In June 1876, a former sergeant of the Seventh Cavalry, Stannis Loss Roy, set down his recollections of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His account, written in 1910, offers a rare enlisted man’s perspective on the desperate fight that became one of the most infamous defeats in American military history. Roy’s narrative begins on June 5, when his detachment was caught in a severe snowstorm between the Hart River and Ofallen Creek. The wagon train never advanced beyond the Powder River, and the column pushed on into territory marked by Indian graves.
According to Roy, men of G Troop tore down these burial platforms and cast the bones into the Yellowstone, an act that drew warnings from some soldiers that the desecration might bring regret. On June 22, the advance began at noon from a camp in the timber roughly a mile east of the mouth of the Rosebud. Roy’s account of the river crossing suggests General Custer followed a route now marked by the road, and he specifically noted that Bob Jackson and Billy Cross did not ford at the location known as Ford A. No man recalled seeing them in the valley fight or on the western side of the river.
Reno’s advance consisted of Companies G, A, and M, in that order. As the men formed a line after passing the ford, Roy heard several men exclaim, “There goes Kuster,” seeing the general upon the hills to the right across the river. They dismounted about 200 yards in advance of the timber, with the skirmish line proceeding toward its point. G held the right, A was next, and M held the left.
Roy observed Indians in the timber ahead of the right flank, delivering an oblique fire from the southwest. He noted seeing Charlie Reynolds, dismounted and wounded, pistol in hand, attempting to follow the retreat. After Roy’s own horse was wounded, it became frenzied and carried him through safely before he was ordered back from the line. When Roy entered the timber to recover his horse, he encountered Lieutenant Wallace, who told him to “size any horse you can obtain, and quit this place.
” It was then that Roy saw Private John M. Gilbert emerging with four horses, including Roy’s own mount. As the column withdrew, Roy was among the last to leave the timber. He saw Charlie Reynolds again, dismounted and wounded, standing defiantly with his pistol.
Roy’s horse was shot through the jaws just behind the mouth, and though it fell, it rose again. He lost his carbine and sling belt in the fall, leaving him only his pistol. Reaching the river, the water was belly-deep to his horse, and he began the climb up the bluff. The horse bled badly, and Roy abandoned it during the ascent.
During the retreat, Roy spoke with Captain Mand, telling him, “Captain, I am dismounted. ” Mand replied, “Well, procure one. ” About ten minutes after gaining the blufftop, Captain Bentine arrived. Captain Weir went out and later returned with the enemy in pursuit.
Corporal George H. King was wounded the evening of June 25 and later died of his wounds. That night, the men constructed breastworks. Roy recounted that Sergeant Failer refused to volunteer for a dangerous detail, so Roy stated he would go if men volunteered.
Privates Connor, Gilbert, Braftoft, McClur, and Harris stepped forward. The instructions were to slip out singly, with two men remaining awake at a time to converse and ensure wakefulness. If fired upon at dawn, they were to scatter for the breastworks. Fighting resumed at daylight on June 26 and was most severe until about 10 a.
m. Roy noted that the enemy’s fire cut down all the sagebrush before them. One man was found “stoned dead, struck in the temple whilst aiming his carbine, having not moved from his position. ” The men chewed grass to produce saliva, and after one man returned with a kettle, they all drank—their first water in 36 hours.
After Madden was struck, a half-hour pause occurred. Approximately an hour and a half after starting, the men regained the hilltop with water. They then crossed to the Custer Battlefield to bury the dead. The first body encountered was that of Corporal John Foley of Sea Company.
Roy closed his account by reflecting that the paramount facts remain the steadfastness of the men on the hill and the terrible price paid in the valley below.