To know a little of how the battle played out, some background and brief biographies of the key combatants is necessary.
Chief Rain in the Face was a war chief of the Hunkpapa Sioux within the Lakota nation, and was one of the Sioux’s greatest and most respected war heroes. He did not inherit the title of “Chief," his lineage on either side contained no chiefs. He earned his title by displaying his leadership, courage, and great military aptitude during the Lakota wars of the 1860s (US history)
Chief Sitting Bull, ca 1831- December 15, 1890, was a Hunkpapa Lakota holy man and spiritual leader who led his people during years of resistance to United States government policies.
Chief Crazy Horse, born ca 1840, near present-day Rapid City, South Dakota. He was an Oglala Sioux Indian chief and fierce warrior who fought against removal to a reservation in the Black Hills (crazy horse).
George Armstrong Custer. (1839-1876), Born in New Rumley, Ohio, Custer entered West Point in 1857. Upon graduation in 1861, his first assignment was as an aide to Gen George McClellan. Next, he drew a cavalry assignment, and his boldness in battle brought rapid promotions. At
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twenty-three he was the youngest brevet brigadier general in the Union army. Custer continued to distinguish himself as fearless, aggressive, and ostentatious (custer). In June of 1876, a brief battle fought between the US Army and a confederation of plains Indians was the culminating aspect of a decade's old struggle between the two forces. Many misconceptions are surrounding what happened between 3:45 and 5:00 PM on June 25, 1876, many details died with the soldiers. Though the battle lasted only less than an hour, the build-up was years in the making and the aftermath is still being felt to this day. The United States government recognized the Black Hills as belonging to the Sioux by the Treaty of Laramie in 1868. Despite being within Indian Territory and therefore off-limits, white Americans were increasingly interested in the gold-mining possibilities of the Black Hills (Kappler). In 1874, a United States Army expedition called the Black Hills Expedition, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, set out on July 2 from what was Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory. Custer had orders to travel to the previously uncharted Black Hills of South Dakota. The mission was to look for suitable locations for a fort, find a route to the southwest, and to investigate the possibility of gold mining. Custer and his unit, the 7th Cavalry Regiment, arrived in the Black Hills on July 22, 1874, with orders to return by August 30. The expedition set up a camp at the site of the future town of Custer, Montana; while Lt Col Custer and the military units searched for a suitable location for a fort, civilians in the expedition searched for gold, whether they found gold is uncertain. Nonetheless, this prompted a gold rush in the Sioux sacred lands, which violated the treaties made with the US government. In December 1875, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, George Washington Manypenny, directed all Sioux bands to enter reservations by the end of January 1876. Chief's Rain in the Face and Crazy Horse agreed with Chief Sitting Bull in refusing to leave their hunting grounds. Chief Rain in the Face led his warriors north to join up with Sitting Bull in the spring of 1876. This would mark the beginning of the largest gathering of tribes in known history and presaged a major Indian-white conflict. Rain in the Face and Crazy Horse traveled with Sitting Bull to the Little Big Horn River in early June, to meet up with a contingent of Cheyenne warriors (US history). Among the Plains Tribes, the long-standing ceremonial tradition known as the Sun Dance was one of the most important spiritual events of the year. It is a time for prayer and personal sacrifice on behalf of the community, as well as making personal vows. Towards the end of spring in 1876, the Lakota and the Cheyenne held a Sun Dance Ceremony that included a number of "Agency Indians" who slipped away from their reservations. During a Sun Dance Celebration, around June 5, 1876, on Rosebud Creek in Montana, Chief Sitting Bull, the spiritual leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota, reportedly had a vision of "soldiers falling into his camp like grasshoppers from the sky." (U.S. history). On the 17th of June 1876, a battle at Rosebud Creek occurred that lasted for more than six hours.
