Since posting on this thread a couple weeks ago I've been doing some reading and research.
-According to Lt Godfrey, Benteen was watering their horses when the first messanger from Custer, Sgt. Kanipe, arrived with orders for Cpt. McDougall with the pack train. Martini arrived later with the written note from Lt. Cooke. So the criticism that Benteen took time to water his horses after he got orders from Custer to 'come quick', does not hold water.
-Godfrey mentions that when he and Benteen arrived at Renos Hill, they were still under attack by hostiles. It was only after those hostiles left that Weir decided to reconoiter towards Custers presumed position. Weir did not disobey orders from Reno and Benteen to 'not take his company towards the sound of firing', his 2nd in command mistook Weirs recon movements and followed him with their company.
-Different writers word their account of Benteen and Reno following Weir to make it look like they did so reluctantly because they were either timid or did not want to support Custer for personal reasons. It is far more likely that they moved from Renos Hill to support Weir. Godfreys testimony indicates that Weirs men were being threatened by native forces already, the other companies were moved to support them, and in fact were engaged as they retreated back to Renos original position.
-At Weirs point they saw groups of natives on horseback, either moving or sitting still. They saw some warriors firing into the ground, but also heard firing further in the distance. This would have been the last 40 or so men who made a rush for the river and the protection of the brush. They assumed at this point that Custer had been repulsed (as Reno had been) and was retreating. It never entered their thinking that his force would have been annihilated, particularly since Reno with about half as many men, had (more or less) retreated successfully. Consequently, they did not rush to 'rescue' him.
-There is a very strong likelihood that Custer was hit when E Company tried to cross the river into the village. The Sioux warrior White Cow Bull stated that he hit one trooper and one officer on a sorrel horse with four white socks. Yates and the rest of E Company rode grey horses, Custer rode a sorrel with four white socks. Having made my living riding horses for 28 years, I know that horses with four white feet are not favored. Their feet are soft and don't hold shoes well, and are susceptable to stone bruises. They also have a reputation for untrustworthyness (I can personally attest to that!). A well known quote goes like this..." One or two white feet buy him, three white feet try him, four white feet deny him!"
A 'chromed up' horse like Custer rode would be unusual and stand out from the crowd.
-Various reports of Custers wounds list the chest wound as either below or above the heart and 'instantly fatal'. I'm not so sure that a lung wound would be instantly fatal, and even if it were, his body would not be abandoned. Most of his closest friends and relatives were found near him on Last Stand Hill, and historians have always wondered why they were there instead of with their companies. The loss of their commander would explain the loss of cohesion and direction of parts of his command and the shift from offence to defence.
-Reno lost over 1/3 of his command (missing, wounded or dead) before reaching Renos Hill. Military strategists consider a force to have lost it's fighitng ability at much lower loss rates than that. They would not have been able to even protect the pack train if the rest of the force had left them and gone to find Custer. They were basically a stone around the neck of Benteens battallion.
Too many people (including myself most of the time!) look for what was done wrong, who was to blame, what should have been done differently, instead of looking at what was done right and what could not have been done differently due to the circumstances and resources at hand.