True, and nobody ever takes into account that he wore his men out ragged. They had marched over 100 miles in less than 4 days. That night march the previous night quite possibly spelled their doom. His men were so tired that a good portion of them napped for 10 minutes while he wrote his last message to Benteen.
The last 3 hours prior to battle were non-stop marching over hilly terrain 15-16 miles of it in 90 degree plus heat.
A few minutes of harsh fighting with exhausted, parched-thirsty troopers who are getting shot to pieces and it’s no wonder his guys got slaughtered.
You make some excellent points. It was an impossible situation.
And a number of the troopers committed suicide.