I went to the National Battle Field of Custer's Last Stand in Montana. They had two interesting speakers. One represented
the Indians and was an American Indian dressed in a native Indian custume. The other was an Anglo American dressed in a U.S.
cavalry uniform like the one worn by the U.S. calvalry at the time of Custer's Last Stand. The speaker or tour guide who wore
the calvalry uniform was very interesting. He said among other things that when Italians, Irish and Germans got of the boat in
New York they could not find much work. In New York they had signs that said, "If you are Italian, Irish or German don't even
try too apply for work here." So they had to join the U.S. Cavalry. He Said 1/3 of the cavalry soldiers either deserted or
commited suicide. They didn't like the treatement of the American Indians or how they were treated in the cavalry. Per esempio,
a pair of cavlry boots would last only a couple months. A cavlry hat, pants and shirt about the same. Said most of the soldiers
wore an odd array of clothers. Like when we see Custer dressed in the buckskin attire. The food was terrible with rations left
over from the Revolutionary War. Oh, and he kept making fun of John Wayne. Said the absolute maxium weight for a calvary soldier
was 165 pounds. John Wayne weighed around 230 or more pounds. So much for the calvalry movies we were brought up on in the U.S.

The 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment Fought in the Battle of the Little ...They were individuals who had come to the United States for
a variety of reasons, both political and economic. In many cases the latter flowed from the ...
http://www.historynet.com/the-7th-us...le-bighorn.htm - 43k - Cached - Similar pages

These were: 1st Lt. Charles Camillus DeRudio (a k a Count Carlo Camillo Di Rudio) of Company A; Private Augustus L. De Voto
(a k a Augusto De Voto) of Company B; Private John James (a k a Giovanni Casella) of Company E; Private Frank Lombard
(a k a Frank Lombardy, Francesco Lombardi) of the regimental band; Private John Martin (a k a Giovanni Martini),
trumpeter of Company H; and Chief Musician Felix Villiet Vinatieri (a k a Felice Villiet Vinatieri) of the regimental
band. Two of the six were married. As might be expected, given that the pay of the era made it virtually impossible for junior
enlisted personnel to wed and support a family, they were the two highest ranking: DeRudio and Vinatieri.

Unlike native-born Americans, Irish and Germans, the Italians were too few to constitute a group or subculture in the regiment.
They were individuals who had come to the United States for a variety of reasons, both political and economic. In many cases the
latter flowed from the former. Irish and Germans constituted major immigrant groups during the 19th century. Both nationalities
immigrated largely for economic reasons by the mid-1800s. Socially, the Germans were more acceptable; they frequently were skilled
craftsmen, and a very large percentage were Protestants. The Irish were much less socially acceptable; they were mostly unskilled,
usually dirt-poor and Roman Catholic. In 1876 they constituted a clearly defined minority group that suffered very real social and
economic discrimination. The Italians shared many of the social disadvantages of the Irish as well as some unique to themselves. They,
too, were Roman Catholics; they were poor and, as southern Europeans, tended to be short and swarthy, and thus further removed in
appearance from the northern European norm. Further, they came to the new country speaking a foreign tongue. The only
advantage the Italians had over the Irish was that they were so few that they were not objects of such organized discrimination.