Editing Battle of the Little Bighorn (section)

===Reno's attack===
[[File:Custer.gif|thumb|Movements of the 7th Cavalry<br />A: Custer B: Reno C: Benteen D: Yates E: Weir]]
[[File:Www-cgsc.army.mil MAP20 Renos Attack.GIF|thumb|Movement of Major Reno's three companies]]

The first group to attack was Major Reno's second detachment (Companies A, G, and M) after receiving orders from Custer written out by Lt. [[William W. Cooke]], as Custer's Crow scouts reported Sioux tribe members were alerting the village. Ordered to charge, Reno began that phase of the battle. The orders, made without accurate knowledge of the village's size, location, or the warriors' propensity to stand and fight, had been to pursue the Native Americans and "bring them to battle." Reno's force crossed the Little Bighorn at the mouth of what is today Reno Creek around 3:00 pm on June 25. They immediately realized that the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne were present "in force and not running away."

Reno advanced rapidly across the open field towards the northwest, his movements masked by the thick belt of trees that ran along the southern banks of the Little Bighorn River. The same trees on his front right shielded his movements across the wide field over which his men rapidly rode, first with two approximately forty-man companies abreast and eventually with all three charging abreast. The trees also obscured Reno's view of the Native American village until his force had passed that bend on his right front and was suddenly within arrow-shot of the village. The tepees in that area were occupied by the Hunkpapa Sioux. Neither Custer nor Reno had much idea of the length, depth and size of the encampment they were attacking, as the village was hidden by the trees.{{citation needed |date=January 2013}} When Reno came into the open in front of the south end of the village, he sent his Arikara/Ree and Crow Indian scouts forward on his exposed left flank.<ref>{{cite web |author=Running Dog |url= http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |title=Confirmed by one of his surviving Arikara scouts, Little Sioux |publisher=Astonisher.com |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |archive-date= January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Realizing the full extent of the village's width, Reno quickly suspected what he would later call "a trap" and stopped a few hundred yards short of the encampment.

He ordered his troopers to dismount and deploy in a [[skirmish line]], according to standard army doctrine. In this formation, every fourth trooper held the horses for the troopers in firing position, with {{convert|5|to|10|yard|m|0}} separating each trooper, officers to their rear and troopers with horses behind the officers. This formation reduced Reno's firepower by 25 percent. As Reno's men fired into the village and by some accounts killed several wives and children of the Sioux chief Gall (in Lakota, ''Phizí''), the mounted warriors began streaming out to meet the attack. With Reno's men anchored on their right by the protection of the tree line and bend in the river, the Indians rode against the center and exposed left end of Reno's line. After about 20 minutes of long-distance firing, Reno had taken only one casualty, but the odds against him had risen (Reno estimated five to one), and Custer had not reinforced him. Trooper Billy Jackson reported that by then, the Indians had begun massing in the open area shielded by a small hill to the left of Reno's line and to the right of the Indian village.<ref>{{cite web |author= Running Dog |url= http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |title=Little Sioux's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn |publisher= Astonisher.com |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> From this position the Indians mounted an attack of more than 500 warriors against the left and rear of Reno's line,<ref>Goodrich, Thomas. ''Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997. p. 242.</ref> turning Reno's exposed left flank. This forced a hasty withdrawal into the timber along the bend in the river.<ref>Perrett, Bryan. ''Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds''. London: Arms & Armour, 1993; p. 8.</ref> Here the Native Americans pinned Reno and his men down and tried to set fire to the brush to try to drive the soldiers out of their position.

Reno's Arikara scout [[Bloody Knife]] was shot in the head, splattering brains and blood onto Reno's face.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} The shaken Reno ordered his men to dismount and mount again.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} He then said, "All those who wish to make their escape follow me."{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} Abandoning the wounded, he led a disorderly rout for a mile next to the river.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} He made no attempt to engage the Indians to prevent them from picking off men in the rear.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} The retreat was immediately disrupted by Cheyenne attacks at close quarters. A steep bank some {{convert|8|ft|m}} high awaited the mounted men as they crossed the river; some horses fell back onto others below them.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} Indians fired on the soldiers from a distance, and within close quarters pulled them off their horses and clubbed their heads.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} Later, Reno reported that three officers and 29 troopers had been killed during the retreat and subsequent fording of the river. Another officer and 13–18 men were missing. Most of these missing men were left behind in the timber, although many eventually rejoined the detachment.

====Reno and Benteen on Reno Hill====
[[File:Bloody Knife, Custer's scout, on Yellowstone Expedition, 1873 - NARA - 524373.jpg|thumb|[[Bloody Knife]], a scout in the American army.]]

