Luther Rector Hare (August 24, 1851 – December 22, 1929) was an officer in the 7th U.S. Cavalry, best known for participating in the

Battle of the 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 ...

. Hare was born in

Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylv ...

to Silas Hare and his wife Octavia Elizabeth Rector. His family moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in 1853. He entered

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 1870 and graduated 17 June 1874, joining the 7th Cavalry later that year. By the time of the

Great Sioux War 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 ...

, he was a second lieutenant in Company K (Lt Godfrey Commanding), serving in the battalion commanded by Capt.

Frederick Benteen Frederick William Benteen (August 24, 1834 – June 22, 1898) was a military officer who first fought during the American Civil War. He was appointed to commanding ranks during the Indian Campaigns and Great Sioux War against the Lakota and N ...

. During the June 1876 expedition to the Little Bighorn River, Lieutenant Hare was on detached service assisting Lt. Charles Varnum with the Indian scouts, being appointed assistant on the evening of the 24th of June. During the siege on Reno's Hill, he served as Maj.

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 adjutant, since Lt. Benjamin Hodgson had been killed during the retreat from the woods. Hare later gave testimony at the subsequent Reno Court of Inquiry in 1879. Hare participated in the

Nez Perce War The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict in 1877 in the Western United States that pitted several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the ''Palouse'' tribe led by Red Echo (''Hahtalekin'') and ...

(1877),

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

( Philippines Theater), and Philippine American War, notably in the recovery of captured US forces following the Battle of Pulang Lupa. He retired on medical disability in July 1903, but served several stints on active duty after that, retiring for the final time in February 1919. Luther Hare died at Walter Reed Hospital in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hare, Luther 1851 births 1929 deaths People from Greencastle, Indiana People of the Great Sioux War of 1876 United States Army officers United States Military Academy alumni People from Indiana in the Spanish–American War American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Battle of the Little Bighorn