The U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment

The History and Legacy of America’s Most Famous Military Unit During the Indian Wars

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Scott Clem

Among the soldiers who fought in the Indian Wars, perhaps none are as famous as the 7th Cavalry Regiment, but it’s typically for the wrong reasons. Since the Battle of the Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry have become associated with a relatively insignificant battle during America’s Indian Wars, but one that has become one of the country’s most mythologized events and continues to fascinate Americans more than 140 years later. That’s because the Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought in June 1876, was one of the US military’s biggest debacles. All told, the 7th Cavalry suffered more than 50 percent casualties, with more than 250 men killed and over 50 wounded. The dead included Custer's brothers, Boston and Thomas, his brother-in-law, James Calhoun, and his nephew, Henry Reed. Custer and his men were buried where they fell. A year later, Custer’s remains (or more accurately, the remains found in the spot labeled with his name) were relocated to West Point for final interment.

Of course, the military failures at Little Bighorn would be overlooked, and even though Army officers in the wake of the battle largely faulted Custer for what had happened, and men like Jesse Reno went about trying to protect their own personal reputation, the image of the 7th Cavalry as brave soldiers making a defiant last stand captured the public’s imagination and continues to be one of the popular perceptions today. Eventually, Custer and the 7th Cavalry’s “Last Stand” would become a symbol for American heroism in the face of overwhelming odds, and it has only been recently that historians have begun to move away from the myth to analyze that battle in a more objective manner.

©2018 Charles River Editors (P)2018 Charles River Editors