George Armstrong Custer: Difference between revisions

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When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated.<ref>Marshall 2007, p. 11</ref><ref>Welch 2007, pp. 175–181.</ref> Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just below the heart.<ref>Welch 2007, p. 175.</ref> Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire.<ref>Connell (1984), P. 410.</ref> Some time later, Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey described Custer's mutilation, telling Charles F. Bates, that an arrow "had been forced up his penis."<ref>Richard Hardoff, ''The Custer Battle Casualties: Burials, Exhumations, and Reinterments''. (El Segundo, CA: Upton and Sons, 1989, {{ISBN|0912783141}}), p. 21.</ref>
 
The bodies of Custer and his brother Tom were wrapped in canvas and blankets, then buried in a shallow grave, covered by the basket from a [[travois]] held in place by rocks. When soldiers returned a year later, the brothers' grave had been scavenged by animals and the bones scattered. "Not more than a double handful of small bones were picked up."<ref>Richard Hardoff, ''The Custer Battle Casualties: Burials, Exhumations, and Reinterments''. (El Segundo, CA: Upton and Sons, 1989, {{ISBN|0912783141}}), pp. 25, 45.</ref> Custer was reinterred with full [[Military funeralfunerals in the United States|military honors]] at [[West Point Cemetery]] on October 10, 1877. The battle site was designated a [[U.S. National Cemetery|National Cemetery]] in 1886.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mrail.net/data/cemete/mont/bighorn/custer/index.htm|title=Custer National Cemetery - Big Horn County - Montana|website=mrail.net|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref>
 
==Controversial legacy==