The Reno Court of Inquiry: Day Ten

By 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ethan E. Harris
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311505101

Ethan E. Harris

Ethan E. Harris graduated from Corban University in Salem, OR with a Bachelor’s degree in Theology and studied at Reformed Theological Seminary. He completed the Educational graduate program at the University of Kansas where he received his Curriculum and Instruction degree in December, 2011. He is a member of Golden Key International Honor Society, a Bronze Star recipient and was an Army Medic for 13 years.With extensive travel throughout the United States, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, Germany, the Bahamas and Hawaii, his multicultural experiences give him a greater depth of knowledge and humility of many peoples and lifestyles. He has a keen interest in languages having studied Greek, French and Cherokee.He lives in San Antonio, TX, with his wife and six children.

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Tenth Day

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PROCEEDINGS OF A COURT OF INQUIRY IN THE CASE OF MAJOR MARCUS A. RENO CONCERNING HIS CONDUCT AT THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN RIVER JUNE 25-26, 1876

The Court of Inquiry of Major Reno

Day Ten

Ethan E. Harris

Copyright 2014 Ethan E. Harris

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ISBN: 9781311505101

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TENTH DAY

Chicago, Illinois

Thursday, Jan, 23, 1879

11 o'clock A. M.

The Court met pursuant to adjournment.

Present

  All members of the Court, the Recorder, and Major Reno and his Counsel The proceedings of the last session were read and approved

  THE EXAMINATION OF LIEUTENANT VARNUM BY MAJOR RENO was then entered upon as follows:

Q. Please take the Map and fix the point where the men were deployed on the skirmish line and its general direction.

A. As this map does not appear to me to be correct, I can't fix it on the map. That square space being the opening in the timber, I should put the skirmish line about the center of that opening as shown on the map. The map may be correct and I may be wrong.

Q. Does the line you have drawn with your pencil represent, according to your judgment, the angle of the line?

A. Yes sir; it was about perpendicular to the general direction of the river.

Q. Where were you in reference to the skirmish line at the time it was being deployed?

A. Just as it was being deployed, I came right with the men as they were deploying.

Q. Was that the time you saw the gray horse company on the other side of the river?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. How long, according to your judgment, did the line remain in the position in which it had been deployed?

A. With reference to that I can only answer that when I came back from the opening in the timber to the skirmish line, the men in the immediate vicinity of where I struck the line were lying in the edge of the timber I suppose the whole line had dropped back into the timber, but at what time that happened I don't know.

Q. What length of time do you compute it to be?

A. I can't tell.

Q. Can you give a judgment of what length of time the men were on the skirmish line before being withdrawn into the timber?

A. I have no