The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-05-31
Reburtdt or the Officers and Men
Killed I'm the (uster Massacre.


The removal of the remains of the Off
GERS having been determined upon by the
War Department, and portion of the
army contingent fund being get apart to
defray the expenses of the same, Colonel
M. V. Sheridan, of General Sheridan's
staff, has been detailed to superintend
the exhumation and transfer of the le-
mains, and accordingly left for the field
of the massacre, expecting that the trip
will consume about five weeks. From
Fort Lincoln, Dakota, Colonel Sheridan
will be accompanied by an officer and
detachment of twenty soldiers of the
Seventh Cavalry, who, being at the time
with Reno's command, assisted in the
burial of their comrades. The trip from
Fort Lincoln to the mouth of Tongue
River, and perhaps to point on Tongue
River within forty miles of the battle
field, will be made on one of the small
steamers now plying On the upper Mis-
souri, and Yellowstone.
The officers of the butchered command
were buried in row, with only few
feet intervening between them. The re-
mains were wrapped in Blankets and
pieces of tentcloth, and with each body
the shell of discharged cartridge, con-
tanning the name of the officer, was
placed, to make Identification certain
even after the decay of the corpse. At
the head of each grave stake was
driven below the surface, and on each
of these stakes the name of the officer was
cut with penknife.
Below are the names of the officers who
were killed, with an Indication of their
rank: Lieutenant Colonel George A.
Custer, Brevet Major General; First
Lieutenant W. W. Cooke, Adjutant,
Brevet Colonel; First Lieutenant G. E.
Lord, Assistant Surgeon; Captain Thos.
w. Custer, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel 3;
Captain G. w. Yates; Captain NJ. W.
Keogh, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel ;
First Lieutenant A. E. Smith, Brevet
Captain; First Lieutenant Donald Nc
Intosh, First Lieutenant J. E. Porter,
First Lieutenant James Calhoun, Second
Lieutenant Benjamin Rodgson, Second
Lieutenant 81. NJ. Harrington, Second
Lieutenant J. Sturgis, Second Lieuten-
ant W. Van W. Reilly, Second Lieuten-
ant J. ]. Crittenden, Acting Assistant
SurgeonJ. NJ. DeWolf. At the time the
interment was made the soldiers were
unable to find or identify the bodies OF
Lieutenants Harrington and Porter.
The remains of Lieutenant Crittenden
will not be molested. This officers
father, General Thomas J. Crittenden, OF
Kentucky, has written letter to Gen.
eral Sheridan expressing the wish that
his sons bones may not be disturbed, and
giving his reasons therefor. The remains
of the other thirteen will be exhumed,
placed in coffins transported thither for
the purpose, and brought to Fort Lin
coin. From Lincoln the body of Gen
eral Custer will be shipped via Chicago
to West Point, New York, where it will
be buried on the grounds of the National
Academy. 1t was General Clusters wish,
repeatedly expressed during his cam
paign against the Indians, that he be
buried at West Point if he should be
killed in the service. The remains OF
the other officers will be taken to Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, and given sepul-
ture in the National Cemetery, at that
place. Colonel Sheridan thinks that he
will be fortunate if he succeeds in finding
the bones of the officers who were buried
on the battlefield.