This was the first time that diverse Native American tribes had united together to fight in such large numbers against a common, non-Indian enemy. Though fighting was intense and casualties for both sides totaled about one hundred dead, and 200 wounded, the US Army failed to recognize the skill and willingness-to-fight that the confederation of Indian Nations displayed (US history). Despite the Battle of Rosebud Creek, the Indians continued their Sun Dance Ceremonies. The night of June 24-25, the Sioux Warriors stayed up until after daylight the next morning, and were asleep in their teepees for most of the day when Custer led his troops into the Little Bighorn Valley (History
channel). The 7th Cavalry Regiment, composed of thirty-one officers and five hundred sixty-six enlisted men under Custer, received orders to begin a reconnaissance in force and pursuit along the Rosebud Creek, with the prerogative to "depart" from orders if Custer saw "sufficient reason". At mid-day on June 25, Custer entered the Little Bighorn Valley, and his scouts reported a very large village on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Believing that the warriors were all away from the village on a hunt, Custer devised a plan to capture the women and children, and thus force the warriors to surrender and return to the reservation. Custer divided his forces into two columns, Major Marcus Reno would attack the village from the south, while Custer would attack from the northwest (US History). Major Reno led his attack into the village and quickly realized the tremendous blunder. In the village, word quickly spread of the attack. The older Sitting Bull rallied the warriors and saw to the safety of the women and children, while Chief Crazy Horse and Chief Rain in the Face and others set off with a large force to meet the attackers head on. Maj Reno was quickly overwhelmed and started a hasty retreat. Reno was able to make it back across the Little Bighorn river, but he took heavy casualties, and was able to hold off total annihilation when a reserve group arrived (history channel). Custer's attack, was delayed by trying to find a suitable river crossing. Before Custer could find a crossing, the alerted Sioux were already mounted and heading towards him. Since the Sioux already knew where the good crossings were, Custer was immediately over-matched and started taking casualties at the onset. After a few minutes of organized fighting, Custer began a very disorganized, zigzag retreat over various hills and bluffs, and became surrounded by overwhelming force. He had by most accounts between two hundred ten and two hundred and fifty soldiers, and they made their way to what was later called Last Stand Hill. There, as the surrounding Indians closed in on the soldiers, the soldiers shot their horses and use them for breastworks and cover. The Sioux quickly and methodically overran the soldiers on Last Stand Hill and killing each. Custer's lifeless body was later found atop the hill with bullet wounds to his chest and head. Either of the wounds would have been fatal, medical experts suggest the head wound was post-mortem (custer). The Battle of the Little Bighorn had far-reaching consequences for the Indians. It was the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars and even referred to as "the Indians' last stand" in the area. Within forty-eight hours of the battle, the large encampment on the Little Bighorn broke up into smaller groups. There was not enough game and grass to sustain such a large congregation of people and horses (A Good Day to Die). The scattered Sioux and Cheyenne feasted and celebrated during July with no threat from soldiers. After their celebrations, many of the Indians slipped back to the reservation. Soon the number of warriors who still remained at large and hostile amounted to only about 600 (A Good Day to Die). Ownership of the Black Hills, which had been a focal point of the 1876 conflict, was determined by an ultimatum issued by the Manypenny Commission, according to which the Sioux were required to cede the land to the United States if they wanted the government to continue supplying rations to the reservation. Threatened with starvation, the Indians ceded the Black Hills to the United States, but the Sioux never accepted the legitimacy of the transaction. They lobbied Congress to create a forum to decide their claim and subsequently litigated for 40 years; the United States Supreme Court in the 1980 decision United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians (US vs Sioux) acknowledged that the United States had taken the Black Hills without just compensation. The Sioux refused the money subsequently offered and continue to insist on their right to occupy the land (Kappler). .
The Battle of the Little Bighorn is a tragic military battle where a commander’s overconfidence, refusal to listen to advisors, and lack of foresight, led to the sacrifice of over 265 Soldiers. Many leaders within the regiment and Soldiers underneath LTC Custer were not convinced of his leadership and often time doubted his decision-making abilities. Yet despite a blatant outburst that saw him temporarily removed as regimental commander by President Grant, LTC Custer moved forward to command the regiment and ultimately met his demise at the Battle of Little Big Horn. LTC Custer routinely showed a careless disregard for the operations process and his recklessness led to his downfall.
In March of 1768, in present-day Ohio, Tecumseh was born. Tecumseh's name means "Panther in the sky." Tecumseh was the fifth born in his family. His mom, Methotaske, was a Creek, and his dad, Puckeshinewa, was a Shawnee. He excelled at the game's Indian boys played. He also organized other boys to go on hunts. When Tecumseh was younger he admired and looked up to the warriors, like his older brother. He also tried to be like the warriors. Later in his life, Tecumseh became a powerful chief to the Native American Tribe, the Shawnee's. He did not want the Americans to take the Native American's land. He accomplished many things in his life.
