How Long Did the Custer Fight Last?
Bill Rini
2013
There has been much debate among Little Big Horn battle students concerning the actual length of the fighting engaged in by Custer's 5 companies before their ultimate destruction. Here is what the participants who were there had to say about its length and the time the fighting ended along with my own analysis:
1) Col. Reno (Reno's narrative): Custer's command was destroyed before Benteen arrived on the bluffs.
ANALYSIS
According to our participant timeline here at the forum:
www.thelbha.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=benteenonbluffs
Benteen's battalion arrived on the bluffs at about 2:30 p.m., thus Reno is telling us here that Custer's entire command of 200+ men had already been destroyed by that time. This, of course, contradicts the numerous reports of volley fire heard by elements of Reno's command over the next hour or longer, as well as the 2-hour or more delay before the hostiles returned to attack his own position on the bluffs. In light of the weight of contradictory evidence, I can only assume that Reno must have been aware of the absurdity of his estimate above. That he would seriously make such an estimate publicly would suggest to me that Reno had an otherwise unappreciated sense of humor that many of us have overlooked.
2) Geo. Herendeen (RCOI [Reno court of inquiry]): heard firing from Custer's position which lasted about one hour. He also added that he remained in the brush about 2 hours, not leaving the valley until the firing from Custer's field died down.
ANALYSIS
Herendeen tells us that he could hear firing from Custer's field for only one hour, yet also says that he remained in the brush about 2 hours before leaving the valley when the firing from Custer's field died down, thus presenting us with a contradiction in his account as far as the duration he attributes to the Custer fight. Was it one hour or two? My explanation would be that Herendeen's hearing was, like Lt. Godfrey's, limited in scope. He likely could only hear the initial action at Ford B, Luce & Blummer Ridges, and possibly some of the action around Finley Ridge or Calhoun Hill as well, but little or nothing beyond that point. The rest of the troopers with him likely had significantly better hearing which kept them hiding in the brush for at least another hour before making an attempt to venture out of the valley to rejoin with Reno's command on the bluffs at a time when the hostiles were still fighting Custer's command in the north.
3a) Fred Gerard (RCOI - A&NJ): The firing on Custer's field lasted about 2 hours.
3b) Fred Gerard (RCOI): After the first few volleys, it was 20-25 minutes before the fighting became general. The heavy, continuous gunfire lasted about 2 hours.
ANALYSIS
Gerard tells us that the heavy, continuous gunfire from Custer's field lasted about 2 hours. He also tells us that this heavy gunfire did not begin until about 20-25 minutes after he heard the first few volleys fired, which I would interpret as being fired in the vicinity of Ford B. Thus, Gerard is telling us that Custer’s fight lasted at least 2 hours and 20 or 25 minutes in duration from what he could hear of it.
4a) Pvt. O'Neill -- G Co. (Camp interview, Custer in 76): he heard Custer's firing (including 3 volleys) after Reno left the valley. The firing continued until 5 p.m.
4b) Pvt. O'Neill -- G Co. (Troopers With Custer, p. 136): We had listened to terrific firing both up and down the river [from the valley timber position], and realized that the loss must have been heavy. For myself, I thought that when the firing had ceased in the direction Custer had gone, it meant that he had retreated to Major Reno's position. I think it was about 5 o'clock when we hear the last shots from Custer's direction; but Major Reno's command kept up their firing at intervals.... But along about dark, all firing from that direction also ceased.
ANALYSIS
As we have established Reno's retreat from the valley occurring shortly before 2:10 p.m. based on Gerard's watch time, Pvt. O'Neill tells us that sometime after Reno left the valley -- not the timber position -- the Custer fight began. In a different thread devoted to the start of the Custer fight at our participant timeline, we have arrived at the time for the start of the Custer fight at about 2:40 p.m. Pvt. O'Neill tells us that the firing from Custer's field lasted until 5 p.m., a duration of 2 hours and 20 minutes, which supports Gerard's time estimate perfectly.
5) Lt. Varnum (RCOI - A&NJ): from the time Reno reached the bluffs about 2 hours passed before he began defending against the whole force of Indians.
