Captain Benteen generally disliked most of his superior officers and found them unwanting in general. His contempt for Custer was well known, what was not well known was why Custer named him one of his wing commanders. Here’s why:
When Custer arrived at Fort Lincoln the month before the battle, he immediately decided to divide the 7th into two wings: one led by his second-in-command, Major Marcus Reno, the other by the regimen’ts senior Captain, forty- two year old Benteen, the same officer who had, eight years before, dared to chritcize his conduct at the battle of the Washita.
It was a strange move, and was the last thing Benteen had expected. The next day, Custer called him to his tent and it quickly became clear what his commander was up to.
Custer explained that while he was in Washington, DC he’d run into one of the moset powerful newspapermen in the country, Lawrence Gobright, cofounder of the Associated Press. During the Civil War Gobright had worked directly with the Lincoln administration in controlling the flow of war news to the American people. THIS was just the kind of man any ambitious military officer needed to have on his side.
Much to Custer’s surprise, Gobright had proven to be very interested in Frederick Benteen, and it turned out that the two were cousins, so Custer being the ultimate politician, decided he’d better get on the good side of Captain Frederick Benteen.
Benteen was a complex man, his icy blue eyes saw at a glance a persons darkest insecurities and passed his judgements at will.
Frederick William Benteen (August 24, 1834 – June 22, 1898) was a military officer during the American Civil War and then during the Black Hills War against the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. He is notable for being in command of a battalion (Companies D, H,& K) of the 7th U. S. Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He was one of George Custers Batallion Commanders in that battle and he is best know for his role in that battle.
The election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. President in 1860 polarized the country. Theodore Charles Benteen his father, an ardent secessionist, vehemently opposed his son’s associating with Unionists. A family crisis was ignited when Frederick joined the Union Army on September 1, 1861 as a first lieutenant in the 1st Missouri Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. Frederick married in 1862, and his wife gave birth to a daughter who did not survive her first year of life. . Among his engagements in the Civil War were Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, Vicksburg and Westport. On February 27, 1864, Benteen was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commander of the 10th Missouri Cavalry. Benteen was mustered out at the war’s end in the spring of 1865, and shortly thereafter was appointed to the rank of colonel as commander of a “Buffalo Soldier” regiment, the 138th U.S. Colored Volunteers. He led the regiment from July, 1865 to January, 1866, when it was mustered out. Later that year, he was appointed a captain in the 7th U.S. Cavalry. Meanwhile, the Senate finally approved awards of brevets to distinguished veterans of the Civil War. Benteen received brevets of major for the Battle of Mine Creek and lieutenant colonel for the Battle of Columbus.
In January 1867, Benteen departed for his new assignment with the 7th Cavalry Regiment and its field commander Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. This would be Benteen’s regiment for 16 years. Until 1882, except for periods of leave and detached duty, Benteen commanded Troop H of the 7th Cavalry. On January 30, 1867, Benteen made a customary courtesy call to the quarters of Custer and his wife Elizabeth. Benteen said later that he regarded Custer to be a braggart from their first meeting (and his dislike deepened as his years of service under Custer went by.) [1] Meanwhile, on March 27, 1867, Benteen’s wife gave birth to a son in Atlanta.
Following the Civil War, the Cheyenne Indians represented the greatest threat on the Kansas frontier. In late July 1868, Benteen led an expedition to provide security for the Indian agents near Fort Larned. On August 10, 1868, 200 Cheyenne warriors under Roman Nose massacred more than 200 Kansas settlers – men, women and children. On August 13, Benteen, commanding 30 troopers, encountered a Cheyenne raiding party along the banks of Elk Horn Creek near Fort Zarah. He charged into a force of what appeared to be about fifty warriors. To Benteen’s surprise, he then discovered more than 200 Cheyennes raiding a ranch. Benteen pursued the Cheyennes without rest until dark, engaging them throughout the day without respite. This first undisputed victory of the 7th Cavalry brought Benteen a brevet to colonel and the adoration of the settlers of central Kansas.
On October 13, Benteen and his men went to escort a wagon train loaded with weapons and ammunition meant for the regiment. They reached the wagon train just as a war party began to attack. Benteen drove off the warriors, saving the wagon train from capture. Later, the trail of the raiding party would lead the 7th Cavalry to a Cheyenne encampment on the Washita River in the Indian Territory.
In response to the continued raids, General Philip Sheridan devised a plan of punitive reprisals. His troops would respond to Indian attacks by entering winter encampments, destroying supplies and livestock, and killing those who resisted. It would include the cavalry moving in the dead of winter through a largely uncharted region and required daring leadership. Sheridan turned to Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, who was brought back early from his court-martial and given the mission. Sheridan trusted only Custer with such a deed, and in November 1868 Custer returned to the his regiment under special orders from Sheridan.
On November 23, 1868, Custer left Camp Supply with the 11 companies of the 7th Cavalry, heading towards the Washita River. On November 27, the 7th surrounded a Cheyenne encampment at the river. Just before dawn, Custer launched a four-pronged assault on the village.
Benteen, as captain of H Company, led a squadron of Major Elliott’s command during the attack. His horse was shot from under him by a son of Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle. The boy was about fourteen years old and was armed only with a revolver. Benteen called out that the boy’s life would be spared if he dropped his weapon. Benteen made the peace sign. In reply, the boy aimed his revolver at Benteen and fired. The bullet missed, so the boy fired again, the bullet passing through the sleeve of Benteen’s coat. The boy then fired a third time, as Benteen continued to make friendly overtures. This bullet hit Benteen’s horse, killing it and pitching Benteen into the snow. When the Indian boy raised his pistol to fire once more, Benteen finally shot him dead.
