[Leaning Right]

Custer had three Gatling Guns at his disposal. But Custer thought they would slow him down, so he left them behind at the fort.

This guy at the link below says Custer was right in declining those guns. They were completely unsuited for the terrain. As for me, I’d have taken those guns, and just moved a little slower (20-20 hindsight, I know. And there is no glory in slow-moving forces.)

https://www.historynet.com/guns-custer-left-behind-burden.htm

[odawg]

“They were completely unsuited for the terrain.”

I visited that battlefield, and was amazed at the terrain. I had imagined mountains and deserts; it was rather gentle rolling prairie.

The wheeled guns were not nearly as heavy to haul as the ammunition boxes.

[RedMonqey]

As for me, I’d have taken those guns, and just moved a little slower

Gatling guns are suited more for static defenses, not mobile assault as Custer's troopers were used to.

My first term paper was on the Battle of Little Bighorn

Gatlings were heavy, used on a platform, which was a wagon which traveling across uneven terrain would have been torturous and a drain on manpower(horsepower too). Carrying it by horse or man would be impractical as it would need disassibling and a disassembled gun is useless. Indians would soon realized it's action and attack from a different angle, anyway. It would have been of use in the trenches around Richmond(Civil War) but in the Great Plains it was used luggage

[Redleg Duke]

Custer was quite a success in the Civil War, becoming the youngest general officer in US history. Unfortunately, being reduced to a mere Lieutenant Colonel (My rank at retirement), he refused to acknowledge the reduction, wore stars on his uniform, and was a driven, vainglorious individual...a disaster, waiting to happen.

Of course, I didn’t go to West Point.

[schurmann]

“Custer had three Gatling Guns at his disposal. But Custer thought they would slow him down, so he left them behind at the fort.
This guy at the link below says Custer was right in declining those guns. They were completely unsuited for the terrain. As for me, I’d have taken those guns,...” [Leaning Right, post 5]

“...The wheeled guns were not nearly as heavy to haul as the ammunition boxes.” [odawg, post 49]

A more careful look at the topography, along the Little Big Horn River in southeast Montana can help.

The ground that the 7th had to traverse that June day was not all gently rolling prairie. Patches of exposed clay, highly eroded and crisscrossed by deep gullies and steep hillocks, are easily seen from the battlefield. Wheeled vehicles could not have crossed it; lightly burdened men on foot would have had trouble. Laden horses and mules would have had a tough time. They’re called badlands.