Henry Moore Harrington

Who was Henry Moore Harrington?

Henry Moore Harrington was a military officer in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment who perished with George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn in the Montana Territory.

Harrington was born in Albion, New York, the son of Shelby A. Harrington and Nancy K. Harrington. Early in his childhood, his family relocated to Coldwater, Michigan. He attended the Cleveland Institute at University Heights, Ohio before accepting an appointment to West Point in 1868. Upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Cavalry and assigned to Company C, 7th United States Cavalry with an initial posting to North Carolina. He married Grace Berard, the granddaughter of a West Point professor. The couple had two children.

In 1873, Company C was reassigned to the Dakota Territory and Harrington accompanied Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer on the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition. In 1874, he took part in the Black Hills Expedition.

In 1876, Custer's column departed Fort Abraham Lincoln and embarked on the Little Big Horn campaign. The 7th Cavalry was short of officers, and Harrington commanded Company C during Major Marcus Reno's scout along the Rosebud River. A few days later during the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Harrington was killed in action. His remains were not identified on the battlefield, and he was declared missing in action and presumed dead.