Lesson 8: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and Beyond
The entire contents, excluding the final section, is devoted to the Battle of the Little Bighorn from the time of the controversial written orders General Terry gave Custer through the disastrous end of the fight. The final section contains brief biographies of some of the more noted persons who survived the battle.
Forward March
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer
There are more questions concerning the orders that Terry gave Custer than those previously presented. Custer’s orders continue with:
It is, of course, impossible to give you any definite instructions in regard to this movement; and were it not impossible to do so, the department commander [Terry] places too much confidence in your zeal, energy, and ability to wish to impose upon you precise orders, which might hamper your action when nearly in contact with the enemy.
One truth may be that when Terry says he places too much confidence in Custer, perhaps he was confident that Custer would locate the hostile village and that he would attack before any backup arrived. It would be interesting to discover Terry’s political affiliation.
Terry doesn’t want to hamper Custer’s actions on one hand, but, on the other, he wanted Custer to follow his plan. Terry’s plan was for Custer to follow the Indian trail up the Rosebud. Then, should the trail lead into the valley of the Little Bighorn, Terry wanted Custer to still “proceed southward, perhaps as far as the headwaters of the Tongue”—then he was to turn toward the Little Horn, “feeling constantly, however, to your left, so as to preclude the possibility of the escape of the Indians to the south or southeast by passing around your left flank.” It would be interesting to know, in light of Custer’s past performances, if Terry really though that if Custer located the hostiles he would be able not to attack.
With this information in mind, we’ll get back to the 7th Cavalry. It seems certain that Terry expected Custer to confront the hostiles because Terry offered Custer significant reinforcements in the shape of Gatling guns and four companies of the Second Cavalry. Custer turned down both. The guns would have slowed him down, but, ironically, had he lugged them along and was slowed down, he probably would not have reached the hostiles until the anticipated time that Gibbon’s column would be in position.
Custer refused the additional cavalry companies because, according to Lieutenant Godfrey, Custer was certain the 7th Cavalry could “whip any force that would be able to combine against him; that if the regiment could not, no other regiment in the service could; if they [the Indians] could whip the regiment, they would be able to defeat a much larger force, or, in other words, the reinforcement of this battalion could not save us from defeat.” On the other hand, it might have been just enough to hold the Indians at bay until Gibbon did come up.
Lieutenant Godfrey
But what was done was done and Custer was nearly ready to leave. After he insured that his troops were prepared he wrote a letter to Libbie:
My darling—I have but a few moments to write, as we move at twelve, and I have my hands full of preparations for the scout. . . .Do not be anxious about me. You would be surprised to know how closely I obey your instructions about keeping with the column. I hope to have a good report to send you by the next mail. . . . A success will start us all towards [Fort Abraham] Lincoln. . . . Your devoted boy Autie
And then he was nearly gone.
Internet link(s) for this section are:
The sources for this section are:
Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. Random House, Inc. New York, 1996.
Barnett, Louise. Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1996.
Custer, Elizabeth Bacon. Boots and Saddles. Downloaded from Internet.
Godfrey, Edward Settle. General George A. Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Century Company, New York, 1921.
Utley, Robert M. Little Bighorn Battlefield: Official National Park Handbook. Division of Publications, National Park Service, 1994.
