Ever since the Custer massacres on June 25, 1876, the question has been asked: What happened - what REALLY happened - at the Battle of the Little Bighorn? We know some of the answers, because half of George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry - the men with Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen - survived the fight, but what of the half that did not, the troopers, civilians, scouts, and journalist who were with Custer? Now, because a grass fire in August 1983 cleared the terrain of brush and grass and made possible thorough archaeological examinations of the battlefield in 1984 and 1985, we have many answers to important questions. On the basis of the archaeological evidence presented in this book, we know more about what kinds of weapons were used against the cavalry. We know exactly where many of the men fought, how they died, and what happened to their bodies at the time of or after death. We know how the troopers were deployed, what kind of clothing they wore, what kind of equipment they had, how they fought. Through the techniques of historical archaeology and forensic anthropology, the remains and grave of one of Custer’s scouts, Mitch Boyer, have been identified. And through geomorphology and the process of elimination, we know with almost 100 percent certainty where the twenty-eight missing men who supposedly were buried en masse in Deep Ravine will be found.

On June 25, 1876, the United States Army suffered the worst defeat of all its battles with Native Americans. Allied Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors successfully turned back a surprise attack on their village near the Little Bighorn River in Montana. Killed in the battle were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, the colorful and controversial commanding officer of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and 267 men under his command. Little Bighorn traces the events that led to this historic confrontation, which, though a great tactical victory for the Native American warriors and the families they fought to protect, also set in motion a series of negative events for the Sioux and their allies.

In June of 1876, the U.S. government’s plan to pressure the Lakota and Cheyenne people onto reservations came to a dramatic and violent end with a battle that would become enshrined in American memory. In the eyes of many Americans at the time, the Battle of Little Bighorn represented a symbolic struggle between the civilized and the savage. Known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass to the Lakota, the Battle of Little Bighorn to the people who suppressed them, and as Custer’s Last Stand in the annals of popular culture, the event continues to captivate students of American history. In The Battle of Little Bighorn, Debra Buchholtz narrates the history of the battle and critically examines the legacy it has left. Through government documents, newspaper articles, and eyewitness accounts, Buchholtz situates the material and symbolic impact of the battle at the time. Using popular film and cultural references, she investigates the ways in which the wake of the event continues to shape the way students understand indigenous peoples, the Wild West, and the history of America.

Usually in history it seems that the technologically advanced society has a greater advantage in warfare than more primitive societies. For most battles this seems to hold true; however, there are exceptions to this rule. This document examines three different battles in history where a primitive, tribal force was able to decisively defeat a better-equipped, more advanced army. Following the introduction the second chapter focuses on the Romans versus Germanic tribes at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest; the third chapter investigates Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn; and the fourth chapter discusses the Battle of Maiwand in the Second Afghan War. Although each of these battles has its own unique circumstances that contributed to the victory of the primitive forces, three main themes link each of the battles. In each battle the technologically advanced army followed predictable tactics. The primitive armies employed new tactics that generally served to negate some of the technological advantages of the superior force. And finally, cultural influences played a role in strengthening the resolve to fight despite apparently poor odds. In each of the battles these factors combined with others to produce a victory over a technologically advanced foe.

The Battle of the Little Big Horn was the decisive engagement of the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877. In its second edition this biographical dictionary of all known participants--the 7th Cavalry, civilians and Indians--provides a brief description of the battle, as well as information on the various tribes, their customs and methods of fighting. Seven appendices cover the units soldiers were assigned to, uniforms and equipment of the cavalry, controversial listings of scouts and the number of Indians in the encampments, the location of camps on the way to the Big Horn and more. Updated biographies are provided for many European soldiers, along with an additional 5,060 names of Indians who were or could have been in the battle.

The battle that unfolded at the Little Big Horn River on June 25, 1876, marked a watershed in the history of the Plains Indians. While a stunning victory for the Sioux and Cheyenne peoples, it initiated a new and vigorous effort by the U.S. government to rid the west of marauding tribes and to realize the ideal of "Manifest Destiny." While thousands of books and articles have covered different aspects of the battle, few if any have analyzed the tactics and chronology to arrive at a satisfactory explanation of what befell George Armstrong Custer and the 209 men who died alongside him. This volume seeks to explain the circumstances culminating in the near-destruction of the 7th Cavalry Regiment by a close examination of timing, setting every event to a specific moment based on accounts of the battle's participants.

Ever since the Custer massacres on June 25, 1876, the question has been asked: What happened - what REALLY happened - at the Battle of the Little Bighorn? We know some of the answers, because half of George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry - the men with Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen - survived the fight, but what of the half that did not, the troopers, civilians, scouts, and journalist who were with Custer? Now, because a grass fire in August 1983 cleared the terrain of brush and grass and made possible thorough archaeological examinations of the battlefield in 1984 and 1985, we have many answers to important questions. On the basis of the archaeological evidence presented in this book, we know more about what kinds of weapons were used against the cavalry. We know exactly where many of the men fought, how they died, and what happened to their bodies at the time of or after death. We know how the troopers were deployed, what kind of clothing they wore, what kind of equipment they had, how they fought. Through the techniques of historical archaeology and forensic anthropology, the remains and grave of one of Custer’s scouts, Mitch Boyer, have been identified. And through geomorphology and the process of elimination, we know with almost 100 percent certainty where the twenty-eight missing men who supposedly were buried en masse in Deep Ravine will be found.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25-26, 1876, is one of the most controversial and studied events in American history. While of relatively minor importance as military affair, the symbolic scene of "Custer's Last Stand" soon entered into the nation's public consciousness. First seen as the heroic sacrifice of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry against the combined forces of the Lakota and Cheyenne in the further settlement of the West, it has emerged as another tragic chapter in the treatment of American Indians. The battlefield in present-day southeastern Montana remains a popular destination for tourists and scholars alike.

From the War of 1812 to the end of the nineteenth century, U.S. Army officers were instrumental in shaping the American West. They helped explore uncharted places and survey and engineer its far-flung transportation arteries. Many also served in the ferocious campaigns that drove American Indians onto reservations. Soldiers West views the turbulent history of the West from the perspective of fifteen senior army officers—including Philip H. Sheridan, George Armstrong Custer, and Nelson A. Miles—who were assigned to bring order to the region. This revised edition of Paul Andrew Hutton’s popular work adds five new biographies, and essays from the first edition have been updated to incorporate recent scholarship. New portraits of Stephen W. Kearny, Philip St. George Cooke, and James H. Carleton expand the volume’s coverage of the army on the antebellum frontier. Other new pieces focus on the controversial John M. Chivington, who commanded the Colorado volunteers at the Sand Creek Massacre in 1863, and Oliver O. Howard, who participated in federal and private initiatives to reform Indian policy in the West. An introduction by Durwood Ball discusses the vigorous growth of frontier military history since the original publication of Soldiers West.