on April 6, 1908. He was a Private in Company D who participated in the hilltop fight.
  • Herbert H. Arnold died on April 6, 1929, in Meriden, Connecticut, and was buried there in Walnut Grove Cemetery. He was a Private in Company C who was not present at the battle due to detached service at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory.
  • Charles Ackerman died at Fort Snelling Minnesota, on April 6, 1930. He was buried in the Forest Cemetery, which is now Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. He was a Private in Company K who was not present at the battle due to detached service at the Powder River Depot.
  • William H. Gilbert married Mary E. Hevener on April 7, 1870. He was a Corporal in Company L who died with Custer’s Column and was buried on Last Stand Hill.
  • Alexander Brown died on April 7, 1884, at Fort Meade, Dakota Territory, and was buried in the National Cemetery there. He was a Sergeant in Company G who was with the pack train and participated in the hilltop fight.
  • William G. Hardy died in San Francisco, California, on April 7, 1919, and was buried in the National Cemetery there, the Presidio. He was a trumpeter in Company A who participated in the valley and hilltop fights.
  • William Alexander was born on April 8, 1838, in Armagh, Ireland. He was a packer with the Quartermaster who was with the pack train and participated in the hilltop fight.
  • John R. Gray was born in Troy, New York, on April 8, 1855 and died on April 30, 1915, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was a Private in Company B who was not present at the battle due to detached service.
  • Stephen L. Ryan died on April 8, 1885, in Bismarck, Dakota Territory, and was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery there. He was a Private in Company B who was with the pack train and participated in the hilltop fight.


This Week in Little Bighorn History

Alexander Brown was born on February 19, 1844, in Aberdeen, Scotland. He was a Sergeant in Company G and was with the pack train and in the hilltop fight. He died of syphilis in 1884 in Sturgis, South Dakota. Other Seventh Cavalry members who died in Sturgis included Joseph Bates (1893), Edward Garlick (1931), John E. Hammon (1909), Max Hoehn (1911), and John J. Mahoney (1918). The photo (left) of ox teams in Sturgis was taken by John C. H. Grabill, probably between 1887 and 1892.

Other Seventh Cavalry milestones this week include:

Thomas Hughes, who was also known as Charlie Hughes, was born in County Mayo, Ireland, on February 21, 1845. He was a Private in Company H who was wounded in the hilltop fight. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 12, 1911, and was buried in the National Cemetery there.

Charles Ackerman married Ephresina Peterson on February 21, 1881, at Fort Totten. He was not present during the battle due to detached service at the Power River Depot.

Michael Vincent Sheridan died on February 21, 1918, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was the brother of General Philip Henry Sheridan.

Dennis Lynch was born on February 22, 1848, in Cumberland, Maryland. He was a Private in Company F who was not at the battle due to detached service. He died in 1933 in Washington, D.C.

Andrew Humes Nave was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on February 23, 1846. He was a Second Lieutenant in Company I, but he was not present at the battle due to illness.

Jan Moller, also known as James Moller, died on February 23, 1928, in Deadwood, South Dakota, and was buried in the Mount Moriah Cemetery there. He was wounded in the hilltop fight.

George A. Rudolph was born in Meuterheim, Germany, on February 24, 1854. He was a Private in the Band. He was not present at the battle due to detached service at Powder River, Montana.

Charles Louis Haack died on February 24, 1902, at the U.S. Soldiers Home in Washington, D.C., and was buried in its National Cemetery. He was not present at the battle due to illness.

Joseph Greene Tilford died in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 1911, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was a Major who was not present at the battle due to detached service.

John Hackett died on February 25, 1904, at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, of heart disease and was buried in the cemetery there. He was in the valley and hilltop fights and was wounded in his left arm.