Atop the bluffs near what is known today as Reno Hill, Reno's depleted and shaken troops were joined by Captain Benteen's column while Reno’s men were still retreating up from the valley.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} (Companies D, H and K), arriving from the south. This force had been returning from a lateral scouting mission when it had been summoned by Custer's messenger, Italian immigrant bugler John Martin (Giovanni Martino) with the handwritten message: "Benteen. Come on, Big Village, Be quick, Bring packs. P.S. Bring Packs."<ref name="court of inquiry" /> This message made no sense to Benteen, as his men would be needed more in a fight than the packs carried by herd animals.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} Though both men inferred that Custer was engaged in battle, Reno refused to move until the packs arrived so his men could resupply.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} The detachments were later reinforced by McDougall's Company B and the pack train. The 14 officers and 340 troopers on the bluffs organized an all-around defense and dug rifle pits using whatever implements they had among them, including knives. This practice had become standard during the last year of the [[American Civil War]], as Union and Confederate troops used knives, eating utensils, mess plates and pans to dig effective battlefield fortifications.<ref>John Keegan, The American Civil War.</ref>

[[File:Www-cgsc.army.mil MAP21 Defense of Reno-Benteen Hill.GIF|thumb|left|Reno–Benteen defensive position]]

Despite hearing heavy gunfire from the north, including distinct volleys at 4:20 pm, Benteen concentrated on reinforcing Reno's badly wounded and hard-pressed detachment rather than continuing on toward Custer's position. Benteen's apparent reluctance to reach Custer prompted later criticism that he had failed to follow orders. Around 5:00 pm, Capt. [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]] and Company D moved out to contact Custer.<ref name="court of inquiry" /> Capt. Weir remained on the bluffs, while D moved to the right down Cedar Coulee (RCOI figure 8), but they soon looped back around to the bluffs. Lt Luther Rector Hare, sent by Reno to Weir, and troops M, K and H also had moved north from the Reno retreat area. D, M and K advanced a mile to what is today Weir Peaks or Weir Point, and dismounted. From his vantage point on the bluffs, Weir could see that the Indian camps comprised some 1,800 [[Lodging|lodge]]s.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} Behind them he saw through the dust and smoke hills that were oddly red in color; he later learned that this was a massive assemblage of Indian ponies.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} By this time, roughly 5:25 pm,{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} Custer's battle may have concluded. From high ground at Weir Peaks, looking though his [[Refracting telescope|spyglass]], Weir witnessed many Indians on horseback and on foot shooting at items on the ground, perhaps killing wounded soldiers and firing at dead bodies on the "Last Stand Hill" at the northern end of the Custer battlefield. Realizing these were Indians, the 3 troops remained on the peaks and the hill to the east. Some historians have suggested that what Weir witnessed was a fight on what is now called Calhoun Hill some minutes earlier.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} The destruction of Keogh's battalion may have begun with the collapse of L, I and C Company (half of it) following the combined assaults led by [[Crazy Horse]], [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Hump, [[Gall (Native American leader)|Gall]], and others.<ref name="michno1997">Michno, Gregory F., ''Lakota Noon, the Indian narrative of Custer's defeat'', Mountain Press, 1997, pp. 284–285. {{ISBN|0-87842-349-4}}.</ref>{{rp|240}} Other native accounts contradict this understanding, however, and the time element remains a subject of debate. The other companies had eventually left the area near Reno Hill and followed Weir by assigned battalions—first Benteen, M troop, Reno’s command, & the pack train and wounded. Strung along the bluffs behind D/M/K, Benteen and H soon returned to meet Reno’s command at the high point called Capt. Weir’s Hill (RCOI figure 7) and deployed along the ridge/bluffs there. Benteen informed Reno of their bad position. Weir also returned from the Peaks to the command at that location. The 3 troops (D, M, K) which had dismounted and remained at Weir Peaks (RCOI figure 9) were soon attacked by natives,{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} increasingly coming from the concluded Custer engagement. Following Benteen’s advice, Reno via Hare ordered the withdrawal of the 3 advance troops, and all seven companies eventually fell back to Reno Hill before the pack train had moved even a quarter mile ({{convert|1/4|mi|m|disp=out}}). Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, Lt. Hare and troop K set up a skirmish line where Reno had retreated up from the valley, south of Weir’s Hill, to halt the pursuing Indians, who took the surrounding high ground and hills. The companies remained pinned down on the bluff, fending off the Indians for three hours until night fell.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} The soldiers dug crude trenches as the Indians performed their war dance.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}}

Benteen was hit in the heel of his boot by an Indian bullet. At one point, he led a counterattack to push back Indians who had continued to crawl through the grass closer to the soldiers' positions.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}