Canadians with Custer

When Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer made his last stand in the battle at Little Bighorn River in 1876, there were 17 Canadians with the U.S. 7th Cavalry at the scene. Some had been in the Civil War, some were close friends or admirers of Custer, and some were mercenaries who just wanted a job with adventure.

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During the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 17 Canadians stood by Lieutenant-Colonel Custer’s side.



There were 17 Canadians present when Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer made his last stand in the battle at Little Bighorn River in 1876. Some had served in the Civil War, some were close friends or admirers of Custer, and some were mercenaries who just wanted a job with adventure.

William Winer Cooke, the scion of two prominent wealthy families in Upper Canada, became Custer’s right-hand man. Mark Kellogg, a Canadian-American, was a journalist who joined the expedition by chance and documented the adventure in newspaper articles sent back east. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were among the leaders of the Sioux and Cheyenne nations’ victorious warriors in this desperate attempt to save their lands from the white invasion.

Canadians with Custer tells the stories of the Canadians who joined the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army and provides new information on Custer’s fatal battle.