By Bruce Brown
Published
Buy NowYOU HEAR many names put forward as the man (or woman) who killed George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn — from Sioux war chief Rain In The Face to Cheyenne holy man Yellow Nose to Sioux woman warrior Moving Robe.
None of these esteemed warriors actually killed Custer, though, based on the eye-witness record of the battle.
To find who really killed Custer — or at least identify the most likely suspects — it is crucial to know the appearance of Custer and the other officers in his command on June 25, 1876.
Boiled down, eye-witness Edward Godfrey’s account of what Custer wore establishes that the strongest visual clue for Custer was his ironically named sorrel horse, “Victory.” There were as many as seven officers on the field that day in buckskin, but only one on a sorrel horse with four white socks.