On June 25, 1876, The Battle of Little Bighorn took place near the Black Hills in Montana. This was one of the most controversial battles of the 20th century and the line between good guys and bad guys was grey at best. Gen. George Armstrong Custer (reduced to LTC after the civil war) had 366 men of the 7thU.S. Cavalry under his command that day. Sitting Bull (A Medicine Man) led 2000 braves of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes (Klos, 2013). At the conclusion of the battle, the stories of the Indians savagery were used to demonize their culture and there were no survivors from the 7thcavalry to tell what really happened.
Sitting Bull was a war chief in the Lakota tribe during the 1800s. He was born in 1831 at the Grand River in South Dakota. When he was a child, he was not called Sitting Bull. His name was Jumping Badger but everybody had called him ‘Slow’ at first because they believed that he lacked many skills. It wasn't until he was 14 when he fought in his first battle that they renamed him and started calling him Sitting Bull, like his father.
== == == = George Custer was born on December 5, 1839 in New Rumley, Ohio. He was educated in the United States Military Academy.
Crazy Horse and his friend Hump did fully obey the treaty. Crazy Horse never listened to the treaty's especially ones that prohibited traditional Sioux life. Crazy Horse became well known throughout the entire Sioux Tribe because of how good a warrior and because of this he was awarded the title of “Shirt Wearer” a term for only the best and bravest fighters. Crazy Horse helped lead the attack against Captain William J. Fetterman who was stationed in a fort that was in Sioux territory Crazy Horse and a few other Sioux taunted Captain William and his troop until they chased after Crazy Horse right into a trap set by the Sioux. William’s ninety men were
The Battle of Little Bighorn is one of the most, maybe even the most, controversial battle in American history. General George Armstrong Custer led his 210 troops into battle and never came out. Miscalculations, blunders, and personal glory led Custer not only to his death, but also being the most talked about soldier in this battle. But all the blame doesn’t just go on Custer’s shoulders; it also goes on Captain Frederick Benteen and Major Marcus Reno, who both fought in the battle. Both the Captain and the Major both made serious mistakes during the fight, most notable Major Marcus Reno being flat out drunk during the course of the battle. All of these factors have led The Battle of Little Bighorn to being the worst lost to any Plains Indian group in American history.
The Sioux band tougher led by Little Big Foot. They were heading to Pine RidgeReservation in South Dakota, when the army stopped them and held them at gun pointovernight. Big Foot’s group contained about 300 people two-thirds of them were women and children. While the soldiers numbered around 500 and were armed with automatic weapons. The next morning when the army began to disarm the Indians a shot rang out then the gun fire began leaving about 200 Indians dead in the snow. Thirty soldiers were also killed in the massacre. The soldiers that lost there lives were most likely killed by their own men in friendly fire. Wounded Knee is said to have been the last battle of the war but it was not so much a battle as it was a massacre. It was in fact the last exchange of fire between the army and the Sioux.
Davy Crockett stands for the Spirit of the American Frontier. As a young man he was a crafty Indian fighter and hunter. When he was forty-nine years old, he died a hero's death at the Alamo, helping Texas win independence from Mexico. For many years he was nationally known as a political representative of the frontier.
...John Jumper. He was born in Florida in 1820. In 1843 he was brought to Indian Territory as a prisoner. After being on the Seminole Tribal Council, he became chief. At one point the tribe divided and half sided with him. He was a Lt. Colonel during the Civil War. He had quite an impact on them.
Big Foot was the chief of a subtribe of the Lakota called Miniconjou. He was very old and had pneumonia. He was taking his tribe to the Pine Ridge Reservation in south-western South Dakota.
Lanning, M. L. (2005). The History Place - Top Ten Battles of All Time. Retrieved from http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/topten/
There are many factors that did affect the outcome of this battle. George Custer could be to blame for such a tragedy. He did make the critical decisions that brought his soldiers down. Custer’s personal ambition got the best of him. Windolph explains, “Custer was partially disgraced because General Terry had superseded him in command of the expedition” (Windolph 174). He felt that he should have received control over the entire expedition. Custer made no secret of his intention to cut loose from Terry. General Terry, General Gibbon, and General Custer were all to meet on June 26, at the Rosebud, and plan their attack. But as soon as Custer struck the trail of the Indians he followed it till he came upon the Indian village on June 25. He disobeyed Terry’s orders.
Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull of the Sioux tribes knew of the plan and set a trap for the army regiment and killed all of them. This battle was one of the greatest victories for the Native American’s.
Sitting Bull had a vision that the Sioux would win the battle at Little Big Horn,