US Indian Wars Veteran. A survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, William E. Smith, 64, had enlisted in the 7th Cavalry in September 1875, less than a year before the famous battle. Then a 22-year-old private who stood just over 5'5" tall, he was described as having gray eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. Assigned to Company D, which on June 25, 1876 was part of Capt. Frederick Benteen's battalion, Pvt. Smith fought on Reno Hill under Benteen and Maj. Marcus Reno. While the five companies with Custer were killed, the majority of the men who fought with Reno and Benteen survived the battle. After leaving the cavalry William Smith worked as a shoemaker in Maine and Massachusetts, eventually taking up farming in South Deerfield. On April 21, 1886, he married Cora Arvetta Dailey, and the couple subsequently had four daughters: Alice Vivian, Maude Evelyn, Gladys Eola, and Clarice Roselyn. He died in 1918, two months before his 65th birthday. In 2011, almost a century after his death, a bronze plaque commemorating Mr. Smith's military service was placed on his grave. His wife is also interred here.

US Indian Wars Veteran. A survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, William E. Smith, 64, had enlisted in the 7th Cavalry in September 1875, less than a year before the famous battle. Then a 22-year-old private who stood just over 5'5" tall, he was described as having gray eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. Assigned to Company D, which on June 25, 1876 was part of Capt. Frederick Benteen's battalion, Pvt. Smith fought on Reno Hill under Benteen and Maj. Marcus Reno. While the five companies with Custer were killed, the majority of the men who fought with Reno and Benteen survived the battle. After leaving the cavalry William Smith worked as a shoemaker in Maine and Massachusetts, eventually taking up farming in South Deerfield. On April 21, 1886, he married Cora Arvetta Dailey, and the couple subsequently had four daughters: Alice Vivian, Maude Evelyn, Gladys Eola, and Clarice Roselyn. He died in 1918, two months before his 65th birthday. In 2011, almost a century after his death, a bronze plaque commemorating Mr. Smith's military service was placed on his grave. His wife is also interred here.