Analysis: Accounts of the Battle of Little Bighorn
The Battle of Little Bighorn, which occurred on June 25, 1876, remains a significant event in American history, marked by the clash between the Seventh Cavalry, led by General George Armstrong Custer, and a coalition of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. Custer's attack, prompted by government orders to subdue Native resistance, ultimately led to a catastrophic defeat for his forces, with over 260 soldiers killed, including Custer himself. This battle, often referred to as Custer's Last Stand, became a pivotal moment in the narrative of westward expansion, symbolizing both American heroism and tragedy as it entered the popular imagination.
For many Americans, the battle represented a confrontation between civilization and perceived savagery, cementing Custer's legacy as a tragic hero. In contrast, Native perspectives highlight the struggle for survival against encroachment, with the battle viewed as part of a broader resistance to displacement and violence. The differing accounts of the battle illustrate the complexities of historical narratives, showcasing how perspectives can vary dramatically based on cultural context. Eyewitness accounts from Native leaders, like Chief Red Horse, offer insights into the realities faced by Indigenous peoples and challenge the larger-than-life portrayal of Custer and his men. Overall, the Battle of Little Bighorn stands as a reminder of the deep scars left by colonial conflict and the importance of understanding diverse viewpoints in shaping historical memory.
Analysis: Accounts of the Battle of Little Bighorn
Date: July 4, 1876
Author: W. H. Norton; Chief Red Horse
Genre: articles; testimony
Summary Overview
On June 25, 1876, elements of the Seventh Cavalry led by the famed Civil War hero and Indian fighter George Armstrong Custer attacked a combined force of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho near the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. As a result, and much to the shock of a nation just about to celebrate its centennial, five of twelve companies of the Seventh Cavalry were completely wiped out, while Custer himself, along with two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law were killed. For the average American living East of the country, the Battle of Little Bighorn, or what soon became popularly known as Custer's Last Stand, hit like a thunderbolt. The event became a rallying cry, Custer a myth, a symbol of white America's brave resilience against dark savagery. For Native Americans, the Battle of Little Bighorn became one of the last in a series of long and bloody, but ultimately futile struggles against the encroachment of white settlers on their land.
Defining Moment
Since the purchase of the Louisiana Territory at the turn of the nineteenth century, white settlers had been moving onto the Great Plains, first in a trickle and soon in a flood. Encouraged by boosters, government officials, and land speculators, millions of Americans moved West in the hopes of making a new start. As white settlers moved in, they invariably came into direct conflict with Native peoples. These clashes culminated in a series of armed conflicts collectively known as the Sioux Wars. Fighting raged throughout the 1850s and 1860s as the Sioux and their allies tried desperately to defend themselves against an increasingly brutal campaign of displacement. Things did settle for a time in 1868, after the Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed to the Lakota a large portion of South Dakota Territory, but the discovery of gold in the sacred Black Hills, followed by an influx of miners eager to strike it rich, brought the tribes once again into open conflict with the United States government.
Enter George Armstrong Custer. Graduating at the bottom of his class from West Point just as the Civil War broke out, Custer quickly distinguished himself as a brave, flamboyant, but highly capable cavalry commander. Always at the front of his troops, leading charges through some of the bloodiest battles of the war, Custer was never once injured. As a result, the national press regarded him as a sort of sainted warrior. With the close of the Civil War, Custer was assigned to command the Seventh Cavalry and plunged right into the expanding conflict against the Native peoples of the Great Plains.
In 1868, Custer led a series of brutal attacks on the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including the massacre of a village full of unarmed women and children. Custer's brazen actions earned him accolades in the press, which depicted him as an Indian fighter, but this also had the unintended effect of unifying many of the Plains tribes under the leadership of Sitting Bull, a fearless Lakota chief determined to ignore the stipulations of any treaty. In direct response to Sitting Bull, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an ultimatum that any Native peoples who refused to settle on a reservation by 1876 would be considered hostile.