ANALYSIS
I believe Lt. Varnum is telling us that by the time most of Reno's battalion had ascended the bluffs -- likely about 2:30 p.m. when Benteen's battalion had joined them -- about 2 hours would pass before the whole force of Indians began to return to confront Reno's advance troops deployed out on the Weir Peaks. The beginning of the action on the Weir Peaks -- primarily against D Co's forward deployed troopers -- would begin shortly after 4:30 p.m. (perhaps as late as 4:40 p.m.) according to our participant timeline, or roughly 1 1/2 hours after D Troop first arrived out on the Peaks.
6) Lt. De Rudio (RCOI): The Indians returned to attack Reno about 20 minutes after most of the firing died out downstream. De Rudio also claimed to hear firing downstream for 1 1/2 hours starting about 10 minutes after Reno arrived on the bluffs.
ANALYSIS
Lt. De Rudio tells us that about 10 minutes after most of Reno's battalion had reached the bluffs the start of the Custer fight began. As most of Reno's men had reached the bluffs by 2:30 p.m., the same time that Benteen's battalion arrived there according to our participant timeline, 10 minutes later would place the start of the Custer fight at about 2:40 p.m. De Rudio could hear firing going on for another hour and a half, ending about 30 minutes earlier than the time reported by Gerard and O'Neil, meaning that De Rudio could hear no more firing from Custer's field after 4:10 p.m. He then reports a lull in the sounds of battle for about 20 minutes until he hears the fighting start up again on the bluffs against Reno's command. As this would bring us to a time of 4:30 p.m., De Rudio is likely describing the skirmishing now taking place between D Co and the hostiles on the Weir Peaks which began about that time according to our participant timeline.
7) Trooper John Henley -- B Co. (Camp interview, Custer in 76): says Sitting Bull told him at Standing Rock (he knew him well and could speak fluent Sioux) that the Custer fight lasted about 2 hours.
ANALYSIS
Sitting Bull concurs with Gerard, O'Neil and Varnum on the length of the Custer fight, which was about 2 hours in duration once Custer reached and deployed on Battle Ridge about 3 p.m., thus suggesting that the Custer fight ended about 5 p.m.
8) Left Hand -- Arapaho (Graham, The Custer Myth): claimed Custer’s fight started at 12 noon and ended at 3 p.m.
ANALYSIS
Left Hand tells us that the Custer fight started at about 12 noon, or 1 p.m. HQ watch time and ended about 3 p.m., (4 p.m. HQ watch time). Although Left Hand's clock times are early by about an hour and a half, he does estimate the total duration of the Custer fight at about 3 hours time. If we transcribe his inaccurate clock times into our own participant given times for the start and end of the battle, we would end up with the Custer fight lasting from 2:40 p.m. until about 5:40 p.m.
9a) Wooden Leg -- Cheyenne (Marquis, A Warrior Who Fought Custer): the long-range fighting took about an hour and a half.
9b) Thomas Marquis' unnamed Cheyenne Accounts: for about an hour and a half the fighting was slow, with little damage done to the Indians and none . . . done to the soldiers.
ANALYSIS
Although Wooden Leg does not give us a time that encompasses a total duration of the fight, he does tell us that the initial long-range fighting took up about an hour and a half before the final melee fighting ended the battle. This would suggest a duration of fighting lasting about 2 hours in duration. If he is referencing the start of the fighting at 2:40 p.m. (according to our participant timeline) then Wooden Leg is saying that the close-range melee fighting against Keogh's battalion began about 4:10 p.m.
10) 7 unidentified Sioux: After the Medicine Tail Ford episode, Custer's fight on the bluffs lasted about an hour.
ANALYSIS
These 7 Sioux warriors estimated a duration of about an hour after the Ford B episode. I believe they were referencing the duration of the fighting at the Keogh sector, which would have ended about 4:00 p.m. or a bit later, as opposed to the entire Custer field.
11) American Horse -- Cheyenne: Thinks the fight ended about 2 or 3 o'clock.
ANALYSIS
American Horse thought the battle ended about 2 or 3 p.m., which equates to 3 or 4 p.m. HQ watch time. I speculate that he was referring to the Keogh sector of the fighting here, which would have ended about 4:00 p.m. or a bit later.
12) He Dog -- Sioux (Scott 1919 interview, Lakota Recollections): It was about 2 hours from Reno's attack until all was over.
ANALYSIS
He Dog suggests that the battle lasted for 2 hours duration from Reno's attack in the valley. I suspect that He Dog was referencing a starting time of about 2 p.m. -- the height of the Reno valley fight -- as opposed to its actual start at about 1:40 p.m., thus He Dog claims that the Custer fight ended about 4:00 p.m. I would speculate that he was referring to the fighting around the Keogh sector only, not the entire Custer field.
