Sgt. Jacob Horner was a member of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's 7th Calvary and was fortunate surviving member when on June 25th, 1876 Custer and soldiers of the 7th were killed at the infamous Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana.

Jacob missed being with the 7th at the Little Big Horn by mere fortune of not having a horse to ride that day. As Custer and his men rode off, Jacob and a few men were left behind for only one reason, there were not enough horses for all the men. Jacob later learned that Custer and his command of 275 men were killed.

My grandfather Frank Erickson, and father Ernest and Uncle Floyd all knew Jacob over the years and all described him as a hard man, part grumpy and severe. Frank and Jacob both shared in common the incredible odds of surviving their separate terrifying experiences in the army. Jacob as mentioned above and below missed by sheer luck Custer and the 7th's calamity at the Little Bighorn. Frank survived an incredible period of time when he was a runner riflemen with the 308th Infantry and the 'Lost Battalion' in the Argonne Forrest in France in October of 1918.

Jacob Horner was born in New York City in 1854 and eventually worked as a meat cutter in New Orleans in January of 1875. He enlisted in the 7th Cavalry at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri on April 8th, 1876. Jacob was assigned to Company K.

After the Little Bighorn Jacob fought in battles with Chief Joseph and a band of Nez Perce Indians and in the Battle of Snake Creek on September 30, 1877. Jacob accompanied Cheyenne prisoners to Bismarck. Some years later in 1880 in Bismarck Jacob left the army when as he stated in an interview, "I left the army because I met a girl and married her."

He married Catherine Stuart at Fort Totten on April 18th, 1880 and resided in Bismarck for over 70 years. He once again worked as a meat cutter for Charles Kupitz for 35 years. Jacob served as city alderman 1900 - 1906 and passed away on September 21st, 1951 in Bismarck.

Horner was the last living surviving member of Custer's 7th Cavalry. On October 6th, 1948 Horner flew in an airplane, another first for one of Custer's troopers. In 1937 Robert Ripley of "Ripley's Believe It Not" asked Horner to appear on his radio show.

Jacob's headstone is attached below.

Further reading on Jacob Horner: The Story of Jacob Horner by Bruce Nelson - Sensation Magazine - February 1934 Jacob Horner of the Seventh Cavalry by Roy Paul Johnson - North Dakota Historical Quarterly XVI- April 1949