Amazed by History (History buffs unite!!!)

[gopherhockey03]

So I had always known about my Great, Great, Great Grandfather but for some reason at 4 A.m. I seemed to have stumbled onto a great amount of info on him! I'm very proud of my heritage and ancestors and find this not only cool but amazing!!! This guy is my Grandpa!!! here is the story which was researched by my dad's cousin enjoy! My Grandfather is Jeremiah Finley BTW!!!

Under Lt. Col. George Custer’s command at the Battle of the Little Big Horn were a number of refugees who fled Europe to avoid prosecution or retaliation.

The most notorious was Carlo di Rudio (Charles DeRudio) who threw a bomb at the French royal procession trying to assassinate Napoleon III in 1858. He was captured and sentenced to be executed, but his life was spared when Empress Eugenie intervened. He was then exiled for life to the penal institution at Devils Island, where he escaped and eventually ended up as an officer with Custer’s 7th Cavalry.

Another exile was Jeremiah Finley, who participated in the Irish Republican Brotherhood that was active in rebellion around his hometown, Tipperary.

When his cousin was killed, he sought revenge and killed the alleged perpetrator. Fearing retaliation, Finley fled to England, joined the British Army and was sent to Canada. When his service requirement was over, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was eventually assigned to the 7th Cavalry under the command of Custer.

Finley was killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and the higher ground where he fell is now called “Finley’s Ridge.”

While he was in Canada, Finley fell in love with Ellen Boyer and they got married in December 1862. In 1867, the couple moved to Chicago and Finley, now nicknamed “Darby,” hoped to find work. Although skilled as a tailor, he had no education and could not read or write, and meaningful employment was hard to find.

Finley went to the recruiting station hoping to enlist in the U.S. Army. It is unclear if he did not know that the terms of enlistment read “I have neither wife nor child,” or that he was desperate. He falsified the “Declaration of Recruit” by placing an X on the signature line on Sept. 18, 1868.

Finley was assigned to Company C of the 7th Cavalry and sent to Fort Dodge, Kan., where he would be under the command of Custer. Shortly after Finley arrived, he found himself in action at the Battle of Wa:cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:a on Nov. 27. He stayed in the field with the 7th before returning to Fort Dodge at the end of May 1869.

Finley left Fort Dodge in October 1869 and, for the next 16 months, was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Fort Wallace, Colo.; and Fort Harker, Kan. In March 1871, he accompanied Custer to North Carolina, where he would help oversee reconstruction in that part of the South.

In the spring of 1872, Col. David S. Stanley, at Fort Rice, received word that he was to provide escort for a team of Northern Pacific surveyors led by Thomas Rosser, as they pushed west into hostile Indian territory in Montana. Finley and most of the 7th Cavalry traveled to Fort Rice to join Stanley’s expedition in July.

When Company C reached the Yellowstone River, they assisted Capt. Frederick Benteen in the establishment of a supply depot. Finley and other members of his company stayed until Sept. 10 to help guard the depot. The company then returned to Fort Rice.

On Oct. 9, 1875, Company C was transferred to Fort Abraham Lincoln and, soon after, placed under the command of Capt. Thomas Custer, the colonel’s brother. While stationed at Fort Lincoln, George Custer quickly became aware of the craftsmanship of Sgt. Finley as a tailor and requested that he make him a buckskin jacket. Finley agreed and that coat became the colonel’s favorite.

In the early summer of 1876, orders came from Washington to Gen. Alfred Terry to prepare to launch an assault against Sitting Bull and other hostile Sioux and drive them back to the reservation.

On May 17, Finley and other members of the 7th Cavalry mounted up to pursue Sitting Bull. The married men were then allowed to dismount and say good-bye to their wives and children. At the time, Ellen Finley was pregnant with her third child.

On the morning of June 25, Custer’s regiment stumbled upon an Indian encampment, and he ordered his regiment be split into three groups. Company C was ordered to support a skirmish line to defend against Indians coming from Deep Coulee and Greasy Grass Ridge. This line was on a ridge that faced Deep Coulee. It was on this ridge that Finley’s body was later found riddled with a dozen arrows.

Near his body were 20 spent shell casings indicating that he bravely stood his ground. In his honor, this place is now called “Finley’s Ridge.” The coat he made for the colonel is now on display with other Custer artifacts at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Five months after Finley was killed, his wife gave birth to Jeremiah Jr. She later married John Donahgue of Company K, and they moved to Oberon, N.D.