13) Respects (or Fears) Nothing -- Sioux (1906 Ricker interview, Lakota Recollections): the battle began about 1 p.m. and lasted till 4 p.m. based on a watch the Indians recovered from one of Crook's soldiers at the Rosebud fight. (Respects Nothing then went outside and correctly pointed to the sun time that the battle began).
ANALYSIS
Respects (or Fears) Nothing tells us that the battle (likely a reference to the Reno valley fight) began about 1:00 p.m. based on a watch time taken from a captured watch from one of Crook's soldiers at the Battle of the Rosebud six days earlier. This watch time would have been set to Montana sun time, or roughly one hour earlier than St. Paul watch time which the 7th Cavalry watches would have been set to, thus Respects Nothing's 1 p.m. start of the Reno fight would actually translate into a 2 p.m. watch time based on 7th Cav HQ time. Our participant timeline here indicates that the Reno valley fight actually started about 1:40 p.m. about 20 minutes earlier, but Respects Nothing is likely rounding off his time estimate to the nearest hour. He also indicates that the Custer fight ended about 4:00 p.m., which translates into 5:00 p.m. 7th Cav. HQ watch time, for a duration of 3 hours from the start of Reno's fight until the end of the Custer fight. Respects Nothing's estimate of a 5:00 p.m. end time for the Custer fight agrees with the time estimates made by Fred Gerard, Pvt. O'Neill, & Sitting Bull.
14) Red Cloud -- Sioux (The Vanishing Race): we fought this battle from daylight up until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and all of the white men were killed. I think that Custer was a very brave man to fight all these Indians with his few men from daylight until the sun was almost going down.
ANALYSIS
Red Cloud tells us that the battle began at daylight, which is simply not true, and ended at a sun time of 3 p.m., or a HQ watch time of 4:00 p.m., which I would interpret as the end of the fighting in the Keogh sector. His later reference to the fighting ending when the sun was almost going down would indicate the subsequent attack on the Reno Hill position afterwards.
15) Flying Hawk -- Sioux (Lakota Recollections): The battle lasted about 4 or 5 hours, starting with Reno's attack in the valley at 8 or 9 a.m. and the Custer fight ending at 1 or 2 p.m.
ANALYSIS
Flying Hawk's times are too early by about 5 hours. If we add 5 hours to his estimated clock times, we have Reno's attack in the valley starting between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. (our participant timeline indicates a time of 1:40 p.m.) with the Custer fight ending at 6 or 7 p.m., which is a time much later than any other Indian account. This time does indicate the approximate start of the Reno hilltop fight later that evening, so perhaps Flying Hawk is referencing the start of the Reno hilltop fight as the approximate end of the Custer fight.
16) Red Hawk/Nicholas Ruleau -- Sioux (Lakota Recollections): has the Reno fight starting at about 9 a.m. with the Custer fight ending about 12 noon.
ANALYSIS
Red Hawk tells us that the Reno valley fight began at 9 a.m. sun time or about 10 a.m. HQ watch time, with the Custer fight ending about 3 hours later at 12 noon sun time or 1 p.m. HQ watch time. Red Hawk's clock times are early by about 4 hours according to our participant timeline, thus by adding 4 hours to the starting and ending times, we have a starting time of about 2 p.m. for the Reno fight (our participants timeline would say 1:40 p.m. about 20 minutes earlier) and an ending time of about 5 p.m. HQ watch time, which supports the time estimates made by Gerard, O'Neill, Sitting Bull & Respects Nothing.
17) Iron Hawk -- Sioux (Lakota Recollections): said the Reno fight in the valley began about 8 or 9 a.m. with the entire battle (Reno and Custer's) lasting between 3 to 4 hours.
ANALYSIS
Iron Hawk's start of the Reno Fight is too early by about 5 hours, according to our participant timeline. If we adjust his times back 5 hours from his estimated 8:30 a.m. start, we have the Reno valley fight beginning at about 1:30 p.m. and the Custer fight ending about 3 1/2 hours later at 5 p.m., which agrees with the time estimates of Gerard, O'Neill, Respects Nothing, Sitting Bull and Red Hawk.
