The Battle of Richmond Association and other historical groups are paying tribute to four Madison County natives, three of whom were Medal of Honor recipientsdu who fought during the Battle of Little Big Horn.
The Battle of Little Big Horn is considered one of the most decisive defeats in U.S. military history and historians said there is a misconception there were no survivors of the conflict.
While it is true that everyone under the command of Colonel George Armstrong Custer was killed in the battle, a large portion of the 7th Calvary made it out alive, according to local historians.
Three of those survivors were natives of Madison County. Privates George Scott, Thomas Stivers, and William Harris won the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle. The trio served as water carriers during the battle and tended to wounded soldiers while under fire. They were members of Company G under Major Marcus Renfro.
The Battle of Richmond Association has joined forces with Elijah P. Marrs Camp No. 5, KY. Dept., the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, the Madison County Civil War Round Table, and Flags for Veterans — Madison County, to bring recognition to the trio of soldiers.
Medal of Honor recipients have their headstone engravings filled in with gold paint rather than black. As the headstones of Scott, Stivers, and Harris have been worn down with age, the organizers of the project hope to restore the gold lettering to the markers this spring. They will also be placing signs designating the men as Medal of Honor winners next to the graves.
“The guidelines to receive the Medal of Honor was a whole lot less strict than it is now. Kentucky has one Medal of Honor for World War I. There are two Medal of Honor winners in Northern Kentucky and another Battle of Little Big Horn Medal of Honor winner in Louisville. He actually was with the soldiers from Richmond. We’re hoping to get signs with them too,” said Battle of Richmond Visitors Center Curator Phillip Seyfrit said.
Stivers was killed a little less than a year after the Battle of Little Big Horn and was buried in the Richmond Cemetery. While Scott is buried in the Lancaster Cemetery, his burial location has been forgotten, so his stone is placed near the Richmond Road gate of the cemetery. Harris was buried in a now abandoned cemetery in Bobtown. His remains have been interred and moved to the Camp Nelson National Cemetery.
While Scott, Stivers, and Harris survived the battle, historians said another Madison County native in their company did not. Private Benjamin Franklin Rogers, who was born and raised in the historic building that now houses the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center, was killed during the early stages of the fighting.
“Benjamin Franklin Rogers was born in 1847. He just so happened to be born in the Rogers House that is now the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center, and for 60 years or so, was the home of the commander of the Blue Grass Army Depot,” said Seyfrit. “You hear about buildings that are significant in people’s lives. You don’t always hear about buildings where people were born — especially somebody who isn’t necessarily famous.”
The Battle of Richmond Association joined forces with Elijah P. Marrs Camp No. 5, KY. Dept., the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the Madison County Civil War Round Table to install a birth place marker for B.F. Rogers in the yard of the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center.
According to Seyfrit, the Civil War financially destroyed the Rogers family, which led to a young Benjamin Franklin, or “B.F.”, to join the army.
While Seyfrit added that Rogers was not a model soldier, but nevertheless found himself fighting and dying in one of the most well known battles fought on American soil.
Rogers was buried in a mass grave alongside the other casualties of the battle. Little is known of him, other than a description from the book “Men With Custer; Biographies of the 7th Calvary,” that describes him as having light hair, blue eyes, and a ruddy complexion. The book also mentions that Rogers would frequently get in trouble.
“History is in your back yard. We’re walking on the same floors that Benjamin Rogers did. He was about 15 when the Battle of Richmond took place and was in his late 20’s when he was killed at Little Big Horn. While all of these fellows may not have been best buddies or anything, they very likely knew each other. Who would have thought that a farmer’s son who was born right here would go and lose his life during Custer’s Last Stand?” Seyfrit said.
Quick and utterly decisive in nature, the Battle of Little Big Horn was a clash between the United States 7th Calvary, led by Custer, and members of the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne tribes who were led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
According to historians, tensions rose between the U.S. government and Native Americans in the area after the discovery of gold in the Montana territories. Native Americans resisted a government push to move them onto reservations, and Custer and the 7th Calvary were sent to quell that resistance.
On June 25, 1876, Custer and 600 men entered the Little Big Horn Valley. They were vastly outnumbered by a force of roughly 3,000 Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and were all killed within an hour.
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