Little Bighorn

Before and Cause of the Battle of Little Bighorn

March 1875- Professor Waltor P. Jenney conducted a geological reconnaissance of the Black Hills. Mr. Jenney was under the protection of Lieutenant R.I. Dodge accompanied with 400 men. The research had proven to find gold. In Montana miners demanded better highways. Congress passed a bill on March 1, 1865 for the California Trail near Fort Laramie to Bozeman in Montana. It was protected by military posts. These trails were located on the best buffalo hunting ground of the Oglala and Brule tribes. The herds could not exist with the trails existing in their location. By March of 1876, 11,000 whites had established themselves in Custer City located in the Black Hills. Many Sioux and Cheyenne didn't know what to do, so they fled to Sitting Bull in Montana.

June 17- Crook along with 1,049 men and officers fought Crazy Horse in the Battle of Rosebud. Crazy Horse won, and fled to Sitting Bull. Late 1875, many Sioux and Cheyenne left their reservations to join Sitting Bull and many other Indians that had united. Custer used Crow scouts to locate the Indians that had all come together in Montana. Once a Crow scout, Red Star, asked Custer, "Have you seen the Cutthroats (Sioux)?" When finally the Indian camp had been found, Custer also heard that there was maybe forty Indian warriors that might have seen them. Custer wanted to strike before the Indians could have a chance to flee. He arranged the attack.

Weapon use for Both Sides

The 7th Calvary used Springfield carbines, Model 1873, .45-caliber copper-cased cartridges which shot a 405 grain bullet that required 55 grains of black powder. It had a aiming range of 600 yards with a muzzle velocity of 1,200 feet per second, with 1,650 foot-pounds of energy. The slug could be shot 1,000 yards. It also could shoot 12-15 times per minute with the proper training. The Colt Singleton Action Army revolver, Model "P" 1873 was also used by the 7th Calvary. It had a 7.5 barrel and fired six .45-caliber metallic cartridges with 28 grains of black powder. The Single Action had a muzzle velocity of 810 feet per second with 400 foot-pounds of energy. It had an aiming range of 60 yards. It was still produced well into the 1880's by the Colt Company.

The Indians had a huge variety of different weapons. Bows and arrows were used during the battle. There were even old muzzleloaders, Winchesters, Breechloaders, and the latest repeating arms. Wooden Leg, of the Cheyenne, had what he called a "six shooter."

U.S. Attack Plans

When Custer heard of the Indians that might of seen him and his men, he wanted to attack before the camp could move in retreat. So Custer didn't wait for higher approval and the chance for more men; he ordered the attack immediately. Reno and Benteen would take the left fork at a prairie dog village accompanied along with seven companies. They were to attack the south end of the camp while Custer, taking the right fork, would attack the other end of the camp with his five companies. The troops set out for the fight of no hope.

The Battle of Little Bighorn

Reno had only traveled three and one-half miles before engaged in battle. Custer paralleled the valley one mile away from where Reno and Custer had split. It was three o'clock, Sunday, June 25, 1876, when the battle began. They had caught the Indians in a surprise attack that had succeeded in surprising and that would be all...

"Soldiers, soldiers!" cried an Indian riding his horse through the village to warn his fellow Indians. It was high noon and the Wasichu (white men) were attacking them in broad day light. Reno had surprised them. A Thirteen year old Oglala Lakota named Black Elk was swimming and playing with fellow friends when he heard the warning. Twenty-five year old Eagle Elk, nephew of Crazy Horse, had been dancing all night and was just returning. Twenty-six year old White Bull, a Minneconjou Lakota, was watering his horses. Indian woman Moving Robe was digging up prairie turnips. Her twenty-three year old daughter Crawler, a Hunkpapa Lakota, was just standing in the valley. Forty year old Hunkpapa Rain-in-the-Face was eating and stated, "When I was eating my meat, we heard the war cry." He then dropped his meat and ran out to join the battle. One Bull, Sitting Bull's nephew, was combing his hair. Wooden Leg, a Cheyenne, was fast asleep, so were Turtle Rib, Red Feather, and Low Dog. Low Dog thought it was a false alarm Saying, "I could not believe it possible that the whites would attack us, so strong as we were." Sitting Bull's wife Four Robes was so scared that she only grabbed one of her twin babies and ran to the hills. She realized her mistake and came back to get her other child, whom later became known as Abandoned One.