18) White Bull -- Sioux (Lakota Recollections): Estimates that the Reno valley fight started at either 9 a.m., 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. while the Custer fight ended about 12 noon. If we adjust his sun times to 7th Cav HQ watch times, we get the Reno valley fight starting at either 10, 11 or 11:30 a.m. and the Custer fight ending at about 1:00 p.m. It appears that White Bull's clock estimates are early by about 3 hours based on our participant timeline. If we add 3 hours to the starting and ending times, we get the start of the Reno valley fight at some time between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. and the Custer fight ending about 4:00 p.m., which, like the accounts of Red Cloud, He Dog & American Horse, appear to be describing the approximate time of the destruction of the Keogh battalion.
19) Lone Bear: The battle lasted from about noon until 4 o'clock.
ANALYSIS
Lone Bear tells us that the Custer fight started about noon, or 1:00 p.m. HQ watch time (he has the Reno valley fight starting at some time between 9 and 11 a.m. or between 10 and 12 noon HQ watch time), which is about 3 hours too early based on our participant timeline. If we add 3 hours to his starting times, he would have the Reno valley fight starting between 1 and 2 p.m. (our participant timeline indicates it was about 1:40 p.m.) and the Custer fight starting about 3:00 p.m. HQ watch time, which is about the time that Custer's command reached and deployed on Battle Ridge. Lone Bear then says the Custer fight lasted until 4 p.m., which converts to about 7:00 p.m. HQ watch time once we factor in the additional 3 hours, which suggests that, like Flying Hawk, Lone Bear was referencing the start of the Reno Hilltop fight as the end of the Custer fight.
20) Two Eagles: placed the start of the battle -- i.e., Reno's valley fight -- at about 1 p.m. with the Custer fight ending about 5 p.m.
ANALYSIS
Most Indian accounts refer to sun time estimates, however, it is possible that Two Eagles is actually referring to HQ watch time in his estimates. Our participant timeline tells us that the Reno valley fight began about 1:40 p.m., and a good number of participants (Gerard, O'Neill, Respects Nothing, Red Hawk, Sitting Bull & Iron Hawk) tell us that the Custer fight ended at about 5:00 p.m., thus Two Eagles' time estimates of a fight lasting from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. -- a total of 4 hours duration for both the Reno valley fight and the Custer fight -- may well be the most accurate times we are given by our participants. If, however, Two Eagles was referring to sun time, as most Indian accounts do, then we would add one hour to his time estimates, giving us a time frame of 2 p.m. for the start of the Reno valley fight and a 6 p.m. end of the Custer fight.
21) Pvt. Peter Thompson -- C Co. (Peter Thompson’s Narrative of the Little Bighorn Campaign): to my certain knowledge the battle lasted three hours.
ANALYSIS
Pvt. Peter Thompson states emphatically that he is quite certain that Custer’s fight lasted for 3 hours. This would encompass a time of from 2:40 p.m. (based on our participant timeline for the start of Custer’s fight) until about 5:40 p.m., just after the first 3 companies of Reno's command returned to Reno Hill from their foray out toward the Weir Peaks. Thompson's time estimate of a 3-hour duration for the Custer fight agrees very closely with that of the Arapaho Left Hand.
22) Packer Churchill (RCOI) -- the only thing I could go by was the time the Indians came back on us on the hills I think probably it [i.e. the firing from Custer's field] lasted an hour and a half or 2 hours.
ANALYSIS
We have previously established that the advance packs (where Churchill was traveling) arrived on Reno Hill shortly about 3:10 to 3:15 p.m. Churchill thus claims that the firing on Custer's field lasted between 1.5 to 2 hours before the Indians came back to attack the troops out on the hills, likely the Weir Peaks. Thus, Churchill's testimony suggests that the attack on the Weir Peaks by the mass of warriors began sometime between 4:40 and 5:00 p.m., keeping in mind that Churchill himself likely never reached the Weir Peaks to make this observation, as he would have been traveling in the rear with the packs. His account does support that of Pvt. O'Neill who likewise suggested an end to the Custer fight at about 5 p.m. I believe Churchill's 2-hour estimate is closer to the truth than his hour and a half. This 2-hour timeframe for the Custer fight does not include the first 20 or 30 minutes of Custer's fight in the vicinity of Ford B and Luce Ridge, which Churchill apparently was not able to discern being about a mile or so south of Reno Hill at the time.