Custer in his battle report to Sheridan made little reference to his own casualties, failing to mention that he had abandoned Major Joel Elliot and 16 troopers on the battlefield. Benteen wrote to a friend criticizing Custer over this, and the letter was passed to the St. Louis Democrat newspaper without Benteen’s permission. On its publication Custer threatened to ‘horsewhip’ the author, but although Benteen admitted it was his work, Custer never attempted to carry out his threat.
During the Little Bighorn (“Sioux”) expedition in 1876, under Custer, Captain Benteen again commanded Company H. Approximately 12 miles from the Little Bighorn River, he was assigned command of a battalion comprising Companies H, D, and K. Although Custer was uncertain of the exact location of the Indians, he assigned Benteen the task of defending the left flank. Benteen searched fruitlessly through rough ground for about two hours before returning to the trail of the main column. As he advanced toward the river, he was met by a messenger from Custer, soon followed by another, indicating that a big village had been found and that Benteen should come ahead. A note delivered to him read: “Come on. Big village. Be quick. Bring packs.” [2] Custer seemingly meant for Benteen to unite his companies with the slow pack mules (which were bringing up the rear and guarded by Company B) and then ride on to link up with Custer’s five companies. These packs contained the regiment’s ammunition reserve. Benteen, however was in no apparent hurry and even spent 20 vital minutes watering his horses at a ford.( Re: April 2010 Wild West Magazine: “… as any good calvary officer would do seeing they had been pushed to exhaustion in the drive to their commanded location ). Hearing gunfire ahead, however, Benteen spurred his command to a gallop.
A battalion made up of companies M, A and G and led by Major Marcus Reno had attacked the southwest corner of a large Indian village along the Little Bighorn river and had been routed with heavy casualties in its attack on the Sioux village, and the tattered remains of the battalion struggled to cross the river and climb the bluffs. As Reno’s units were still under fire and low on ammunition, and since Reno was technically Benteen’s superior officer, Reno ordered Benteen to share his battalion’s ammunition with him. Reno was visibly shaken, and his ability to effectually command was diminished.
“Benteen has been criticized by some military analysts because he failed to obey [Custer's] instructions. He received the note, he read it, he thought enough of it to tuck it in a pocket, but he did not get the ammunition packs and rush forward to Custer’s aid. Instead, as he approached the battleground after his scouting trip he saw Major Reno’s demoralized men attempting to organize a defensive position on the bluff and he chose to join them. This decision assured Custer’s death. It would seem, therefore, that Benteen must be condemned; yet if he had tried to carry out the order it is possible his three companies would have been hacked to pieces en route. Then Reno’s weakened command surely would have collapsed, and when General Terry arrived he would count every single man of the Seventh Cavalry dead.
Benteen explained to the 1879 Court of Inquiry why he did what he did, and his reasoning is equally clear from subsequent remarks. He thought it impossible to obey; to do so would have been suicide. “We were at their hearths and homes,” he said, referring to the Sioux, “their medicine was working well, and they were fighting for all the good God gives anyone to fight for.” “
— Evan S. Connell in Son of the Morning Star, pg. 281 [2]
Within a few minutes, loud firing to the north was heard by the men on the bluffs, and the Sioux began to turn away from the Reno/Benteen units and head back into the village and continue towards the firing. These volleys signified that Custer was engaged, but to what extent, Reno and Benteen had no idea. They did not at once advance to find out, which would later create a controversy regarding an alleged abandonment of Custer. (General Nelson A. Miles made an accusation to that effect.) [3]
Captain Thomas Weir, infuriated by the lack of movement to support Custer, rode north about a mile towards the sound of the shots to the present-day Weir Point, eventually followed by men of his company, then Benteen and the three companies under his command and finally Reno and his men, carrying the wounded. At Weir Point the view of Custer’s location, some three miles further north, was largely of a cloud of dust and numerous Native American warriors in command of the battlefield.[2]
The Lakota and Cheyenne quickly destroyed Custer’s battalion and then turned their attention to Reno and Benteen, driving them back to their original position now called the “Reno-Benteen defense site”. It was a horseshoe-shaped perimeter on the bluffs near where Reno and Benteen had met. During the next 24 hours, Benteen assumed virtual command. He led two charges which drove the Indians back just as it seemed the soldiers would be overrun. Cool and calm, Benteen was seen walking amongst his troops encouraging them and leading by example. He was wounded in the thumb, and the heel was shot off one of his boots.
Benteen was later criticized for his slow travel between the time he was sent to secure the left and the time he reached the bluffs overlooking the river. However, the route he was ordered to scout is much more rugged terrain than the gently descending North Fork of Reno Creek that Custer’s command had ridden down at full gallop.
His decision to remain with Reno, rather than continuing on at once to seek Custer, was also questioned by critics.
Benteen participated in the Nez Perce campaign in 1877, later being brevetted brigadier general on February 27, 1890 for his actions at the Battle of Canyon Creek, as well as for his earlier actions at the Little Bighorn. He testified at the Reno Court of Inquiry in 1879 in Chicago. Benteen was promoted to major, 9th U.S. Cavalry, in December 1882. In 1887, he was suspended for drunk and disorderly conduct at Fort DuChesne, Utah. He was convicted and faced dismissal from the Army, but President Grover Cleveland reduced his sentence to a one-year suspension. Benteen retired on July 7, 1888, citing disability from rheumatism and heart disease.
Frederick Benteen died ten years later on June 22, 1898, leaving his widow Kate and a son Frederick. He was buried in Westwood Cemetery in Atlanta, his pallbearers included Georgia Governor William Y. Atkinson and Charles Collier, the mayor of Atlanta. Benteen’s remains were later reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.
The next report will be about Custer’s other wing commander, Major Marcus Reno.
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