Sitting Bull’s gray horse had been shot and killed with two bullets. When he discovered this he yelled to the awaiting warriors, “Now my best horse is shot. It is like they shot me. Attack them!” The warriors needed no further encouragement.

Moving Robe had learned that her young brother Deeds had been killed in the initial charge. “Revenge!” she cried and then braided her hair, painted her face crimson, and hopped onto her horse. “I was in mourning; I was a woman, but I was not afraid.” She later added after the battle. Farther on, One Bull prayed, ”Wakantanka, help me so I do not sin but fight my battle.”

The Indians made many attacks, but they needed a leader. Then Crazy Horse arrived. “Hokahey! Crazy Horse is coming!” All the warriors called out. The Wasichu began to retreat after some more fighting. Wooden Leg rode his horse up to a Wasichu and hit him with the handle of his Elkhorn whip and seized his carbine; he finally had a good rifle. When the Wasichu were retreating, the Lakota yelled, “You are only boys. You ought not be fighting. You should have brought more Crow or Shoshone with you to do your fighting.”

Soon Reno was strengthened by Col. Benson whom brought four more companies. They retreated to the 300 foot bluff to regroup and count the number of dead and wounded, forty or more were dead and many were wounded. They were outnumbered ten to one. And his men had not had water for a great deal of time…

Runs the Enemy saw a black man, interpreter Isaiah Dorman, fall from his horse. An Indian woman was standing by him listening to his plea to live. She then said, “If you did not want to be killed, why did you not stay home where you belong and not come to attack us?”

Many of Reno’s men were dying as so were the Indians. Reno decided to get to the river to revive his men. In the process, one man was killed and seven wounded. But his men did receive the nourishment with the small sacrifice. Then he set out to retreat again...

The woman then moved away from the mutilated black body. He had been shot in the knees, striped of his skin, had an iron picket pin driven through his testicles, and had his blood drained into a bucket. Who was this woman that did this? If it was Moving Robe then she had certainly got revenge. Another grudge was held between one of George A. Custer’s brothers and Rain-in-the-Face, who is believed to have cut out the brother’s heart. Revenge was what some wanted while others just wanted to be left alone. One thing in common though, the Indians made Reno retreat completely.

"Too late! You've missed the fight!" Short Bull yelled to Crazy Horse when Reno retreated.

Crazy Horse replied with a laugh, "Sorry to miss this fight, but there's a good fight coming over the hill."

Custer paralleled the valley for some time. Then he turned left, down a dry creek known as Medicine Tail Coulee. The Indians saw Custer and let Reno retreat without being perused. Custer had shocked the Indians yet again. Custer tried to pull back. He was cut off by Crazy Horse and his warriors...

Gall found his two wives and children dead, who later said, “It made my heart bad. After that I killed all my enemies with the hatchet.” Crazy Horse crossed the river and doubled around Custer. Gall fought the flank and rear.

Lame White Man had said, “The soldiers are too many to fight.” Bobtail Horse’s response, “Uncle, only Earth and Heavens last long. If we four can stop the soldiers from capturing the camp, our lives would be well spent." With his nephews words of inspiration, Lame White Man rallied all the Indians he could with the help of Crazy Horse. Then Lame White Man yelled, “Come. We can kill them all!”

Custer had tried to advance backwards. Was it a retreat or was he trying to regroup for better position? We will not know. In any case, Crazy Horse cut Custer and his men off. They were trapped. Custer ordered his men to shot their horses and stack the carcasses one on top of another for protection against enemy fire. It didn’t help protect them at all. All was lost. His men were in hand to hand combat with no where to retreat. Custer had lost. Few wounded men kept fighting till the end, even when they were swimming in a puddle of their own blood, clinging to life. Custer had lost the battle, the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Lame White Man was shot of his horse and died in the initial charge. Wooden Leg went back to his teepee to discover that his only son Noisy Walking was clinging to life. Wooden Leg knew that no medicine man could save his only son now. So he looked at his boy and told him, “You were very brave.” The Indians had won the battle, but would lose the continuous war.

