Original drawing by Michael Gnatek

George Armstrong Custer 1839 - 1876

 Custer was a glory hunter who lusted for victory whatever the cost. Custer fought in the first battle of Bull Run in the Civil war  with the 7th Cavalry and did so with distinction.  He was not one to hold back and went into battle at the first possible opportunity, he initially had many successful campaigns.

 Custer made his way into the history books with his notable battle against Chief Sitting Bulls Indian warriors at the Battle of Little Big Horn 1876.  A battle that will be for ever remembered as " Custer's last stand " It was a battle that along with himself, 210 officers and men perished at the hands of an army of  Lakota, Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors. It was the biggest military disaster in US History.

George Armstrong Custer was an officer in the US Army before being a cavalry commander in the American Civil War and Indian Wars.  Custer was just a cadet in 1860 at the US Military Academy at West Point but quickly rose through the ranks from his engagement at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21st 1861 up to the Battle Of Gettysburg in 1864 where he emerged as Brigadier General of Volunteers after fighting in several battles and coming out victorious.

By the end of the Civil war in 1865 Custer had attained the rank of Major General of Volunteers but still only had the US army rank of Captain.

Custer had established a fierce reputation as a strong willed and  aggressive cavalry brigade commander who would take huge personal risks for glory and victory by leading his Michigan Brigade of cavalry straight into battle, such as the mounted charges at Hunterstown and East Cavalry Field at the Battle of Gettysburg.

However, Custer permanently ended his illustrious career when he fought against a huge coalition of Native American Indian tribes composed almost exclusively of Lakota, Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors that were led by Indian chiefs, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Gall and Sitting Bull.

 Custer wore a showy, personalized uniform style that initially alienated his men, but he won them over with the way he went straight into battle in contrast to the many officers who would hang back and wait for things to be quieter and safer before going in.  His men liked his style and began wearing red neckerchiefs themselves.  If today's colloquial speech could have been used back in those days they might have stated that Custer was " a cool dude" or "far out and way cool "

Custer distinguished himself by fearless, aggressive actions in some of the numerous cavalry engagements that started off the campaign, including Brandy Station and Aldie.  He was brave and fearless in every way, often going into battle leading the way and not sitting back at the rear like so many high ranking officers did.

The native American Sioux Indians were to be cajoled into agreeing that they should all live on specially selected reservations around the Black Hills of Dakota, a ground the the Sioux regarded as sacred, but proposals were going to be made.  Things went a little awry though when in 1874 gold was discovered in that area and miners swarmed in the Black Hills and set up camp

Indian Chief Red Cloud saw this as a prime invasion of their land and he lead a major campaign that killed the majority of the miners that had tried to settle there.  In response to this the US government sent an army to sort out this problem.  However, the Government had not realized that the Indian tribes of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho had amalgamated, this was done to fight the invading "pale-faces" as a single army, as they had realized that this was now imperative for their own preservation.

The massed tribes could have been dealt with if ensuing battles had been coordinated efficiently and effectively but George Armstrong Custer ordered his unit of 7th Cavalry to go blindly in and attack without weighing up the consequences.  Custer was offered wagons fitted out with the new Gatling machine guns but refused to take them saying that they would slow him down, this was perhaps the biggest blunder amongst other blunders that lead to his defeat.

Custer had a lust for personal glory, regardless of the loss of life that may result and rushing into a battle unprepared was the height of foolishness.

At approximately 4:45 pm on Sunday, June 25, 1876. On the high ground above the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory, the conclusion to amounting conflicts between the Indian nations and the US was about to come to a head.  Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and over 200 men of Companies C, E, F, I, and L of the 7th U.S. Cavalry rapidly advanced into combat and also into the history books.

Original painting by artist Mark Churms

Custer initially had 210 officers and men under his command, with an additional 142 under Reno, just over a hundred under Benteen, 50 soldiers with Captain McDougall's rearguard, and 84 soldiers under Lieutenant Mathey with the pack train.  The Indians, it is thought had an army of 1800 warriors.  Historian Gregory Michno disputes this and arrives at a lower more acceptable number of around 1000 warrior braves, this is based on contemporary Lakota testimony, but other sources continue to place the number at 1800 or 2000, especially in the works by Utley and Fox. This number of 2000 is substantially lower than the higher numbers of 3000 or more postulated by Ambrose, Gray, Scott and others.

Custer was personally armed with an 1873 Colt .45 with a longer more accurate 7½ barrel as seen below.

Custer and his men were also armed with the new  1873 Springfield Trapdoor carbine, it was chambered to fire the new, more powerful .45-70 military cartridge.

The powerful Trapdoor single shot rifle was also used quite extensively by the Indians on their former owners!  Sitting Bull was carrying a captured Trapdoor Carbine when he later surrendered to American troops at Fort Buford, North Dakota July 18th 1881.

