On campaign in western Kansas, the Seventh Cavalry's second in command commits suicide.

Lieutenant-Colonel George Custer and six companies of his Seventh Cavalry undertook a six week campaign to clear hostile Sioux and Cheyenne warriors from the Platte Road in eastern Nebraska. The venture was Custer's first action against Plains Indians and did not go well.  Frustrating encounters, casualties, desertions, and questions over his allegedly harsh application of discipline dogged Custer to the point that he was court-martialed on his return and suspended from duty.  In the evening of this day, Custer's second in command, experienced combat officer Major Wycliffe Cooper, severely troubled with alcoholism, shot himself in the head in his tent. (By John Osborne)