With orders to find Sitting Bull's band and force them onto the reservation, Custer and the Seventh Cavalry headed out west in the spring of 1876. Without waiting for the rest of his regiment, headstrong and eager to make headlines in time for the centennial, Custer launched a blind attack on what he thought was a small Lakota village on the bank of the Little Bighorn River, but this apparent village was in fact several large Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho encampments, home to thousands of armed Native warriors. The resulting battle quickly became a rout and, ultimately, a massacre, as Custer's outnumbered men tried desperately to fall back. Two hundred sixty-eight men, along with George Armstrong Custer were killed. Within days, newspaper headlines screamed about the loss of Custer and the Seventh Cavalry, painting Custer in the immediate aftermath with a hero's brush. The story became that of a great American warrior's last stand, as he fought off savage Indians, while the version of events told by the Native peoples—a story of survival—was almost completely ignored.
Author Biography
While we know nothing about the writer of the Helena Daily Herald article, W. H. Norton, we do know something about Chief Red Horse. Born in 1822 to a subdivision of the Sioux, he rose to become one of the chiefs under Sitting Bull. An eyewitness to the Battle of Little Bighorn, having taken part in fighting against both Custer and Marcus Reno, Custer's second in command, Red Horse recorded his recollections of the event in 1881. He died in 1907 on a reservation, having, like most of the Sitting Bull's Sioux, eventually surrendered to an aggressive US Army, eager to avenge their fallen hero.
Document Analysis
The document is broken up into two parts: the hero narrative, as presented by the press at the time, and the eyewitness testimony, as told by one of the Native peoples on the other side of the conflict. When seen together, they present not just an accounting of the Battle of Little Bighorn, but also the ways in which the history of the American West has been altered and mythologized.
The first part of the document features an article from the Helena Daily Herald, published July 4, 1876. Focusing on the tragic death of General Custer and the slaughter of his men, the article relays few, mainly inaccurate details of the battle. According to the article, Custer and Reno attacked an Indian camp, but were immediately overrun by the Indians' “murderous fire.” The article is clear to point out that the Seventh Cavalry fought bravely and tenaciously and were only defeated by “mere brute force.” It serves as a good example of the narrative that would develop around the death of Custer, a shocking tragedy made possible only by superior numbers on the enemy's side. Disbelief mixed with a sense that perhaps the Seventh Cavalry might have even had a chance to win the fight. In this light, Custer is the fallen hero and the Native peoples mere savages.
The second part of the document is a transcript of Chief Red Horse's eyewitness testimony of the events surrounding the Battle of Little Bighorn. The collective tribes of the Sioux and their allies were set up along the bank of the river when the Seventh Cavalry suddenly attacked. There was no opportunity for talk or negotiation, but instead, the Native peoples were forced to immediately jump to their own defense. Here, we see corroboration not just of Custer's tendency to attack without deliberation, but of American military policy toward Native peoples. This was a deliberate act to remove the Sioux from their own land, as forcefully as possible. There was uncertainty from the side of the Sioux which of the officers was Custer, but Red Horse is quick to point out that the American soldiers fought bravely. In this telling there is no last stand. Custer is not the final man standing.
Red Horse goes on to document more of the events of those two days. The fight with Custer's men, followed by the engagement with Reno's battalion. He mentions that some of the soldiers attempted to surrender, that few managed to even fire their guns, then documents the Sioux's final departure from the Little Bighorn. When compared to the newspaper article, Red Horse's account conveys neither the tragedy or heroism of Custer's last stand. The myth comes unraveled. The American Army launched a foolhardy, unprovoked attack on superior numbers. They lost.
Bibliography and Additional Reading
Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. New York: Anchor Books, 1996. Print.
“Custer's Last Stand.” American Experience. Dir. Stephen Ives. PBS, 2012. Film.
Donovan, James. A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn—the Last Great Battle of the American West. New York: Back Bay Books, 2008. Print.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. New York: Viking, 2010. Print.