A look at Captain Myles Keogh of Custer's 7th Cavalry

And his Pope Pius IX awarded "silver agnus Dei medal..."

Former Irish student at St. Patrick's

-- along with his faithful horse Comanche --

gained respect from Indian warriors.

At the Battle of the Little Big Horn

June 25, 1876.


Snippets from John Koster's Custer Survivor: The End of a Myth, the Beginning of a legend.


Pages 177 - 179.


"Comanche, ridden by Captain Myles Keogh, was found on the battlefield near the body of his owner, a man honored by the Indians as the bravest of the brave.

"Brn in Limerick Ireland in 1840, to a family of Catholic gentry, Myles Keogh had studied at St. Patrick's College for two years, then taken ship for Italy where he served in the army of the Pope in the struggle for Italian unity.

"Captured by the Piedmontese, he accepted a parole and was decorated for his service with a Papal medal he wore around his neck for the rest of his life..."

He then "...joined the Union Army in the Civil War [1861 - 1865], and was cited for gallantry in dispatches more than once ...

"The Irish adventurer finished the Civil War as a colonel.

"Keogh took a demotion to stay in the Regular Army and spent most of his time in the 7th Cavalry...

At the Battle of the Little Big Horn, "... an Indian bullet smashed through his left knee and toppled man and horse side by side..

"Keogh drew his side arm and kept fighting despite agonizing pain.

"[O]ne Indian told a scout years later, Like the flame of a coal blazed his eyes. His teeth glistened like a fighting grizzly ...

"Keogh's courage was contagious and his [troopers] rallied around him and fought while other soldiers panicked.

"They all died but the Indians were so impressed with Keogh's defiant courage that they they left his body intact.

"The Pope's medal was left untouched around his neck ..."