Possibly others have written to note that Harold Henderson proved himself guilty of the same know-nothingness he ascribes to others in his December 27 article headlined “Don’t Know Much About History.” If not, allow me to do so.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
However, the fact is that when Custer reached the Little Bighorn he divided his regiment, the Seventh Calvary, into four detachments. He kept one detachment–five troops comprising 266 soldiers–under his personal command. The other three detachments were deployed elsewhere along or near the river. It was Custer’s five troops, of course, that bought the farm.
At any rate, those two Italians were definitely with Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the caustic Mr. Henderson may have demonstrated that he may also be among the benighted folk who “Don’t Know Much About History.”
Under Reno and Benteen, roughly 200 men–including, presumably, our Italian-American friends–survived. All of them were indeed “with Custer at Little Bighorn.” But they “survived the massacre” in the same uninteresting way as a New York fishmonger might have–by not being there for it.
