Reading the books "Archaeology, History, and Custer's last battle". by Richard Allan Fox and "Little Big Horn 1876" by Peter Panzeri, they paint a different picture of Custer's last stand of what I thought happened. Richard Fox's archaeological evidence suggest that Custer's command panicked and collasped suddenly and there was no determined last stand as portrayed in movies and books.
Brian

By all current accounts "Custer's Last Stand" was a running retreat to the high ground and ultimatel;y a rout of the cavalry forces. The evidence has shown for many years that there was no heroic stand at the battle of the greasy grass, but a troop that had beenled into a terrible situation by a leader who acted on faulty information and bravado. The last white survivors appear to have been running away from the battle into the Deep Ravine and met their fate there. There have long been reports of cavalry killing their comrades and then commiting suicide to avoid the tyoe of assault practiced by the Plains Indians.

Custer's last stand was a total route by his troops who were trying to stay a live againist overwhelming odds. He might had stand a chance if he have not split his command. that was his first mistake. The second was leaving the gatling guns back at the fort.

Due to Custers disdain of the Indians he violated one of the principals of war called MASS. He of course totally fragmented his comand splitting off several groups for other activities. He enabled his forces to be defeated in detail, a tactic Robert E. Lee loved to use against the Yankees, and Custer was a product of the West Point School of Yankee thinking.

there has been some new information come to light in the last few years, about custer specifically, he used a 50-70 (I believe, would have to dig out the flyer I picked up at museum last summer) custom rifle made especially for him, anywhoo all the other troops used the old 45-70 calvary rifle, spent casings from custers 50-70 were only found in one position the US army is known to have been , when Custer wanted to go around the village and come in at the river crossing, it is believed that custer was killed in the initial engaugement at a ravine before even making the rivercrossing, because after that point the only places the 50-70 cartriges were found were from known indian positions. therefore if Custer was killed there it instantly fragmented a command that was already split and by this point already in very deep trouble.

Bender

The problem with no white survivors of Custer's command is that historians and others need to piece the history together. I have read much on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn and the two school of thoughts are that:

1. Custer was killed or wounded at the time of the initial crossing of the Rosebud Creek and his troops, minus their leader and his luck retreated in confusion and quickly were overwhelmed.
2. Custer was not killed or wounded and realizing that he was overwhelmed by native warriors fought a retreat up to the high ground with the thought of Benteen and Reno coming to his aid. Unknown to Custer neither of his subordinate commanders were coming owing to Reno's rout by warriors and his flight up the hill.

In either situation, it became apparent to the troopers they were dead men. And the only choice was to take as many of the savages as you could with you.

Did soldiers kill wounded comrades and then themselves - YES. Plains Indians were experts in forms of torture and keeping the victim alive. The thought of this was on the troopers minds and a bullet to the brain was preferable to torture.

Also, the weapons used by the calvary was a factor. The single shot Sharps carbine was usually a reliable weapon, accurate and hitting hard. However, at the time of the battle the troopers were hamstrung with copper not brass cased ammo that was coated with a water-proofing grease. This grease upon firing welded the jacket in the breach making the carbine unuseable. This theory has been supported by the number of pocket knife tips found in the calvary areas and a number of shells with knife cuts and gouges.

On the other hand many of the Indian warriors carried Winchester, Henry and other repeating, lever action rifles. The combination of overwhelming firepower and bad calvary ammo caused the deaths of many troopers.

Finally, the Colt .45 SAA although a reliable handgun was slow to reload. So in many cases the Trooper saved the last round for themselves.

Custer with all his flaws was the victim of bad intelligence, bravado and poor subordinates. He split his command (a standard calvary tactic) and attacked the Indians on a two front attack. If the plan had worked Reno would have anchored the end of the village, drawing off warriors as Custer attacked the village center, cutting it in two.

George Armstrong Custer and his men died on the ridges near Rosebud Creek and the Little Big Horn because of many many factors. The death of Custer and his men caused such an outcry in the country that President Grant allowed an all out war against the Indians culminating in the Massacre at Wounded Knee.

Hello
Just add this to the mix. An author (sorry the name i dont remember) wrote to T.R.
in the early 1900s stating that he had interviewed 4 lakota warriors that were
at the battle. Their statements were that custer had sat on a hill top less
than a six minute ride from Renos command and watched the fight. Had he
rode to help the tide would have turned. He ( Custer) then turned his command
and rode to the rose bud hill were he met his end. T.R. replies to the author was
that the statments should not be published, as it would bring dishonor to the
command. Also the statements of the warriors in question were foggy because they
were old men.

ponysoldier

The Horse The Gun The Man