Henry Carl Voigt

It is funny how I can own a book and decide to open it and come across a relative of mine. I had this book for a few years and got around to reading parts of it just recently. The book is titled "The Custer Myth", by Colonel W. A. Graham, retired from the United States Army which was written around 1951 when the Colonel was 78 years old. Colonel Graham's father served in the Civil War and his mother was a friend of Libbie Bacon who married Custer.

On page 245 of his book, there is mention of my cousin Henry Charles Voigt. The next paragraph is taken directly from the book.

"Had the Indians been successful, the day would have been lost, and Reno's command would have shared the fate of Custer 's brave men. as Captain Benteen said afterward. Private James Tanner of Company M, was badly wounded in this charge, and his body lay on the side of the bluffs in an exposed position. There was a call for volunteers to bring him down, and I grabbed a blanket with three other men (one which was Voigt), rushed to his assistance, rolled him into a blanket, and made quick tracks in getting him from the side of the bluffs to where our wounded lay. Fortunately none of the rescuing party received anything more than a few balls through their clothing. After placing Tanner with the rest of the wounded, he died in a few minutes. There was a gray horse belonging to my company, that was ridden by Captain French, and he was the best buffalo horse in the command. He was among the other horses near the wounded, and an Indian shot him through the head. He was staggering about among the other horses, and Private Henry C. Voyt (Voigt) , of my company, took hold of him to lead him out of the way of the other horses, and Voyt (Voigt) at that same instant had his brains blown out. We buried Private Tanner, about whom I have made some explanation, and Voyt (Voigt) in the same grave the next morning. Then, we made a head board out of a piece of hard tack-box, and marked their names with a lead pencil on the board, and drove it into the ground."