In April of 1941, routine maintenance work at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument led to an unexpected discovery. While digging a trench near Last Stand Hill, National Park Service workers uncovered a crude enclosure made of cottonwood logs. Beneath it lay the long-buried bones of cavalry horses killed during the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June of 1876.
The find revealed an early and largely forgotten effort to collect and bury the remains of the Seventh Cavalry’s mounts. After the battle, hundreds of dead horses were left scattered across the battlefield. Their equipment was recovered, and their bodies were later gathered into burial areas to clear the ground and preserve the site. Over time, the exact locations of these horse cemeteries faded from memory.
The discovery highlights the critical role horses played in nineteenth-century warfare. Cavalry horses were not simply transportation — they were essential to movement, combat, and survival. Speed, endurance, and training could determine the outcome of a battle, and wounded horses rarely survived the chaos of combat.
This reality is underscored by the story of Comanche, the Seventh Cavalry horse who survived the battle. Badly wounded but alive, Comanche became a powerful symbol of the conflict and a rare reminder of the hundreds of horses that did not leave the field.
This video examines the 1941 discovery, the importance of horses in battle, and how the legacy of Comanche helps us understand the Battle of the Little Bighorn through the lives — and deaths — of the animals that carried it.
