The Battle of the Little Big Horn saw the demise of General Custer’s 7th Army Cavalry by a combined force of Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Indians. The battle was fought over land rights in the Black Hills, where gold had been discovered. Custer attacked the Indian village without realizing he was outnumbered, resulting in a short-lived victory for the Indians. The size of the village and number of warriors is disputed.
At the height of the Indian Wars in the United States, a bloody battle ensued between the United States Army and a combined fighting force of Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Indians. The battle, known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn, saw the demise of the 7th Army Cavalry, led by General George Armstrong Custer. On June 25 and 26, 1876, Custer’s cavalry was massacred by combined Indian forces in the fateful battle known commonly and colloquially in the United States as Custer’s Last Stand.
After the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne agreed on an alliance, both tribes began wandering near the Little Big Horn River in eastern Montana, part of an area known as the Black Hills. Because gold had recently been discovered there, white settlers arrived in the area in droves to capitalize on the wealth, even though a treaty had given the Indians rights to the Black Hills. Despite this treaty, the US government then issued an order forcing the tribes back to their reservations and sent in the army to secure the tribal retreats.
Custer kept his troops within fifteen miles of the Indian camp and awaited reinforcements, but when his scouts returned with information that the Indians had discovered cavalry tracks, Custer prepared to attack without further ado. This set the stage for Custer’s Last Stand. Custer was concerned that the tribes would take up a scattered position which would allow them to attack from all angles, and Custer had been counting on a surprise attack on the village. On June 25, Custer ordered his troops to attack the village.
Indian resistance was ready to attack. Custer intended to flank the field on three sides, sending Major Reno and Captain Benteen first as Custer proceeded upriver to join the attack. But by the time he got there, Reno and Benteen were in retreat, and Custer was too late to realize he was badly outnumbered. The massacre that was Custer’s last stand began as panicked troops repulsed attacks from many angles, including a charge led by Crazy Horse.
Custer was killed in battle along with more than two hundred of his men after northern Lakota-Cheyenne warriors surrounded the cavalry. The battle lasted less than an hour and in the end, the northern Lakota-Cheyenne had won a significant but short-lived victory when Custer’s reinforcements finally arrived two days later. Although Custer’s last stand may have been in vain, the Indians were forced to retreat permanently.
The size of the village and the number of warriors it contained has been a major source of contention among scholars. Much of the village had already left the site in search of antelope, so when Custer’s scouts spied the village, they may not have gotten an accurate assessment of their enemy’s size and range. Soon after Custer’s last stand, the tribes withdrew from the field, leaving only their dead to be counted. By most accounts, however, Custer’s scouts warned him in advance that the field was unusually large. Furthermore, the details of Custer’s Last Stand are nebulous at best, since none of his men survived the battle and various Lakota and Northern Cheyenne accounts vary widely.
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