Battle Of Little Bighorn River Summary

The Battle of Little Bighorn River was on June 25, 1876 in the Montana Territory and was a pivotal change in the Plains Indians wars. On the day of the battle the federal troops were lead by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his seventh cavalry, the indian tribes were represented by the Lakota, Sioux and, the Cheyenne indian tribes. The indians were lead by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

The story of the battle actually begins after the Civil War ended. The government was trying to force the native people onto reservations with the westward advance of the white men. In the period of the government forcing the natives onto reservations there were continuous battles and confrontations between the waring parties all through

central plains from Texas to the Canadian border.
When General Philip Sheridan, the commanding officer of the army’s department of the west, made a tour of inspection in 1865, peace was firmly in the saddle. The indians were to be persuaded, not, forced, to go onto reservations. But Sheridan knew that a policy of weakness would never work. It was the 93 Army posts that kept the peace, such as it was, not appeasement. (1)
In 1968 many Lakota leaders agreed to a treaty known as the Fort Laramie Treaty that created a large reservation in the western half of present day South Dakota. (2) This treaty was
Used to force them to give up their nomadic lifestyle. The treaty created conflicts with other tribes, settlers, and railroad surveys. The treaty meant a more stationary life with the dependence on the government. Lakota leaders such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse along with other hunters and warriors did not sign the 1968 treaty. This created many problems as there forays off of the set aside lands brought them into conflicts with others outside of treaty boundaries.
In 1873 Sitting Bull blocked surveys of the Yellowstone River route for the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Tension between the U.S. and the Lakota escalated in 1874, when LT. Col. George Armstrong Custer was ordered to make an exploration of the Black Hills inside the boundary of the Great Sioux Reservation. Custer was to map the area, locate a suitable site for a future military post, and to make note of natural resources. (4) During the expedition geologists found deposits of gold. Word of the discovery spread and brought an invasion of miners and entrepreneurs to the sacred Black Hills in violation of the treaty of 1868. The U.S. tried to purchase the Black Hills from the Lakotas for 6 Million dollars, but they wanted 5 times that amount. With the invasion of the railroad and miners the Sioux and Lakota drifted back on the warpath. In the winter of 1875 the Commissioner of Indian Affairs issued an ultimatum requiring all Sioux to report to a reservation by January 31, 1876. That deadline passed with little reaponse from the indians, and matters were handed to the military.
In defiance of the governments threats, bands of Lakota and northern Cheyenne indians who had refused to be confined by reservation boundaries came together under the of Sitting Bull, a charismatic Lakota who called for resistance to U.S. expansion.(5) As spring of 1876 arrived with hunting seasons starting many more indians left the reservations to join Sitting Bull in the
Powder, Rosebud, Yellowstone, and Bighorn river valleys. The tribes gathered to celebrate their annual Sun Dance Ceremony. During the ceremony Sitting Bull received a vision of soldiers falling upside down into his village. He prophesized there would be a great victory for his people.(6)
At the same time indians were coming together in the spring, Gen. Philip Sheridan dispatched three army columns to converge on Lakota country, to corral the rebellious bands. Moving east from Fort Ellis was a column led by Col. John Gibbon. From the south at Fort Fetterman came a column led by Gen. George Crook. The third column led by Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry headed west from Fort Abraham Lincoln. The bulk of this column was Custer’s 7th Cavalry.
On June 21 Terry called a meeting to outline his strategy to Gibson and Custer. His plan called for Custer to time his Calvary attack so that Gibbon’s slow moving infantrymen would be in position in the north to block any flight of the Sioux. This was to bottle up the hostiles in the Little Bighorn Valley between Custer and Gibbon.(7) Custer, in buckskins, led between 500 and 600 Horse soldiers. He had to borrow 6 Crow scouts from Gibbon who were familiar with the area.
The stage for the coming debacle was set when Crazy Horse engaged Crook at Powder River, forcing him to pull back.
Custer’s disobedience of Terry’s instructions to ascend the Rosebud Creek to its head did not put him in the correct position to the south of the Little Bighorn Valley.
On the evening of June 24, Custer established a night camp twenty-five miles east of where the fateful battle would take place on June 25-26.(8) Custer nor his indian scouts had any idea that the force they faced numbered what many believed was over two thousand brave warriors.
The warriors were being led by Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Gall and Rain in the Face. Many were armed with Winchester repeating rifles against the troopers’ single shot Springfield carbines. The indians’ had changed their strategy to stand and fight rather than fall back into one of their usual running fights.
After Custer established the night camp he sent his Crow and Arikara scouts ahead for intelligence about the direction and location of the Lakota and Cheyenne. The scouts reported that the trail indicated the village turned west toward the Bighorn River and had encamped about 25 miles west. Custer ordered a night march that followed the route that the village took as it crossed the Little Bighorn River Valley. Early on the morning of June 25, the 7th cavalry regiment was positioned near the Wolf Mountains, about 12 miles distant from the Lakota/Cheyenne encampment along the Little Bighorn River.(9) Custer’s initial plan had been to conceal his troops in the Wolf Mountains through June 25. He then planned a night march and to launch an attack at dawn on June 26. His scouts reported back to him that their presence had been detected by a few warriors. Fearing the loss of the element of surprise Custer chose to attack at noon on June 25.
At the Wolf Mountain location, Custer ordered a division of the regiment into four segments.
The pack train with ammunition and supplies, a three company force (125) commanded by Capt.

