Custers Last Stand At sunrise on the morning of June 25, 1876, Colonel George Armstrong Custer stood on a hilltop

with his indian scouts from the Crow and Shoshone tribes. They were looking across the Little Bighorn river at an indian camp about 15 miles away. Custers scouts explained to him that they had never before seen such a large camp, with so many horses, and that there must be over a thousand warriors there. Custer disagreed, he thought most of the indians in the camp were women and children, and that there were only a few men guarding them. Custer also thought the indians were still asleep, which in the end proved untrue. For Custer and the men under his command, the decisions that were made on that hilltop were part of a series of mistakes Custer made that would end in the deaths of almost 270 men of the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment. By the summer of 1876 Custer was perhaps the most famous soldier in the US. Journalists loved him, and they wrote great stories about his indian battles, politicians visited him in the field, and he even took the Grand Duke of Russia buffalo hunting. He was loved by the American public, especially in the North, and was regarded as being brave and gallant, which he most certainly was. But others, especially in the South, saw him as a vain prima donna, who was arrogant and stupid, and who rose to his position through political contacts and a lot of luck. Both views of Custer were true. Custer was never known for being clever. He graduated last in a class of 44 cadets at West Point in 1861, and was thought to be quite undisciplined. But because of the Civil War, the army needed all the officers it could get, so Custer was given command of a cavalry unit. At first his soldiers didnt like the flashy way Custer dressed or his arrogance, but they soon became loyal when he showed his bravery in battle. Custer always led his men in attacks, and never stayed behind in safety. All through the war Custer used his bravery and charisma to get the attention of important people, and used them to further his career. There is an old saying, it isnt what you know, it is who you know, and Custer used this strategy to his maximum benefit. By the age of 23, he had become the youngest General in the army. Custer also realized the importance of having a pretty woman by his side, and so married Elizabeth Libbie Bacon in 1864. Her great beauty and charm made sure Custer was never forgotten by important people. Libbie Custer so charmed General Philip Sheridan that he gave her as a gift the table on which General Lee signed the surrender document that ended the war. Custer had chosen the perfect wife. With the end of the war, Custer was reduced in rank to captain and put given command of Union occupation forces in Texas. His time in Texas was not a happy one, as his new troops disliked him, and his arrogance made Texans hate him. Soon he was transfered to the West Plains to fight indians.

Custer became a big star as an indian fighter. Year after year he led his troopers in victories against the indians, but was diplomatic enough to be on good terms with some of them. His indian scouts, mostly Crow and Shoshone, were loyal to him, and he treated them well. Through them Custer began to understand the mentality of the indians. The scouts spoke of Custer as one who was loved by the gods. However, in the summer of 1876 Custers luck had run out. His series of fatal mistakes began on June 20, when he decided not to take with him a battery of Gatling guns. The Gatling gun was an early type of machine gun, and could have possibly saved the day at Little Big Horn. Custer also did not understand just how many indians were against him. He thought there were no more than a few hundred, when in reality there were almost 2,000. The indians were led by a Whos Who of great chiefs. Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Chief Gall led the greatest army of indian tribes ever gathered. They included warriors from the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho tribes. Custer had divided his forces into three groups, one commanded by himself, one under Captain Reno, and the third under Captain Benteen. It is thought that dividing your forces in the face of the enemy is a bad idea, and the result at Little Bighorn shows why. Custer had about 650 men under his command, but after dividing his forces he was left with only 207. This proved to be much too few when Custers group became the focus of the indian attack. The battle of the Little Bighorn began when Custer sent Renos command to attack the camp before the indians could get away. Little did Custer know, the indians getting away would be the last thing he had to worry about that day. Reno quickly discovered that there were more indians than he had bullets, and his command was nearly destroyed. While Renos command was being pinned down, another, much larger force attacked Custers position. When Custer saw the indians moving toward him, he cried out to his soldiers Hurrah boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home." That wasnt quite how things worked out. Actually, it was Custer who was finished up, and the indians who went home. Meanwhile, Captain Benteen was on the horns of a dilemma. He heard shooting to both his left and right and was not sure in which direction to go. He knew to the right was his friend Reno, and to the left his commander, Custer. Clearly both needed help, but with only 120 men he couldnt help them both. He decided to help Reno, as he was closer. The fact Benteen was not on good terms with his prima donna commander may have also helped his decision. The result was Benteen arrived just in time to save Reno from annihilation, while Custer was left to defend himself. In the end Custer, the charismatic indian fighter and cavalry leader, was killed on what is now called Custers Hill, along with his

entire command. It was the worst defeat the US Army ever suffered against the indians, and many think it was a fitting end to the man who thought luck and contacts were more important than skill.

Box Idea: Aftermath The Battle of the Little Big Horn is part of American culture. Hundreds of books have been written about it, and even 135 years afterwards, the battle is still studied and discussed. Modern history sees Custer as egotistical and a poor commander, while the 19th century viewed him as a hero. In most Hollywood films about the battle, it is the heroic, charismatic Custer that is shown. The battle also has a place in popular culture, as when in the 1960s a famous baseball player said of his ex-girlfriend I need her like Custer needed more indians. There was even a comedy song in 1960 called Please Mr Custer, about a trooper who doesnt want to fight. But why was there a battle at all? The indians were upset because white settlers were coming to their hunting lands to search for gold. The Black Hills of South Dakota are full of gold, and thousands of prospectors came looking to get rich quick. The US government tried to buy the land from the indians, but they refused to sell. The army then took control of the situation and in the end, the US took the land from the indians and sent them to reservations in what is now the state of Oklahoma.