Chapter 18

1875 TO 1885

The primary focus of this chapter will be the famous "Battle of the Little Bighorn" or perhaps better known as "Custer's Last Stand". This battle is probably the most studied confrontation between the American Indian Tribes and the European settlers of the New World. It comes at a time that is almost at the very end of our 400 year timeline and the handwriting is already on the wall about the outcome to the conflict between the American Indian Tribes and the European settlers but the astonishing reversal of fortunes with the stunning defeat of the United States Army Cavalry by the plains Indians makes headlines all over the world and highlights the plight of the Indian civilization in the "Lower 48"

The bloodshed and hardship of the American Civil War which had ended only a decade prior still impacted many aspects of the conflict between the American Indian Tribes and the European settlers. In a war that caused almost a million casualties and separated families for many years, the European settlers now had a pool of fighting men from both sides who were well-armed and used to the blood and gore of vicious fighting. The release of thousands of United States Cavalry to the western frontier to protect the settlers meant that the American Indian Tribes were heavily outnumbered and substantially outgunned in terms of firepower.

Disease and lack of dependable hunting grounds reduced the Indian Tribes ability to hold their territory from encroachment by the settlers.

Removal to Reservations created a sense of paternalism and decreased the Indian's desire for independence.

The Buffalo herds which were once an ocean of available meat on the move across the plains became depleted and faced extinction as part of a planned strategy to force the Indians onto the Reservations.

The demographics were all in favor of the European settlers who now outnumbered the Indians on a scale of 60 to 1. This was a far cry from the beginning of the timeline in 1492 when the Indians outnumbered the European settlers by a ratio of 450 to 1. (The population of the American Indian Tribes at the end of the timeline stabilized at about 1.4 million and now 130 years later remains roughly the same) The European Settler population was roughly 60 million at the end of the timeline but has grown to almost 330 million today.

In addition to the attrition from the 400 year conflict, the Indian population figures were constantly reduced by migration outside the "Lower 48", the losses due to sickness and disease, and never-ending inter-tribal warfare that plagued the Indian numbers from the very beginning of the period. Another factor that played a minor role was the level of assimilation that further reduced the Indian populations. Since record-keeping relies mostly on surveys like the census, the factor of assimilation is magnified by the acceptance of greater percentages of bloodline dilution down as low as 1/32nd Indian blood. The Reservation figures are much easier to discern than the off-reservation numbers.

The reduction of the Indian populations over the time-line approached near genocidal proportions. Some of that is attributed to intentional agendas, some is the result of unintended consequences and in many tribes and geographic areas it was the result of decisions made by individual tribes to migrate elsewhere.

1876

THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN

We will get into the Battle of The Little Bighorn in just a moment. First, it would behoove us to look briefly into the mind of General George Armstrong Custer, the most famous of the American Indian Tribe's opponents in the period of conflict on the western plains.

General Custer's record of achievements in the American Civil War where he gained the temporary rank of Major General was overshadowed by his defeat and death at The Battle of The Little Bighorn. He was the youngest General Officer in the American Civil War at the tender age of 23.

He spent 18 years of his life as an officer in the United States Army and died at the young age of only 37. His military career spanned almost every major battle of the American Civil War from the First Battle of Bull Run to the Surrender of General Lee in 1865.

After the war, General Custer was reverted back to his permanent rank of Captain and assigned first to duties in the Southern States during Reconstruction (That period after the American Civil War that supposedly rebuilt the Southern States but was rampant with corruption and carpetbaggers). Then he was posted out west to protect the settlers from the American Indian Tribes. Eventually he regained the rank of Lt. Colonel but was addressed in both public and private as "General". He had caused the displeasure of General U.S. Grant just before the posting to the Indian troubles and an assignment to the Seventh Cavalry by testifying at a court martial of Grant's Secretary of War and General Grant's own brother as war profiteers and corrupt administrators. In a mean-spirited act of spite, Grant named General Terry as his superior officer in charge of the Seventh Cavalry knowing that Custer's combat experience was extensive and Terry's was slender at best. The fact that General Custer had also recently arrested General Grant's son for public drunkenness was another reason why there was "bad blood" between Grant and Custer.

Both General Sheridan and General Terry petitioned for his appointment to command and eventually he did assume operational control of the Seventh Cavalry in the field. He was far better suited to field operations than desk duty in a central headquarters.

Like most General Officers, Major General George Armstrong Custer was a complex personality. During his West Point years, he was always on the cusp of dismissal because of his repeated pranks and wild conduct. He actually finished last in his class but was well-respected by most of his classmates. The new Army Officer was fortunate enough to graduate right at the beginning of the American Civil War and he quickly assumed a leadership role by his fearless and heroic actions in almost every battle of the war being mentioned in dispatches for quick thinking and timely actions. By the conclusion of the war, General Custer had risen to the rank of Major General at the unheard of age of 23.

He was not the type of soldier to stay in the background long and was soon in newspapers back east for his brand of daring attacks on Indian Tribes fomenting trouble after leaving their assigned reservation away from the settlers moving west. He was no stranger to blood and gore and his brutal methods of suppressing the Indian Tribes made him their fiercest enemy and a hero to the settlers following the dictates of manifest destiny. He was a disciplinarian and prone to impulsive actions which had in most cases resulted in surprising victories during the Civil War. Custer was first and foremost a "Cavalryman" and was disdainful of foot soldiers and artillerymen. The Cavalry forte was the "Charge" and that was his well-suited to his persona and general outlook on combat. His "mad dashes" into the fray confused the enemy and often led to quick victories on the field of battle.

In his defense, it should be noted that he was the sort of Army Officer who led from the front and never from behind.

THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN

The confluence of events that led to the seminal Battle of the Little Bighorn was set into play by actions that took place long before the actual confrontation. It was the culmination of the government policy of repression of the American Indian Tribes to allow accelerated settlement of the western territories that set the stage for Custer's defeat. Many historians have dissected the pros and cons of Custer's Last Stand and generally lay the blame directly on his doorstep. The Indian Tribe ire was fanned into heated resistance by the numerous massacres and slights shown to the American Indian Tribes by settlers, land grabbers and the Army itself over a period of many years. The fact that Custer added fuel to the fire by his own massacre of a defenseless and peaceful Indian village did little to earn him friendship with the Indian Tribes. He most certainly did not respect the Indian's fighting abilities and thought them a savage, undisciplined blight on the western frontier and in need of a firm hand to hold them in check. He treated his Indian scouts well and with respect and in fact was rumored to have "married" an Indian woman who bore him a daughter. Those contradictions were part of his mystique and added to his lore of frontier hero.

The setting for the battle was not one that military experts would have approved to maximum advantage for the mounted troops of the Seventh Cavalry. The terrain was ill-suited to employ the benefits of superior firepower. The ability of the Indians to remain well hidden from view even when the Cavalry were in close proximity proved disastrous for the troopers under his command.

Custer's main concern was to actually "meet" the Indians and "fix" them in place so he could destroy and defeat them on the open field of battle. His scouts had warned him of the overwhelming odds facing him and he scoffed at the thought of Indians actually defeating his well-trained troops in battle. Some of the actions he took prior to the engagement seemed a bit over-confident and contributed to his defeat.

He split the forces under his command. This was considered a no-no at the time because the concentration of forces was thought to be the tactically preferable move.

He depended far too much on his back-up forces that were within hearing range of the sound of the firing.

He discounted scout reports that indicated the force opposing him had at least 4,000 well-armed warriors in concentric rings around his troops who numbered only about 250 troopers.

He refused the offer of an additional 400 troopers in his lead element. His rationale was that he had sufficient forces to defeat "any force opposing him".

He did not listen to his Indian scouts who informed him of the disadvantages of the terrain advising him to seek a different battleground and wait for his reinforcements.

He turned down the offer of a pair of Gatling guns fearing that they would slow his advance toward the enemy and require logistical support to keep them in working order in the field.

He discounted the fact that while his troops were well-trained and well-disciplined, they had little of the "combat experience" he had in troops that he had led in many battles of the Civil War. The blood and gore that was so familiar to him was new to most of the troopers and they were uncomfortable with the fact they were so vastly outnumbered by the Indians opposing them.

Finally, it was speculated that he was mortally wounded in the early part of the battle and that the remaining troops were disheartened at his loss and the overwhelming odds against them.

In the timeframe immediately preceding the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Sioux and Cheyenne Tribes were whipped up into a bloodlust against the Army Cavalry because of the massacres of women and children in peaceful villages in the Black Hills. At the same time, the government policy tightened up to move all Indians present on the Great Plains into reservations to preclude trouble with the settlers and the railroad. Part of this policy was to consider all Indians not on the reservation as "Hostile". It was similar to declaring certain areas in Vietnam as "Free-fire Zones".

Custer and the ill-fated Seventh Cavalry moved out into the field from Fort Lincoln in May, 1876 with the stated objective of "rounding up all hostiles".

The Sioux Chief Sitting Bull called a meeting of all of the Sioux Tribes near the Little Bighorn to make a plan about removing the encroaching settlers from their hunting grounds. Thousands of heavily armed warriors convened in a huge encampment in that vicinity. They included Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indian Tribes. It was estimated by many observers that they numbered at least 4,000 braves ready for battle.

Custer's Crow Indian scouts reported the size and the nature of the opposing force to the Commanding Officer but he chose to ignore their warnings. They quickly changed from their Army uniforms into native costume and escaped the battlefield before the battle was engaged.

The battle began with a charge by Major Marcus Reno with roughly half of the forces under Custer's control on the main Indian camp. Reno seeing the size of the camp stopped his charge on the camp and dismounted his men far short of the camp almost out of firing range of the Indians. Ignoring the size of the Indian camp, Custer rode hard with his troops to take the Indians from the rear and cut off their escape. Meanwhile, Major Reno was in full retreat under heavy fire by an overwhelming force of angry Indians.