P.S. It's worth noting that, had the men in Custer's battalion broken and run, at least a few of the men, better mounted, would have survived. But they didn't run. I need to revisit the subject as some good recent work has been done, but the best conjecture seems to be that Custer had left three companies in a skirmish line along the ridge while he led two companies down to a ford. The distances are not large; the skirmishers could have saddled up and followed quickly if Custer had crossed the river and pressed on. As it was, Custer met opposition at the ford (and may have been killed there). The leading companies then fell back towards the high ground. The entire position was then flanked and overrun, probably very quickly. The collapse probably occurred from left to right, with a few survivors from the skirmish line falling back to Last Stand Hill.
There is one Indian account of a trooper who, the Indians said, tried to ride for it. If the Indian accounts are correct, this man had actually outdistanced his pursuers and looked to have gotten away when he suddenly pulled up, took out his revolver, and shot himself. The battlefield was searched, however, and no remains consistent with this account have ever been found. If this man got a couple of miles away before shooting himself, his body may have been missed, but we just don't know. It's one of the remaining mysteries of the Custer fight.
Five Union Cavalry Generals. Five Union Cavalry Generals: (from left to right) Philip Sheridan, James W. Forsyth, Wesley Merritt (seated), Thomas C. Devin and George A. Custer (seated). File from The Photographic History of The Civil War in Ten Volumes: Volume Four, The Cavalry
“If this man got a couple of miles away before shooting himself, his body may have been missed, but we just don’t know. It’s one of the remaining mysteries of the Custer fight.”
This may be of interest to you:
last survivor of custer’s last stand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsWZ41mHY4M