George Armstrong Custer and His Final Stand

George Armstrong Custer and his men, most commonly known for their heroic last stand at Little Bighorn, fought scores of Indians until everyone, except a lone scout, were killed and ceremoniously mutilated by the Indians. Custer, supposedly being the last to fall, was found shot in the chest, near the heart, and in the head with his men and their horses strewn across the ground surrounding him. He was later turned into an honorable figurehead because of this legend that made it seem that Custer and his men fought to the last bullet and the last man until they were completely overrun. But the truth behind this is that Custer and his men didn't give the heroic last stand everyone thought it to be but instead it was more of an “every man for themselves” situation with men firing wildly as they ran from the oncoming horde of Indians chasing them. Since then, many researches begin to find more evidence that leads to the fact that there was no heroic stand, but a large body of five companies of bodies and horses fleeing for their lives.


General Custer

What many people believed how Custer and his men met their demise was by a heroic last stand was actually a complete myth, one created by the beer company, Budweiser, which designed a poster soon after the battle depicting what was believed to happen. Theories to why Custer decided to attack, even though his other two commanders had fled to a hilltop because they were being overrun, was that he was a glory hound and his brashness towards his men. One example of his brashness towards his men was while he was on the Hancock Campaign, “During one miserable March, when Custer’s men were along the Republican River, desertion had become so bad that a group of men left in broad daylight. Custer became so enraged that that he sent Major Joel Elliot to track down and kill those who deserted, without trial." I have a theory which leads to the downfall of Custer. The theory starts when Major Elliot went in search of retreating Indians, when night was approaching Custer decided not to search for Major Elliot and his men. Custer left behind Major Elliot and his men, even though he sent out a search party, because Custer had help victory at the Battle of Washita and didn't want the Indians turn it into something else. Major Elliot and his men were found a week later, bodies having been mutilated by the Indians. Custer was probably a little disturbed or saddened by the death of Major Elliot because they both seemed; by Sandy Barnard author, of A Hoosier Quaker Goes to War; as though they were great friends after serving together in Texas. The senior captain at the time, Captain Benteen, would later serve with Custer as one of the two commanders who retreated to fight another day at Little Bighorn, never forgave Custer for the incident believing that Custer abandoned Major Elliot and his men. The theory continues with how Captain Benteen and Major Reno, after they retreated, wondered about the whereabouts of Custer, they simply believed he was off seeking glory for himself by chasing Indians and never gave a second thought to how he might have been pinned down or probably killed at this point.


Major Elliott

The New York Times had posted several articles about this event that is so controversially to what the American population thought of how Custer died. As stated in one of the articles from the time period, “It is the opinion of Army officers in Chicago, Washington, and Philadelphia, including Generals Sherman and Sheridan, that General Custer was rashly imprudent to attack such a large number of Indians.” The article would later go on to explain, roughly, how big the size of the Indian encampment was, with it also saying that the exact number of the casualties is unknown, “The exact loss is not known as both Adjutants and the Sergeant-major were killed. The Indian camp was from three to four miles long, and was twenty miles up the Little Horn from its mouth. Now, even though the original plan called for a three pronged attack against the Native Americans, that still is a lot of ground to cover and in that much ground were a lot of people living their traditional ways. In my opinion, the 7th Cavalry, the unit that General Armstrong led at the time, would surely have to retreat due to the massive amount of Native Americans anyway.


Captain Benteen

As time went by though more and more evidence arose to the trained eye saying that, there was no final stand but uncontrolled chaos among the troopers under the command of Armstrong. U.S. News interviewed Richard Fox, a professor at the University of South Dakota, who had performed a field study after a wildfire in 1989 had swept the battlefield, unearthing evidence that lead to his theory that there was no heroic last stand but complete panic. Professor Fox would later dismiss Indian descriptions of the soldiers’ bravery recorded just after the battle, noting that tribal leaders were likely trying to salve white pride during sensitive treaty negotiations. “Later on, when fate of the Indians was sealed, they opened up more,” he says. Subsequent accounts describe Custer’s men running like “a stampede of buffalo,” and “[shooting] like drunken men, firing into the ground, into the air, wildly in every way.” Now, even though fear is a common factor in war, the Native Americans accounts would later go to show that it was more than just fear but instead, complete chaos with no chain of command viable to leading several companies. Had Benteen and Reno not retreated, we probably would've never heard of Sitting Bull or Little Bighorn. On the other end of the spectrum, we would have probably not known Custer for leading only five companies of the 7th Calvary to their demise but the entire 7th Calvary, which would then ruin Custer's reputation more so than now.

What I believe what ultimately led to the downfall of Custer was his brashness towards his troops and his search for glory, including making rivalries between his officers and himself leading them to believe that he was just seeking glory.



http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20810FA345B127B93C4A9178CD85F428784F9

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/custer.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/custer/

http://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=FC855C85-155D-451F-67947259B4504300 --- (JOEL AND BENTEEN PICTURE)

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_custer_1_e.html --- (CUSTER PICTURE)

http://www.custerslaststand.org/history/extra-extra

http://www.historynet.com/wounds-from-the-washita-the-major-elliott-affair.htm