The exact amount of Indian Warriors that fought Custer will never be known in exact proportions, I would like to say simply that it was a lot, and they out numbered Custer and his men by several factors to one.

A note here is that Chief Sitting Bull had completed an exhaustive two day sundance to invoke the Indian spirits, several days before and his visions made it clear for warriors not to take anything off the fallen soldiers or tragedy would later befall the Indian race, this warning was ignored as the euphoria of victory overtook them.

As the troopers were cut down, the Indians stripped the dead of their clothes, belongings, firearms and ammunition, with the result that the return fire from the cavalry steadily decreased, while the fire from the Indians constantly increased.

This was now the fast downward spiral of which there was no escape, it was just a matter of time before Custer's army was totally decimated.  The battle was already lost but as the Indian warriors had no concept of surrender even if Custer had decided to go this road, they would still have been slaughtered, so the fight went on until every last cavalry soldier was dead.

  Custer and the last few survivors were forced now to shoot their remaining horses to use their bodies as a barricade and shield them for the worst of the Indian onslaught. Custer was now making a last stand on the grassy knoll at the north end of the ridge, the Indians, screaming and shouting their war cries in a great furore closed in for the final attack.

They were firing their captured rifles and pistols and also throwing spears, firing arrows and using their tomahawk axes, they killed every man in Custer's command, leaving no-one half alive or even wounded, they slaughtered to death every single one.  As a result of  Custer not giving an inch of ground, but standing square and holding fast as best he could with the weapons and soldiers left under his command, the Battle of Little Bighorn will forevermore be known as Custer's Last Stand.

His brothers Thomas Custer and Boston Custer died with him at the Battle of Little Big Horn, as did his brother-in-law, James Calhoun, and nephew, Henry Armstrong  Reed.

THE FOUR BIG CHIEFS

Chief Red Cloud

Chief Sitting Bull

The four main Big Indian Chief protagonists in the Battle of Little Big Horn were Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Gall and Crazy Horse.  Between them they organised the successful mass attacks on Custer's 7th Cavalry unit.

Chief Gall

Chief Crazy Horse

The final moments of the Battle of Little Big Horn was on ground that is now forever known as  " Last Stand Hill " where Custer finally died, exactly where or how they all fell, will never be known as the victorious Indians desecrated all of the dead and dragged their bodies around.  But this much is certain, George, Boston and Thomas Custer, surrounded by relatives and friends, died as they had lived, side by side, brothers in arms.  At the end, each truly was his brother's keeper.

The image below dramatizes Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer as he lies wounded, with a bullet wound in the chest, his empty rifle lies at his feet.  His brother, Tom has fired his last bullets from his British Webley revolver into the final wave of attacking Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.  The very last remaining men of the US elite 7th Cavalry finally get annihilated under a hail of arrows and bullets from captured rifles and revolvers at "Last Stand Hill".

Original painting by Mark Churms

When the main US cavalry  divisions under General Terry finally arrived two days later, the army found all of the soldier's corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated with tomahawk axe wounds.  Custer's body was found with axe cuts and two bullet holes in him, one shot it was noted, was clean through the left temple whilst the other shot was just above the heart. 

I tend to believe that Custer took the first bullet in the chest, just above the heart from an Indian warrior then one of the remaining soldiers shot Custer in an act of honor, so as not to let him be killed by the Indians.  As Custer was right handed, he would not of shot himself through the left temple but the right, which is a good pointer that his death was "assisited"  Custer was 37 years old when he died.

Following the recovery of Custer's body, he was buried on the battlefield.  One year later Custer's remains and many of his officer's remains were recovered and sent back east for proper burial. Custer was reinterred with full military honor's at West Point Cemetery on October 10, 1877.

It may have been a great military defeat but Custer died with great bravery, strength and resolve and can be seen as a credit to the courage of the 7th Cavalry and Custer will live forever as part of the history of how America was carved out of  the wild west frontiers through battles, sacrifice and honor.

The Four Big Indian Chiefs

Chief Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881 and worked with Buffalo Bill in his wild west show that made re-enactments of the battle.  Sitting Bull later retired and went back to the Indian reservation.  It was rumored that he was involved in the start of an Indian uprising, and  on December 19th 1890  the reservation was raided by a small army of lawmen and Sitting Bull was shot dead whilst resisting arrest.  He was 59 years old.

 Chief Crazy Horse surrendered in 1877 almost a full year after the Battle of Little Bighorn and was killed in captivity shortly after during an apparent fight with some guards.  He was 37 years old.

Chief Red Cloud went to live on the Indian reservations and spent the rest of his life fighting for the rights of the Sioux Lakota Indian.  He died in 1909 aged 87, and was buried on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

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