Henry Moore Harrington (April 30, 1849 – June 25, 1876) was a military officer in the 7th United States Cavalry Regiment who went

Missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

during the

Battle of Little Big Horn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

Early life

Henry Moore Harrington was born in Albion, New York, the son of Shelby A. Harrington and Nancy K. (Moore) Harrington. Early in his childhood, his family relocated to

Coldwater, Michigan Coldwater is a city in Branch County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan. The city is surrounded by Co ...

. He attended the Cleveland Institute at University Heights, Ohio, and declined an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy before accepting an appointment to

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in 1868.

7th Cavalry

Upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy (ranking 17th the Class of 1872), he was commissioned a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

and assigned to Company C, 7th United States Cavalry with an initial posting to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He married Grace Berard, the granddaughter of a West Point

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. The couple had two children. In 1873, Company C was reassigned to

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

and Lieutenant Henry Harrington accompanied

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

(Brevet

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

)

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

and a large part of the 7th Cavalry on the

Yellowstone Expedition of 1873 The Yellowstone Expedition of 1873 was an expedition of the United States Army in the summer of 1873 in Dakota Territory and Montana Territory, to survey a route for the Northern Pacific Railroad along the Yellowstone River. The expedition was unde ...

, taking part in the

Battle of Honsinger Bluff The Battle of Honsinger Bluff was a conflict between the United States Army and the Sioux people on August 4, 1873 along the Yellowstone River near present-day Miles City, Montana. This was U.S. territory acquired from the Crows in 1868. The main c ...

, Montana on August 4, 1873, and in a skirmish near Pompey's Pillar, Montana on August 11, 1873. In the summer of 1874, Harrington and his Company C were part of the 7th Cavalry's military escort for the

Black Hills Expedition The Black Hills Expedition was a United States Army expedition in 1874 led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer that set out on July 2, 1874 from modern day Bismarck, North Dakota, which was then Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territor ...

under the command of

. On May 17, 1876, during the

Great Sioux War of 1876 The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Alfred Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to vic ...

's Dakota column departed

Fort Abraham Lincoln Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is a North Dakota state park located south of Mandan, North Dakota, United States. The park is home to the replica Mandan On-A-Slant Indian Village and reconstructed military buildings including the Custer House. ...

and embarked on the Little Big Horn campaign. Harrington's 7th Cavalry Regiment composed most of the Dakota column, but was in short supply of officers, so Harrington as a

was given the command of Company C, and accompanied

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Marcus Reno Marcus Albert Reno (November 15, 1834 – March 30, 1889) was a United States career military officer who served in the American Civil War where he was a combatant in a number of major battles, and later under George Armstrong Custer in the Gr ...

's June 10–18, 1876 scout on the Powder River, and Tongue River in south-eastern

. After Harrington and the over 300 soldiers on the Reno Scout rejoined Colonel Custer and the 7th Cavalry, the regiment marched up Rosebud Creek, then crossed to the Little Bighorn River. On June 25, 1876 the 647 men with the 7th Cavalry including Henry Harrington under the command of

George A. Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

attacked a village of several thousand Native Americans, in what became known as the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

. Harrington and 219 men of the 7th Cavalry under Custer were separated from the rest of the regiment, and were Killed in action. Henry Moore Harrington's remains were not identified on the battlefield, and the Lieutenant was declared

and presumed dead. His wife Grace Berard made a series of trips to the Battlefield to look for his body or information regarding his whereabouts if he had survived the savage fight, but to no avail.

Link

Bronze Star reference material

References

* ''Coldwater Republican'',

(1868–1876) * Cross, Walt, ''Custer's Lost Officer: The Search for Lieutenant Henry Moore Harrington, 7th U.S. Cavalry'', Cross Publications (2005). * Horsted, Paul and Ernest Grafe, ''Exploring with Custer: The 1874 Black Hills Expedition'',

Custer, South Dakota Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,919 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. History Custer is the oldest town established by European Americans in the Black Hills. Gold ...

: Golden Valley Press (2002). * Mills, Charles K., ''Harvest of Barren Regrets the Army Career of Frederick William Benteen 1834–1898'', Glendale, California: The Arthur H. Clark Company (1985). * Magnussen, Daniel O. Ed., ''Peter Thompson’s Narrative of the Little Bighorn Campaign 1876'',

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

: The Arthur H. Clark Company (1974). * Scott, Douglas D. et al., ''They Died With Custer'',

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

and London: University of Oklahoma Press (1998). * Utley, Robert M., ''Custer and the Great Controversy: The Origin and Development of a Legend'',

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

: Westernlore Press (1980). {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Henry Moore 1849 births 1876 deaths Military personnel from Michigan People from Albion, Orleans County, New York People of the Great Sioux War of 1876 United States Military Academy alumni American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars Battle of the Little Bighorn Military personnel missing in action