Even if he hadn’t alienated his officers so they weren’t ready to go the extra mile for him, and they had rushed in, Custer was in an indefensible place and they would have all died.
He died because of his hubris at underestimating the enemy in both number and determination to fight, at putting his men in a position where they got outflanked, by choosing not to believe in the intelligence he was getting from his scouts, and by splitting his forces which were too few for the situation anyway.
IMHO
Even if their guns hadn’t had jammed up from overheating.
I tend to agree. Custer was a very poor leader and general.
He made a very good pompous and egotistical fool, however.
He doesn’t deserve ‘hero’ status. It’s a pity he took so many men to their deaths.
I agree with you. I’ve been reading a lot of this revisionist history here lately.His arrogance got him in a world of hurt and the “savage” turned out to have more fight in them then Custer anticipated !!!
Couple what you said with what I believe is the fact, I don’t think he really knew how big the village was.
When his scouts first showed him the village he kept telling them “I don’t see it.”
I believe God, for whatever reason, blinded him to the reality of what he faced.
He never underestimated anyone. It’s a myth.
The Indians were 950 to 1’500 and Custer said to his officers that they would attack 1’500 warriors at last. He was right.
The “underestimation” is a pure lie, a myth that was created to explain the defeat to the American people. Custer was never outflanked, it’s a myth too and historians have crushed it since a long time. Watch the videos.
Custer’s men made a hard fight during more than two hours without getting any support or help.
The Indian determination was poor: all of the warriors were surprised twice by Custer’s movements and specialists think that up to 500 warriors left the battle before the ending because of Custer’s fire.
My take also.