23) Pvt. Davern (RCOI): Q. How long did the firing last that you heard down the stream? Davern: I heard it occasionally for about an hour and a half.
ANALYSIS
Pvt. Davern hears the firing from Custer's field lasting about an hour and a half -- or from roughly 2:40 p.m. until 4:10 p.m. suggesting the duration of the Keogh fight on Battle Ridge. Since other participants estimated a longer period of fighting before the end of the battle, it is likely that the remaining fighting on Battle Ridge occurred further to the north and out of range of Davern's hearing.
24) Dry Hide, Red Cloud, & Howling Eagle (Cheyennes): said the fight lasted less than an hour.
ANALYSIS
These Cheyenne estimates were second hand reports as they were not participants at this battle. As their estimate conflicts with the greater majority of the actual participants of the battle, I would be inclined to question its accuracy.
25) Charles Corn -- Sioux (Indian Views of the Custer Fight): said the battle lasted about 2 hours.
ANALYSIS
Charles Corn's 2 hour estimate for the length of the battle would likely refer only to the Custer fight. This estimate agrees with most other Indian estimates.
26) Eagle Bear -- Sioux (I Fought with Custer): I do not know how long it lasted. I think maybe it was one hour and a half....
ANALYSIS
Eagle Bear's analysis of the length of the fight corresponds well with those describing the likely duration of the Keogh Fight.
27) Lt. Luther Hare, (Walter Camp interview in 1910, published in Kenneth Hammer's Custer in 76-- While out in the advance with Company D, the Indians were thick over on Custer ridge and were firing and at that moment, Hare thought Custer was fighting them.
ANALYSIS
Lt. Hare informs us that he believed Custer's wing was still actively fighting the hostiles from what he could observe from the heights of the Weir Peaks. This statement contradicts the notion held by some students that the fighting on Custer's ridge ended shortly after D Co. arrived on the Weir Peaks.
28) Billy Jackson -- (interview with the Anaconda Standard, June 19, 1898): He says of the firing when Custer's battle began: "... the fighting in the lower end of the camp was hot and heavy. The sound of the firing increased steadily until it became a roar, and then it died gradually away until there was only the scattered reports of single shots. All this took place in the space of two hours."
29) Pvt. William Morris, M Co., (published by the New York Herald on August 4th, 1895) -- “When we had mounted the highest hill, we were joined by Benteen, with the pack train, and about this time the Indians left us and went to the other side of the village, which was plainly discernible from our position. They were absent for about three hours, during which Custer fell, but we were in ignorance of it. They returned at half past five and attacked us in full force”.
ANALYSIS
Pvt. Morris claims in his statement above that the Indians left Reno's position around 2:30 pm and returned to engage them on the bluffs at about 5:30 pm, giving a rough time estimate of 3 hours, or just less considering the distance traveled, for the Custer fight.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Of the 29 accounts listed above, 12 participants estimated or strongly suggested that the Custer fight ended about 5:00 p.m. or later, and 14 participants indicated the Custer fight per se lasted between 2 to 3 hours in duration. We can compare this to three participants who estimated the Custer fight only lasted about an hour, and four who claimed it lasted an hour and a half. It is likely that these seven participants were referring specifically to the Keogh sector of the field, which ended earlier than the action on Last Stand Hill and beyond, out of hearing range of those participants. The same thing can be said for the handful of participants who estimated the battle ended earlier than 5 p.m. These Indian participants likely left the battlefield during the final destruction of the Keogh battalion, and for all intents and purposes, the battle was over for them at that time. It is apparent that the majority of our participant accounts tell us that the Custer fight lasted somewhere between 2 to 3 hours in duration, likely 2 hours and 20 minutes, as Gerard tells us, and Pvt. O'Neill concurs, with the fighting on Custer field ending about 5:00 p.m. or a short time afterwards.
CONCLUSION
The Custer fight lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes as described by Gerard and supported by Pvt. O'Neill. The fighting on Custer field likely ended at some time between 5:00 and 5:10 p.m.
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About the Author: Bill Rini is a historian who focuses on military history. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history, with special emphasis on military history, from Washington and Lee University, and holds a master’s degree in education and history from the City University of New York. He is a member of the Little Big Horn Associates. For many years he served as a moderator in the group’s online forum. He has played the role of Keogh in reenactments of Custer's Last Stand and in a film on the battle.
Mike Griffith's General George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn website