070803 - Little Big Horn, MT

Little Bighorn, Montana

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, popularly known as Custer’s Last Stand, was one of the last battles in the conflict between the Northern Plains Indians and whites. Fought on June 25, 1876, the Indian forces, led by Sitting Bull and Gall of the Hunkpapa Sioux, Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux and Two Moons of the Northern Cheyenne wiped out the entire battalion of the 7th Cavalry led by General George Armstrong Custer. Although the Sioux and Cheyenne were the overwhelming victors in this battle, it marked the beginning of the end for the Indians; their confederation soon dispersed, and they were forced to move to reservations

We all know the short version of the battle at Little Big Horn where General Custer got whacked. We visited the museum and battleground and there seems to be much more to the story than we have been told.
Apparently General Custer was a very ambitious as well as courageous soldier and had great plans to be all that he could be (i.e. wealthy and possibly the President of the United States). In fact he became a general at the age of 23.
It seems that besides making a few enemies among his lesser officers, he also got on the wrong side of the President when he threaten to expose a scheme the President’s brother was using to steal supplies from the Indians. The President’s brother had been placed in charge of Indian Affairs.

When Custer went into battle with his patrol, he realized he underestimated the size of the Indian tribe and sent a courier back for reinforcements. One of his Majors decided not to send reinforcement, even though he was in earshot of the battle and knew Custer was outnumbered. Major Benteen later claimed that he was unaware of the gravity of the situation and chose not to commit any more troops to the battle.
In 1997 a court of inquiry was held and Major Benteen was actually found guilty of dereliction of duty and refusing to obey a direct order of his commanding general.

Now you know the rest of the story.