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The Battle of the Little
Bighorn, also called
Custer's Last Stand, was an engagement between the combined forces
of the
Lakota and Northern
Cheyenne
tribes against the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army. The
battle occurred over two days, on June 25-26, 1876 near The most
famous of all of the
Indian
Wars, the remarkable victory for the
Lakota
and Northern
Cheyenne
occurred over two days on June 25-26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in eastern
Montana
Territory. The U.S. cavalry detachment, commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, lost every soldier in
his unit.
In late 1875, the
Sioux and
Cheyenne
Indians defiantly left their reservations, outraged over the
continued intrusions of whites into their sacred lands in the
Black Hills. Soon, the recalcitrant
Indians gathered in
Montana
with the great warrior
Sitting Bull to fight for
their lands. The following spring, two victories over the U.S. Cavalry
emboldened them to fight on in the summer of 1876.
On November 9, 1875, U.S. forces were sent to attack
the
Indians based on a report by an
Indian Inspector that stated hundreds of
Lakota
and Northern
Cheyenne,
associated with
Sitting Bull and
Crazy
Horse were hostile to the U.S. interest in
Indian lands. The gold-rich
Black Hills
also played an important role in the attack.
As the largest troop under
General Alfred Terry,
Lieutenant Colonel Custer's force arrived at an overlook 14 miles
east of the Little Bighorn River on the night of June 24, 1876, the rest of the
column was marching toward the mouth of the Little Bighorn, to provide a blocking action. In the meantime, two
Crow
Indian scouts were sent ahead to survey the situation. Returning
with a warning that a very large
Indian encampment was situated at the Little Bighorn River,
Custer chose to ignore this news, dividing his regiment into four
commands with plans to continue with the attack. Expecting the
Indians to flee at the first sign of assault,
Custer moved his men forward on June 25th.
Without sufficient knowledge of the village's size, the first battalion,
commanded by Major Marcus Reno, was ordered to attack. Soon, Reno's
squadron of 175
soldiers prepared an assault at the southern end of the
Indian village. However, they quickly realized that the
Lakota
and Northern
Cheyenne force was much larger than they anticipated and showed no
signs of fleeing at the sight of the
soldiers. He soon sent a
message to
Custer, but when he heard nothing in return, Reno launched his offense
northward.
Fearing they might be
trapped, Reno halted his charging men, dismounted and fired upon the
village at a distance. After some 20 minutes, the group had taken
only one casualty and
Custer's promised reinforcements had not shown up. Ordering a retreat
into the timber and brush along the river, the
soldiers were quickly
pursued by a mix of
Cheyenne
and Sioux
Indians,
who took a number of casualties and the battalion fled.
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