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Document 218022

MARCUS A. RENO
With Custer and Benteen, he commanded troops at the Little Bighorn.
Rare signature: "M.A. Reno", 1¾x¼, mounted on a 2¾x1½ card. In December 1868, Reno was appointed Major of the 7th Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer. In 1876, Major Reno took part with the 7th in the campaign against the Sioux mounted by General Alfred H. Terry. When Custer decided to attack the Sioux-Cheyenne camp on the Little Bighorn River on June 25, 1876, he divided the regiment into three columns. He sent one column under Captain Frederick W. Benteen to scout the left and one under Major Reno ahead. Custer took his remaining forces downstream to the right. Reno led his three companies across a ford above the Indian camp, his orders being to attack the southern flank. Benteen disappeared from the scene for a time, and Reno, after meeting stout resistance, fell back, recrossed the river and dug in before a line of bluffs. Their failures left Custer's column to the full fury of the Indians. "Custer's Last Stand" was the Army's worst defeat in the western campaigns. Benteen later rejoined Reno, and their combined forces, more than half the regiment, held out until relief arrived on June 27th. Major Reno was accused of cowardice but a Court of Inquiry cleared him in 1879. He was then court-martialed on various minor charges brought by his commander, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, whose son had died at Little Bighorn. Reno, dishonorably discharged in April 1880, died in 1889 at the age of 54. In 1967, a Board of Review altered his discharge to honorable and he was reburied at the cemetery at the Little Bighorn. A rarely encountered, very desirable autograph. Top flourish of the "R" cut off at top edge, partial letter in ink with stray pencil mark at lower left corner. Light vertical fold touches the "R". Fine condition.

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