The Reno Court of Inquiry: Day Five
Reeks: The Reno Court of Inquiry
Ethan E. Harris
- On
- June
- 25-26,
- 1876,
- five
- companies
- of
- the
- 7th
- U.S.
- Cavalry,
- led
- by
- Lieutenant
- Colonel
- George
- Armstrong
- Custer,
- engaged
- Sioux
- and
- Cheyenne
- warriors
- at
- the
- Little
- Bighorn
- River,
- in
- what
- is
- now
- Montana.
- The
- battle
- resulted
- in
- one
- of
- the
- worst
- disasters
- in
- U.S.
- military
- history.
- The
- 7th
- Cavalry
- lost
- 268
- men,
- including
- Custer
- himself.
- The
- second
- in
- command,
- Major
- Marcus
- A.
- Reno,
- who
- survived
- the
- battle,
- requested
- a
- court
- of
- inquiry
- to
- clear
- allegations
- of
- dereliction
- of
- duty.
- The
- Reno
- court
- of
- inquiry
- was
- held
- at
- the
- Palmer
- House
- in
- Chicago,
- from
- January
- 13
- through
- February
- 11,
- 1879.
- The
- original
- transcript
- of
- these
- proceedings,
- heavily
- consulted
- by
- military
- professionals
- and
- historians
- alike
- and
- beginning
- to
- deteriorate,
- was
- retyped
- in
- 1933
- under
- the
- direction
- of
- Colonel
- William
- A.
- Graham,
- Military
- Affairs
- Section
- Chief
- of
- the
- Judge
- Advocate
- General’s Office.
