Tom Custer and Chief Rain-in-the-Face

 

Tom Custer, the younger brother of George Armstrong Custer earned two Medals of Honor during the Civil War. After the Civil War, Tom followed George into the Regular Army, joining the 7th Cavalry Regiment in 1866 as a second lieutenant. Tom served under his brother.

Tom Custer participated in the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition and the 1874 Black Hills Expedition. Tom rose to the rank of captain by 1875, commanding Company C.

Rain-in-the-Face, born around 1835 was a formidable Lakota war chief known for his fierce reputation. His name, originated after a childhood fight where his face was streaked with blood.

During the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition two civilians attached to the expedition—veterinarian John Honsinger and sutler Augustus Baliran—were killed by Lakota warriors. Rain-in-the-Face later confessed to these killings, claiming he acted to prove his bravery after a taunting challenge from a young woman.

Sixteen months later, in 1874, guide Charley Reynolds identified Rain-in-the-Face at the Standing Rock Agency, reenacting the killings during a ceremonial dance. George Custer, commanding Fort Abraham Lincoln, dispatched Tom Custer and Captain George Yates with two companies of the 7th Cavalry to arrest him.

The arrest was dramatic: Tom Custer entered the agency store, waited for Rain-in-the-Face to appear and subdued him in a physical struggle. Rain-in-the-Face, humiliated by the public arrest and subsequent imprisonment at Fort Abraham Lincoln, vowed revenge, reportedly threatening to kill Tom Custer and “eat his heart.”

Rain-in-the-Face’s escaped from the fort’s guardhouse three months later. Before fleeing, he reiterated his threat against Tom, sending a chilling message via a buffalo skin painted with a bloody heart. This act cemented his resolve to confront the Custers, particularly Tom, whom he held responsible for his humiliation. Rain-in-the-Face joined Sitting Bull’s band in the Powder River country.

The climax of their conflict came at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. Rain-in-the-Face, now a leading warrior, fought among thousands of Lakota, Cheyenne, and other allied tribes against the 7th Cavalry. Tom Custer, commanding Company C, was part of his brother’s doomed battalion.

In later accounts, Rain-in-the-Face claimed to have killed both George and Tom Custer. He claimed he recognized Tom during the battle, shot him and then cut out his heart to fulfill his vow. This gruesome act was popularized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face.”

Tom Custer’s body, found near his brother’s, was indeed badly mutilated. He was disemboweled and his head was crushed in by a blow from a stone hammer used by the Indians. His heart, however, had not been removed according to those who found the body.

In a 1905 interview Rain-in-the-Face, then frail and near death, denied killing either Custer brother or mutilating Tom, describing the battle as too chaotic to identify specific enemies. This account is considered more reliable than the earlier 1894 interview where he was intoxicated and boasted of killing Tom Custer.

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