When was General Custer and his seventh cavalry wiped out at the Battle of Little Big Horn?
The question implies that the entire regiment was killed. Not true. Colonel Custer split the 7th into three detachments, and he commanded one of them. These were all killed except for an officer’s horse named Commanche which was later found and became a regimental mascot, and one trooper survived only because Custer sent him to relay orders to Captain Benteen who commanded another detachment. The third detachment commanded by Major Reno clashed with the enemy before Custer did and took many casualties before fighting their way clear. Benteen’s detachment, slowed because he had the supply train, linked up with the remnants of Reno’s detachment. Against orders, twenty men rode to help Custer, but they were chased away and lost another man on the way back. After that, any casualties were probably light. The 7th was not wiped out at Little Big Horn, although it came very close to being wiped out later at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965.
