Giovanni Martino

Martino was born in the period between late November 1851 and early January 1852 in or around Sala Consilina, Province of Salerno, Campania, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, but was subsequently left at one of the town's Proietto Domiciliata (orphanages).

As Custer and nearly 210 troopers and scouts began their final approach to the massive Indian village located in the Little Bighorn River valley, Martino was dispatched with an urgent note for reinforcements and ammunition.

Martin and the remaining Seventh Cavalry companies not riding with Custer were trapped on a nearby hill and fought off repeated attacks for 36 hours until their rescue by another U.S. Army column.

In 1879, while serving in an artillery battery at Fort Schuyler (New York), he met and married an Irish girl named Julia Higgins, who would give birth to five surviving children.

Italian comedian David Riondino has staged a drama based on Giovanni Martino's character, entitled Il trombettiere ("The trumpeter").