Custer’s Last Stand was a battle that occurred in the Montana Territory on June 25th, 1876. Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer commanding approximately 10 companies of infantry and cavalry faced off against a combined Indian force of roughly 1800 Lakota and Cheyenne braves (Wiki).
By most accounts the battle lasted less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Custer, having split his forces prior to the confrontation was only commanding 208 cavalry and a few Indian scouts. Not realizing he was facing almost 10:1 odds Custer directed his Cavalry into the Medicine Tail Coulee which put his mounted troops at an extreme disadvantage to the massed Indian braves surrounding the valley. The majority of Custer’s men were brought down with traditional bow and arrows fired by the Indians. Surviving soldiers were then bludgeoned to death by the Indian braves wielding war clubs.
In addition to the total annihilation of Custer’s cavalry unit several other detachments suffered severe losses during the battle. Major Reno and Captain Benteen each commanding sizeable forces faced overwhelming odds when engaging the combined Indian force. What began as an attack upon an Indian force of undetermined size quickly became a rout with dozens of U.S Troopers being killed as they attempted to retreat. For this reason Major Reno and Captain Benteen were unable to reinforce Custer until it was too late.
Casualty reports varied widely after the battle. Most historians believe Indian losses to have numbered between 50-150 while the U.S. Army force suffered losses of 268 (Wiki). Indian tradition of removing fallen braves from the battlefield made confirmation of casualties difficult. Most of the fallen Army and Cavalry troopers were buried where they fell. Several years after the battle the United States Army investigated the incidents leading up the battle in an effort to address the rumors and outright accusations that Major Reno and Captain Benteen had
caused the death of Lt. Col. Custer by disobeying his orders on the battlefield. While both men were cleared of any wrongdoing by the military courts, strong evidence was submitted to suggest that both officers showed cowardice in the face of enemy fire.
Today, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn has been designated as a national cemetery to prevent desecration of the graves of the many fallen soldiers. A large marble obelisk was erected on the site in 1881 and remains to this day. Several red granite markers have been added in recent years to honor the fallen Native American warriors.
Re-enactments of the battle are a yearly event that draws thousands of onlookers as well as eager participants. The battle has also been portrayed in dozens of movies, books, paintings, and poems over the last century and continues to be one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state of Montana.
