42 KIA Last Stand Hill Horses how many head shot's ?

[magpie]

I think Maguire reported that 42 horses where within a ten rod circle of LSH. That's 42/66 of the KIA army horses of the whole battle. Did any researcher try to count how many horses had craniums penetrated by a bullet to get a handle on the old breast works of horses theory. I know there were 5 dead horses tied together. What do we know of the horse KIA's. Did anyone ever check? We know Custer shot his own dogs and 500 horses at Washita and certainly as desperate as things were on LSH and with the hill to your back a dead horse to your front would be a thing to behold.

{Herosrest corrections as to Bradley as to 32 are probabley correct but it doesn't change the question of we have a disproportionate number of equine KIA's at LSH and where they intentionally sandbagged and has anyone scientifically looked at horse craniums}

[herosrest]

Ducemus

Patterson Hughes quoted a given number in his letter of June 30th, Bradley reported a count of dead mounts around Custer and that all the dead lay within a few hundred yards square.

The Lieutenant found it to be a dead cavalry horse, and, going a few yards further on, to the brow of a hill, looking into the valley below, a terrible scene was presented to view. It was literally strewn with the dead of the gallant Seventh Cavalry. Lieut. Bradley rode hurriedly over the field, and in a few minutes time counted one hundred and ninety-seven dead bodies. Custer fell upon the highest point of the field; and around him, within a space of five rods square, lay forty-two men and thirty-one horses. The dead soldiers all lay within a circle embracing only a few hundred yards square. July 15, 1876

[magpie]

I looked at the horse bone pile and there are few skulls to match the many pelvises so someone may have early on removed horse skulls.