135 years ago today, some 270 officers and enlisted men of the 7th Cavalry met their fate at the Little Bighorn. This post originally appeared at CTT in 2008.
Custer at the Little Bighorn
On June 25, 1876, five understrengthed companies of the Seventh Cavalry, lead by Br.Gen. George A. Custer, rode into a valley near the Little Bighorn River, Montana, in search of "hostile" Indians. Early that morning, scouts reported that they could see a large camp of Indians and plans were made to assault the village the following day. However, signs of Custer's column had been observed by a small party of Indians (who ironically failed to report the presence of the cavalry column), so Custer and his Troopers went immediately into the attack.
Custer sent one battalion, lead by Major Marcus Reno, in a frontal assault to provoke the Indians into an engagement. He sent a second battalion, lead by Capt. Fredrick Benteen, to scout and attack any Indians fleeing the main engagement. A smaller force of about 140 men was assigned to escort the regiment's pack train.
The "hostiles" consisted of approximately fifteen hundred warriors, although estimates vary widely. Comprised of Arapaho, Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, they were lead by the formidable Chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Gall. They were defending their homes, families and their very existence.
The Seventh was doomed from the start.
The attack by Reno's Battalion stalled when they were confronted by large numbers of Indians, both mounted and dismounted. Reno rapidly lost control of both himself and his unit, and his men took cover in a stand of timber. After taking several casualties, Reno lead the disorganized flight to a nearby hilltop, leaving many of his men behind. If not for the well executed rearguard hastily organized by Lt. Edward Godfrey, Reno's Battalion, too, would have been wiped out.
Benteen's Battalion arrived and reinforced Reno's men, despite receiving written orders to join Custer with the pack train. While Reno drank whiskey and cowered near the command post, Benteen conducted a skillful defense of the hilltop for the better part of a day and a half, repelling repeated Indian attacks. Capt. Thomas Weir lead his company, against the orders of the now in-command Benteen, towards Custer's position, but was turned back by the sheer number of Indians surrounding both Custer and Reno/Benteen. His was the only attempt to go to the aid of Custer and his surrounded command, which perished less than a mile away.
The two battalions remained on the bluff until they were reinforced by another column of cavalry. It was only then that they learned of Custer's fate.
Custer, however, encountered overwhelming numbers of Indians and was rapidly surrounded. He apparently divided his battalion into three companies, the others being lead by Capts. Yates and Keogh. Yates' company feinted toward the village, but was cut off and overwhelmed, the survivors rejoining Custer atop a nearby hill. Keogh apparently dismounted his company to fight a rearguard, while Custer pushed further up the ridge.
The resulting chaos lead to several "last stands' with command breaking down completely. Several troopers took their own lives, fearing torture if they were taken prisoner. Keogh's company was rapidly overwhelmed and wiped out, and Custer's command, gathered on a nearby hilltop, was also quickly annihilated. There were no survivors.
The Seventh Cavalry lost 16 officers, 242 troopers and 10 civilian scouts, or approximately 52% of their unit. Another 60 men from Reno's fight were wounded. Although no records exist, it is believed that they killed no more than 40-100 of their enemy. The men of Custer's command were stripped and horribly mutilated. Among the dead were Capt. Tom Custer (Custer's brother and a two-time winner of the Medal of Honor), Lt. James Sturgis (son of the commander of the Seventh Cavalry), another Custer brother, a Custer cousin and Lt. James Calhoun, married to Custer's sister.
The Blame Game started immediately after the fight was over, most assigning it to Custer for being "over eager" in his haste to attack the much larger force. In the end, Reno's cowardice (at one point during the fight in the timber, he suggested to his officers that they leave behind the wounded and dismounted and flee ala "every man for himself") and drunkenness were ignored "for the good of the service," as was Benteen's refusal to follow written orders to join Custer. The courage of the enlisted men, however, was never questioned.
Recent archaeological digs at the site indicate that Custer's command may not have been surrounded and overwhelmed, but rather routed in a single charge. While it is clear that there was an organized defense by the Seventh, it is also clear that they were easily overcome by the larger numbers of their enemy, who were able to turn the weapons of fallen Troopers against their still-living comrades. The battle for "Last Stand Hill" is believed to have lasted no more than forty minutes.
The Indians themselves suffered a loss greater than that of the Seventh. They were relentlessly hunted and harassed, killed and captured, until most of them were forced onto reservations where they suffered from disease, starvation and the greed of their captors. The war for the West was over and 'White Man' had won.
An exceptional treatise of the battle can be found in the recent book A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West by James Donovan. The research is first rate, as is the analysis, making it a must-read for history buffs.
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