Custer's Revenge at the Battle of Little Bighorn

Custer's Revenge

The Battle of Little Bighorn is one of the most significant battles in American history. This is not because of the weaponry used, the casualties, or even the battle strategies. This is because the battle is one of the only big battles that Native Americans won against the U.S. military. After this battle, the Native American power in the West ended. Ironically, by winning the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Sioux and Cheyenne actually sped up the downfall of Native American power.

In 1876, after a treaty dispute, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an ultimatum stating that all Native Americans had to be on the Great Sioux Reservation by January 31st. When this ultimatum was not met, the United States declared war. General Philip Sheridan, commander of the U.S. forces, planned his strategy. He was going to divide the army into three different forces that would converge at the junction of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers, where they had found signs of a large Native American village. What they did not know was how large this village was. Native American Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse had joined their tribes together and Sitting Bull had called for more tribes to join theirs. Even Native Americans living on reservations were invited to join them. The American Army was expecting about 1,000 Native Americans, but there were about 12,000. The first Americans to meet the Native Americans were General Crook's force in the late spring of 1876. He clashed with the Sioux in the Battle of Rosebud. The fight was long and hard and ended in a draw. General Crook then retreated to the Bighorn Mountains without sending a scout to warn the other troops about the number of Native Americans or that he had re...

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...e country's favorite general they had brought death and destruction upon themselves. In fifteen years there were no more free Native Americans. This process could have been slowed if they had not killed Custer and there had still been Native American supporters in the U.S. After Custer's death, the U.S. military could do whatever they wanted to get rid of the Native Americans. Custer was not able to defeat the Sioux and Cheyenne at the Battle of Little Bighorn, but his memory accomplished that and so much more.

Works Cited

Flemming, Walter C. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Native American History. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2003.

Mc Murtry, Larry. Oh What a Slaughter. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005

Welch, James with Paul Stekler. Killing Custer. New York: Penguin Group, 1994.

Venables, Robert. Looking Back at Wounded Knee. 18 Aug. 2000. 1 March 2006