Charles Varnum Charles Albert Varnum ( June 21 , 1849 - February 26 , 1936 ) was a career United States Army officer . He was most noted as the commander of the scouts for George Armstrong Custer in the Little Bighorn Campaign during the Great Sioux War , as well as receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions in a conflict following the Battle of Wounded Knee . Biography . Varnum was born to a prominent military family in Troy , New York . He was the son of Civil War major John Varnum , who relocated to Pensacola , Florida , and became a political and civic figure . Varnum was appointed as a Florida cadet to the United States Military Academy and graduated June 14 , 1872 . He ranked 17th in a class of 57 . Given the brevet rank of second lieutenant , he went to the Dakota Territory of the American West to join Company A of the U . S . 7th Cavalry Regiment . He was involved in a number of expeditions and excursions of the regiment , including the Yellowstone Expedition ( 1873 ) and Black Hills Expedition ( 1874 ) . He and the regiment were stationed at Fort Abraham Lincoln . With the eruption of the latest round of the Sioux Wars in 1876 , Varnum accompanied the 7th Cavalry as it proceeded overland from Fort Lincoln to the Yellowstone River , and then to the mouth of the Rosebud . Varnum was in charge of the scouts , who were civilians , army personnel , Crow Indians , and Arikaree Indians . His duty was to delegate scouting missions and coordinate the resulting reports . During the Little Bighorn expedition , Varnum and the scouts in his unit assisted the discovered the location of a huge Indian village with hundreds of lodges . They brought Custer up to a prominent point known as the Crow ' s Nest to show him the enormousness of the encampment , but Custer could not spot what his scouts were seeing . Ignoring their warning , Custer developed a battle plan and decided to attack . Some of Varnum ' s Indian scouts departed , while others began chanting their death songs and adorning themselves for battle . Several would die in the subsequent fighting . Varnum accompanied the troops of Marcus Reno and Frederick Benteen and survived the battle . Varnum served as Regimental Quartermaster from November 1876 through October 1879 . In 1877 , he participated in the Nez Perce War , fighting at the Battle of Canyon Creek , as well as the Battle of Bear Paw from September 30 , – October 4 . He continued to serve on the frontier in various forts and married Mary Alice Moore ( 1865 – 1935 ) . They had three children , one of whom died two weeks after being born in 1889 . In 1890 , Captain Varnum commanded Company B of the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Wounded Knee on December 29 , against the aging Sioux Chief Big Foot and some 350 of his followers . The following day , at White Clay Creek , his heroics helped ensure a safe withdrawal for his troops . For his action , he received the Army Medal of Honor for Most Distinguished Gallantry on September 22 , 1897 . Varnum was promoted to major on February 1 , 1901 , then to lieutenant colonel in April 1905 . He sailed under orders for the Philippines from San Francisco in September 1905 . Varnum retired from the Regular Army on disability leave October 31 , 1907 , but remained in the Philippine Islands as a colonel in the Reserve Army until July 1918 when he returned to the United States . He left the service on April 8 , 1919 . When he died in 1936 at Letterman Hospital in the Presidio of San Francisco at the age of 86 , Varnum was the last surviving officer of those who had participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn . He was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Captain , Company B , 7th U . S . Cavalry . Place and date : At White Clay Creek , S . Dak . , December 30 , 1890 . Entered service at : Pensacola , Fla . Birth : Troy , N . Y . Date of issue : September 22 , 1897 . Citation : While executing an order to withdraw , seeing that a continuance of the movement would expose another troop of his regiment to being cut off and surrounded , he disregarded orders to retire , placed himself in front of his men , led a charge upon the advancing Indians , regained a commanding position that had just been vacated , and thus insured a safe withdrawal of both detachments without further loss .