Frederick Benteen, a three company force(140) commanded by Maj. Marcus Reno and a 5 company force (210) commanded by Custer.(10) Benteen was to march southwest to cut off any indians they found and “pitch into anything” he found and report to Custer. Reno was ordered to advance into the village from the south with the assurance from Custer that he would be supported by the regiment. Reno crossed the river about two miles south of the village and began advancing downstream toward the southern end.(11) the surprised warriors quickly rushed to fend off Reno’s assault. Reno halted and dismounted his troops to form a skirmish line which began firing at the advancing warriors. Mounted warriors pressed their attack against the skirmish line and endangered Reno’s left flank. Reno withdrew to a stand of Cottonwoods beside the river, for better protection. A second retreat was ordered to the bluffs east of the river. The warriors pursued the fleeing troops and killed many at close range. Reno’s shattered command recrossed the river and struggled up the steep bluffs to regroup atop high ground, to the east of the valley fight. In just 45 minutes Reno lost half of his command in dead , wounded and missing. Benteen having found no evidence of indians or their movement south, had returned to the main column, and met with Reno’s demoralized

survivors.
Custer had changed his plans and rode to the north of the village and found it to be an armed camp. He dispatched a courier to Benteen ordering him to join him and bring extra ammunition. Be quick. Bring packs. Bring packs. After receiving this communication to Benteen an effort was made to locate Custer after hearing heavy gunfire downstream.
After his dispatch for reinforcements Custer charged, but soon hauled up in the face of overwhelming odds and led a withdrawal to a high grassy ridge. It was Gall who pushed him back, but now Crazy Horse struck from the north, while another force left Reno’s shattered command to be in on the kill.(12) Cut off by the indians, all 210 of the soldiers who had followed Custer toward the northern reaches of the village were killed in desperate fight that may have lasted nearly 2 hours.
During the battle to the north, Reno knew that Custer was engaged, but he didn’t know what to do. He felt that Custer had ordered Benteen to reinforce him. Finally, a Cap. Thomas B. Weir
could no longer tolerate Reno’s inaction.

The captain began to ease his way down the bluff to the river. Benteen and Reno grudgingly followed. Crazy Horse and Gall turned to destroy Reno and Benteen. They chased the troops back to their bluff. The troops fought well to save their lives, but many were killed and wounded. Enemy fire continued until night fall of the 25th. At first light of dawn the siege tightened. Benteen and Reno fought back 2 assaults during the day. That evening the indians withdrew setting a grass fire to screen their movements.(13) their scouts had spied the approaching relief column of Terry and

Gibbon.
The army buried the dead, Custers’ 210 men and Renos’ 47 men. They transported 53 wounded in wagons and fell back to Fort Abraham Lincoln. Estimates of indian loses ran from 30 to 300.
This was the last great victory for the native tribes.
There was so much outrage over the battle loss that the people demanded retribution. Gen. Sheridan was given more troops and supplies and was ordered to bring all of the indians back to the reservations.
There were several battles along the way, but all were forced back to the reservations. Most of the declared “hostiles” had surrendered within one year of the battle. The Black Hills were taken by the U.S. without compensation as the boundaries for the reservations were redrawn. The last great victory at the Little Bighorn, ultimately led to the greatest loss for the Plains Indian Tribes.