I Couldn’t Eat another Bite

I was researching the story of a horse called Comanche, the sole U.S. army survivor of the battle of the Little Bighorn, for a painting I did called “The Silent Survivor”. As I began reading I found the story was even more dramatic than I had originally thought. Comanche was ridden by Captain Myles Keogh, the second in command under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Towards the end of the battle Custer and all of the soldiers left with him shot their horses as a breastwork to shield themselves from the rain of arrows and bullets. One man however refused to shoot his horse. This horse and rider made a courageous charge into the midst of several thousand angry Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, who were also making a last stand, to protect their way of life. From the description of some of the First Nations warriors who participated in the battle this courageous team was almost certainly Captain Myles Keogh and his horse Comanche. One Sioux Warrior later recalled this soldier as “the bravest man the Sioux ever fought.”

Captain Myles Keogh was killed, and his horse Comanche was wounded seven times. Two days after the battle when cavalry reinforcements finally arrived, the only sign of life amongst all the dead at the Little Bighorn River was one severely wounded horse that a soldier recognized as Myles Keogh’s mount, Comanche.