The Battle of the Little Bighorn

The Clash of Cultures

The Battle of the Little Bighorn is a Wild West legend that took place in the ravines of the Little Bighorn River.

The combatants were warriors from the Lakota Sioux tribes and the U.S. Cavalry.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn symbolizes a clash between two different cultures: the Native American culture and that of the United States.

This battle was part of a much broader strategic campaign intended to force the surrender of the Lakota and the Cheyenne.

Many Lakota chiefs, among them Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, agreed to sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie.

The United States wanted the tribes to give up their nomadic lifestyle.

Accepting the treaty meant accepting a more stationary life and relying on government-provided subsidies.

Lakota leaders like Sitting Bull, who wore Native American tattoos as a symbol of pride, rejected the system.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn Takes Shape:

Tensions between the United States and the Lakota intensified when Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer received an order.

The order was to explore the Black Hills within the Great Sioux Reservation.

General Custer was tasked with mapping the region, finding a suitable site for a future military post, and noting natural resources.

News of the discovery of mineral wealth triggered an invasion of miners, in direct violation of the treaty.

The United States negotiated with the Native Americans to purchase the Black Hills, but they refused.

The commander of a military division developed a strategy to engage the Indians.

The strategy was to force their return to the Great Sioux Reservation.

But the nomadic lifestyle of the Lakota and Cheyenne forced them to move constantly.

No officer or scout could know for certain how long a village might remain stationary.

The Two Camps in Reconnaissance Code:

The region containing the rivers was a productive hunting ground.

The tribes gathered regularly in large numbers at the beginning of summer to celebrate their Sun Dance ceremony.

During the ceremony, Sitting Bull received a vision of soldiers falling into his village. He prophesied that his people would soon win a great victory.

The Indians, who were thought to be camping somewhere along the Little Bighorn River, were cornered.

General Custer Takes the Lead:

General Custer ordered a night march to cross the Little Bighorn River valley.

Today, historians estimate that the village had 8,000 inhabitants, with 1,500 to 1,800 men.

The initial plan was to hide in the mountains, which would give the scouts time to locate the Indian village.

Custer had planned a night march and an attack at dawn.

However, scouts reported that the presence of the regiment had been detected by Lakota warriors.

Believing the element of surprise was lost, he feared the inhabitants would attack, causing the army’s campaign to fail.

Custer ordered an immediate advance to engage the village and its fighting force.

Major Reno’s Command

Major Reno marched about two miles, then began to advance downstream toward its southern end.

Although initially surprised, the warriors quickly rushed to repel Reno’s assault.

He halted his command and formed his troops, who began firing on the warriors advancing from the village.

The mounted warriors pressed their attack against Reno’s line and soon endangered his left flank.

He retreated into a stand of trees along the Little Bighorn River, which offered better protection.

Finally, he ordered a second retreat, this time to the bluffs east of the river.

The Cheyenne, comparing the pursuit of the retreating troops to a buffalo hunt, rode the soldiers down.

The soldiers at the rear of the fleeing command suffered heavy losses, as warriors galloped alongside the retreating troops and shot them at point-blank range.

The command, now broken, crossed the Little Bighorn River to regroup on the heights of the valley.

A large number of warriors approaching from that direction forced the cavalry to retreat to the hill where the Native Americans besieged them.

The End of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

The next day, reinforcements arrived to rescue the rest of the soldiers, who had been severely beaten and defeated, and were now relieved.

Scouts discovered the naked and mutilated bodies of General Custer’s command on the ridges east of the Little Bighorn River.

We will never know exactly what happened to Custer’s command.

Thanks to Indian accounts, archaeological findings, and the position of the bodies, historians can reconstruct the part of the Battle of the Little Bighorn where Custer was present, although many questions remain unanswered.

For reasons still poorly understood, the troops fell back and gathered on the hill.

About 40 to 50 men out of the original 210 were cornered on the hill where a stone monument stands today.

Hundreds of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors surrounded them.

Toward the end of the fight, some soldiers, some on foot and others on horseback, broke out in a desperate attempt to escape.

All were shot and killed within minutes.

Superior numbers of soldiers and overwhelming firepower ended the part of the Battle of the Little Bighorn that took place at Custer’s position.

The Consequences of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

• The Battle of the Little Bighorn was a momentary victory for the Lakota and the Cheyenne.

• The death of General Custer and his troops became a rallying point for the United States, which increased its efforts to force indigenous peoples to settle on reservation lands.

• With more troops on the ground, the Lakota hunting grounds were invaded by powerful army expeditionary forces determined to conquer the Native Americans.

• Most of the declared “hostiles” surrendered within the year following the fight, and the Black Hills were taken by the U.S. government without compensation.

Related products

See also

• Dreamcatcher
• Dreamcatcher Tattoo

Categories

Native American AccessoryNative American ClothingNative American DecorNative American TattooNative American RugDreamcatcher