Great Sioux War of 1876 Col. George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry were ordered out from the main Dakota Column to scout the Rosebud and Big Horn river valleys. On June 25, 1876, they encountered a large village on the west bank of the Little Bighorn. The US troops were seriously beaten in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and nearly 270 men were killed, including Custer. Custer split his forces just prior to the battle and his immediate command of five cavalry companies was annihilated without any survivors. Two days later, a combined force consisting of Colonel Gibbon's column, along with Terry's headquarters
2nd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and a new CompanyG consisted of men from CompanyM. The new regiment commander was Lieutenant Colonel James Allen. His second-in-command was Major Edwin S. Morgan. General Sheridan now led an 8,000-man force, and it consisted of two cavalry divisions. General Wesley Merritt was Sheridan's cavalry commander. General Thomas Devin led the 1st Division, and the 3rd Division was commanded by George Armstrong Custer, who was now a general. The 2nd West Virginia Cavalry became part of the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division Cavalry Corps. The brigade consisted of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West Virginia Cavalry regiments, and was commanded by