Battle of Little Bighorn

Lesson 8: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and Beyond

The Battle of the Little Bighorn

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer

Custer ordered Benteen to go south. He was to make certain the Indians didn’t escape that way. Custer then “sent his adjutant, Lieutenant William Cooke, to Reno. Cooke carried verbal orders to “move forward at as rapid a gait as he thought prudent, and charge the village afterward, and the whole outfit would support him” Custer, with five troops, turned north, “behind the last line of bluffs,” putting them between him and the hostiles’ camp.

If Custer thought this tactic would restore the lost element of surprise, he was wrong. The hostiles knew where he was, but they had not seen Reno go a different direction so Crazy Horse had his warriors ready to deal with Custer.

Reno crossed the Little Bighorn. He came up to the south of the village where the ground was ideal for a cavalry charge. Though his orders were to charge the enemy, he stopped, dismounted his men, and took some long-range shots at the Sioux who were beginning to ride toward him.

Low Dog

Low Dog was asleep in his lodge when the attack began. On waking, he could hardly believe the whites would attack so large a village but he prepared for battle anyway. Sitting Bull, also, was lying down in his lodge at that time. When some men ran to him, spreading the alarm, he too jumped up and ran outside to see. Soon the village was a melee of confusion as women rushed to gather children and what provisions they could carry. Sitting Bull’s wife rushed to gather their children, including their infant twins. However, in her fright and confusion, she only grabbed one twin. When she discovered what she had done, she rushed all the way back to the village for the other child.

Even young boys hurriedly prepared for battle. Among them was fourteen-year-old Iron Hawk, a Hunkpapa; Wooden Leg and his brother; and Black Elk who rushed to the timber, where Reno’s men were now, to see the fighting.

Gall

Then a cry went up:

Take courage! Don’t be a woman! The helpless are out of breath! He thought this was Gull, rallying the Hunkpapas.

Then another cry went up:

Crazy Horse is coming! Crazy Horse is coming!

Off to the north Black Elk could hear many making the tremolo and yelling, Hoka hey! Hoka hey!

In 1877, Lieutenant William Clark got to know Crazy Horse and other Oglala participants as well as any white man could. Clark was told that:

Crazy Horse rode with the greatest daring up and down in front of Col. Reno’s skirmish line, and as soon as these troops were driven across the river, he went at once to Genl. Custer’s front and there became the leading spirit.

As Reno’s men dismounted, Custer rode to the top of the bluffs. From there, he could have seen Reno and part of the village. He must have seen that the Indians were not running. He probably assumed that all the warriors would rush to do battle with Reno and he, Custer, would have a clear path to attack the village from his end.

Internet link(s) for this section are:

Little Bighorn From National Park Service Site http://www.nps.gov/libi/

Moving Robe Woman http://www.historytelevision.ca/chiefs/h... Her brother was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Custer’s troops.

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.

Neihardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks. Pocket Books, New York, 1972.

Viola, Herman J., and Jan Shelton Danis. It Is A Good Day To Die: Indian Eyewitnesses Tell the Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 1998.

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