Charles Alexander Reynolds was an American hunter, scout, and guide.
Background
Charles Alexander Reynolds was the son of Joseph Boyer and Phoebe (Buah) Reynolds. Both the place and the date of his birth are in dispute. To a recruiting officer, in the summer of 1861, he stated that he was nineteen years old and that he was a native of Illinois, but it seems probable that he was born on a farm near Stephensburg, Hardin County, Kentucky. His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Reynolds, of Scotch ancestry, brought his family from Virginia to Kentucky about 1811, served in the War of 1812, and was wounded at the battle of New Orleans. His father, born in Virginia, was reared in Kentucky, where he became a farmer and a practising physician. He later removed with his family to Illinois, and, early in 1859, to Atchison County, Kansas.
Education
Young Reynolds attended various schools and seems to have acquired a fair education.
Career
In 1860 he made a journey into the West. Returning home, he enlisted as a soldier in July 1861, and after three years' service was honorably discharged. In the spring of 1867, following several hunting and trapping ventures, he left home for the last time. He is next heard of in the Dakota country, where he became a hunter, furnishing game to various military posts.
In May 1873, at Yankton, he joined George A. Custer as a scout for the Yellowstone expedition under David S. Stanley. He was the guide of Custer's Black Hills expedition of 1874, and in August won distinction by the exceptionally hazardous exploit of carrying dispatches through the heart of the hostile country to Fort Laramie. In the following year he was the hunter and chief scout of Forsyth's expedition up the Yellowstone, later of William Ludlow in his reconnaissance from Fort Abraham Lincoln; in the following winter he was instrumental in causing the capture of Rain-in-the-Face for the murder of two civilians.
On March 3, 1876, he was employed by Custer as a scout for the Big Horn expedition which left Fort Abraham Lincoln on May 17. In the battle of the Little Big Horn he was assigned to Reno's battalion. At the beginning of the retreat from the valley he was shot and instantly killed. The body was recovered and buried in grave No. 260 on Custer Field.
Personality
He was about five feet eight inches in height, of sturdy build and somewhat round-shouldered. His manner was simple and straightforward, and his voice was gentle. Though friendly in disposition, and though on his hunting trips he usually had one or more companions, his reserve and his reticence of speech caused him to be dubbed "Lonesome Charley, " a nickname by which he became widely known. Nothing could induce him to talk about himself or his deeds, and he carefully avoided the stage trappings of the professional scout.