Six days after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, burial details moving across the slaughter field made a discovery that would not be fully understood for more than a century. Beneath the body of a fallen cavalry corporal, they found a perfectly preserved regimental flag, spared from destruction by the weight of the soldier who had died on top of it. That flag, later known as the Culbertson Guidon, sold at auction in 2010 for $2. 2 million.
The soldier was Corporal John Foley. According to accounts of the battle, he attempted to escape on horseback, was pursued by warriors, and took his own life with a shot to the head before he could be overtaken. His body fell onto the flag and kept it from being captured or destroyed. Sergeant Ferdinand Culbertson, a member of the burial party, recovered the guidon from beneath Foley’s remains.
It was the only one of five guidons carried by Custer’s command that was immediately recovered after the battle. The Battle of the Little Bighorn took place on June 25, 1876, in the Montana wilderness. Five companies of the U. S.
7th Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer were completely destroyed in the engagement. The aftermath was slow and grim. The battlefield was not reached again until June 27, two days after the fight, when the cavalry crossed the scarred ground and confronted a scene of death that one witness said he would never forget. Custer’s body was found on a hill north of the main fight.
He lay on his back with his hands folded across his abdomen, a resting position familiar to those who had served alongside him. He carried two fatal wounds, one at the front of his left temple and another near his heart. His brother, Captain Tom Custer, was found near the crest of a hill just north of the general. His face was distorted beyond recognition.
His body had multiple arrow wounds, including in the back and head, where an arrowhead had bent and embedded deeply. His skull was shattered and nearly all of his hair had been scalped, except for a small patch at the nape of his neck. Boston Custer, the youngest of the Custer brothers, was found about 200 yards from Custer Hill. His body had been stripped of clothing except for a pair of white cotton socks with the labels carefully removed.
Across the field, other bodies showed fragments of bloody undershirts, trousers, or socks, and in every instance the name tags had been cut away. The burial parties had few tools, only half a dozen shovels and spades, a couple of axes, and two picks. Using knives and tin cups, soldiers hastily covered the bodies with shallow layers of earth, leaving them hundreds of miles from civilization. Trumpeter John Joseph Martini recalled finding a heap of dead soldiers in a deep ravine between Custer’s position and the river.
Among them lay a first sergeant, his body strewn with shredded pieces of about $500 in paper currency that had been entrusted to him by the men under his command, according to Martini’s account. He also remembered that part of Adjutant Cook’s sideburns had been scalped with the skin still clinging to it. Scout George Herendeen added that in the Sioux camp, four severed soldiers’ heads were found, though their bodies could not be located on the field or in the village. Lieutenant Charles Roe of the Second Cavalry later reported that they discovered the head of a white man tied to a lariat in the Indian village, dragged through the settlement until it tore free from the body.
Survivor Jacob Adams recalled that troopers were roped from their saddles and dragged into the heart of the village, where they were tied to trees and burned alive. These horrors, according to the account, were seen by their comrades from Benteen’s division, who were helpless to intervene. John Ryan later noted that bones and scraps of blue uniforms were found at spots where men had been tied to stakes and trees. Native accounts of the aftermath included details that were passed down as well.
A warrior known as White Wolf later told how young men searched the bodies of fallen soldiers and found square green paper notes tucked in their pockets. Unfamiliar with money, Native children used these bills as saddle blankets for their toy mud ponies. Silver coins were also recovered, which the Cheyenne reshaped into silver buckles. Warriors Wooden Leg, Little Hawk, and Bobtail Horse, who were also there, remembered discovering bottles of whiskey among the dead troopers.
The deeper question surrounding the Culbertson Guidon is the motive behind Foley’s final act. Accounts describe his attempt to escape and his choice to end his own life before being overtaken. The flag he protected was the symbol of the unit’s identity, and preserving it from desecration has been interpreted as an act of duty, courage, or simple human instinct in the chaos of the fight. The relic’s later sale for $2.