After the battle the Indians mutilated the bodies. They stripped of the skin of the men believing if done so, the souls of the men would be forced to walk the Earth for all eternity and never see heaven. Custer was not mutilated because he was believed to have been wearing buckskin during the battle. He was not scalped either because his wife had cut his hair before he left, so his hair was too short for them to scalp. The Indians did, however, burrow larger holes in his ears so ‘he could hear the Indians better in the afterlife.’

Statistics

Total killed was 300, and 31 were wounded. The U.S. lost seventeen commissioned officers. Here are the ones that were known under Custer’s command during the Battle of the Little Bighorn. General George Armstrong Custer, Colonel Tom and Boston Custer (General George Armstrong Custer’s brothers), Colonel Yates, Colonel Keogh, Colonel Cook, Lieutenant McIntosh, Lieutenant Hodgson, Lieutenant Smith, Lieutenant Porter, Lieutenant Calhoun, Lieutenant Reilley, Lieutenant Sturgis, and Lieutenant Harrington is missing.

The wounded were sent to Fort Abraham Lincoln. All of the 210 men under Custer during the battle were killed. There was one survivor from Custer’s troops; Captain Myles Keogh’s horse, Comanche, who later became the regiment’s mascot.

The Indians lost some, too. But not nearly as many as the U.S. did during this battle. The known dead were, Young Black Moon, Chased By Owls, Swift Bear, White Buffalo, two young brothers of Crow King (a Hunkpapa leader), Deeds, Gall’s two wives and children, Noisy Walking (Wooden Leg’s only son), Dog With Horns (Feather Earring’s brother), and Lame White Man.

Theories

Many have different points of view on why Custer lost the Battle of Little Bighorn. Many think it was all Reno’s fault because he had retreated. Many feel that Custer was too ambitious to earn some glory to restore honor in his name after the court-martial. Other’s say that Custer had intended for Reno and himself to fight in unison on the opposite sides, and they didn’t fight together, causing the loss. Some say that there were too many Indians and that Custer didn’t think there were as many as there were, so he thought he could win without having reinforcements from fellow officers. Well, whatever the reason is, one thing is certain, Custer lost the battle.

Following the Battle

Sitting Bull, Gall, and many followers escaped into Canada. Following the battle, a treaty was signed by all the Lakota, except Sitting Bull and Gall, to secure the Black Hills. Crazy Horse and his followers stayed in the Bighorn Mountains. Crazy Horse’s uncle Spotted White Tail went to find Crazy Horse on General Cook’s Orders. He returned with Crazy Horse and 1,917 of his followers. Crazy Horse surrendered on May 6, 1877 with 899 followers and 2,000 ponies. He resisted arrest and was bayoneted by a sentry and died on September 5, 1877. His father took his body saying that no white man shall ever touch him again. Crazy Horse was buried somewhere only known to the Oglala Sioux. Early in 1881 Gall came back to the United States. General Miles stopped him and then took him and his followers to Fort Buford and was later taken to Standing Rock agency. He lived there until he died a peaceful death on December 5,1889. In 1881 Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford and was placed in prison for two years at Fort Randall. After serving his sentence he too was taken to Standing Rock agency. In 1881 Spotted Tail was murdered by Crow Dog, a Brule sub-chief.

Following the battle, many citizens wanted revenge on the Indians. On July 17, Colonel Wesley Merritt’s 5^th Calvary drove back 1,000 Northern Cheyenne at Bonnet Creek that were trying to join Crazy Horse. They surrendered at Red Cloud agency. Many towns had organized troops consisting of townsmen. Many disarmed the Indians, taking them as hostile. Not only did they take the Indian’s weapons, but they also took their ponies and sold them to buy the Indians cows. Congress took the Black Hills and their hunting rights outside the reservation. If the tribes didn’t sign the treaty saying that they would agree, then there would be no rations given to the Indians. Colonel Nelson A. Miles tracked Sitting Bull down by Ceader Creek, Montana. Sitting Bull had said, “God made me an Indian, not an agency Indian. He fought for two days then escaped. Following the battle many Indians surrendered. 2,000 Sioux surrendered, then 3,000 more Sioux and Cheyenne surrendered, too.

Though the Indians won the Battle of Little Bighorn, in a sense of reality, they lost the over all war. It's quite ironic though. With such a victory, you would think, would result to a win for their freedom. Instead the victory made matters worse as you just read in Following the Battle. The U.S. didn't trust the Indians any more. Their misery became even more miserable.