2 million turned it into one of the most valuable artifacts of the battle, displayed behind glass in a museum setting. The contrast has not gone unnoticed: the Lakota and Cheyenne won that battlefield, yet the artifact of that victory was auctioned for a fortune while their descendants continue to fight to preserve their languages and culturesCONTENT:
The last stand at Little Bighorn has carried a secret beneath its most famous hill for over a century, preserved not in official records but in the final act of one ordinary soldier. Two days after the slaughter on June 27, 1876, burial details moved across a nightmarish landscape littered with more than 200 mutilated corpses. Under one of those bodies they found something unexpected: a perfectly preserved cavalry guidon, saved from destruction because Corporal John Foley had died on top of it.
According to accounts from the battle, Foley tried to escape on horseback, was pursued by warriors, and shot himself in the head before he could be overtaken. His body shielded the flag from capture. Sergeant Ferdinand Culbertson, part of the burial party, recovered it, and the banner became known as the Culbertson Guidon. In 2010, that flag sold at auction for $2.
2 million. The battle itself unfolded on June 25, 1876, when five companies of the U. S. 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer were annihilated in the Montana wilderness.
Of the five guidons carried by the command during the final stand, this was the only one recovered immediately after the fight. When burial parties finally reached the ground two days later, the scene left a lasting mark on witnesses. Custer was found lying on his back with his hands folded across his abdomen, a posture familiar to those who had marched beside him. He had two fatal wounds, one at his left temple and another near his heart.
His brother, Captain Tom Custer, was discovered near the crest of a hill just north of the general. His face was distorted beyond recognition. His body carried multiple arrow wounds, including one in the back and another in the head where an arrowhead had bent and embedded deeply. His skull was shattered and nearly all of his hair had been scalped.
Boston Custer, the youngest of the three brothers, was found about 200 yards from Custer Hill. His body was stripped down to a pair of white cotton socks with the labels neatly removed. Across the field, other corpses showed fragments of bloody undershirts, pants, or socks, and in every case the name tags had been cut away. The burial parties had almost nothing to work with: half a dozen shovels and spades, two axes, and two picks.
Using knives and tin cups, they covered the bodies with shallow earth, leaving them in the wilderness hundreds of miles from home. Trumpeter John Joseph Martini later described finding a heap of dead soldiers in a deep ravine between Custer’s position and the river. Among them lay a first sergeant whose body was strewn with shredded pieces of about $500 in paper currency that had been entrusted to him by the men under his command. Martini also recalled that part of Adjutant Cook’s sideburns had been scalped, the skin still clinging to it.
Scout George Herendeen added that in the Sioux camp, four severed soldiers’ heads were found, though no bodies for them could be located. Lieutenant Charles Roe of the Second Cavalry reported that a white man’s head had been tied to a lariat in the Indian village and dragged through the settlement until it tore free from the body. Survivor Jacob Adams told of troopers being roped from their saddles and dragged into the village, where they were tied to trees and burned alive while helpless comrades watching from Benteen’s division could do nothing. John Ryan later noted that bones and scraps of blue uniforms were found where men had been tied to stakes and trees.
Native accounts preserved their own memory of the aftermath. A warrior known as White Wolf said young men searched the bodies and found square green paper notes in their pockets. Unfamiliar with money, the children used the bills as saddle blankets for their mud ponies. Silver coins were melted down and reshaped into buckles by the Cheyenne.
Wooden Leg, Little Hawk, and Bobtail Horse recalled finding bottles of whiskey among the dead troopers. The Culbertson Guidon now rests behind museum glass, a symbol valued in the millions. But the deeper question is whether the flag tells the full story of the men who carried it and the people who fought them on that ground.
The Lakota and Cheyenne won the battle, yet it is the flag of the defeated that commands a king’s ransom today, while their descendants continue the fight to preserve their languages and cultures.