“The indians were better armed and vastly outnumbered Custer’s force.”
And better trained for the lay of the land. When you see this battle reenacted they are almost always fighting on open soil. At the time of the battle there was high grass, in many places more than two feet, that covered the entire battle field up to last stand hill and the Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians sneaked up on the cavalry and killed a lot of them from the high grass also using better weapons than the cavalry had with over 200 repeaters, mainly Henry’s, along with breach loaders while the 7th packed single-shot Springfield Model 1873 carbine and the 1873 Colt single-action revolve. And considering they were within a couple of miles from the main encampment of their enemy the whole time and Custer only had 210 men, they were vastly outnumbered and out planned. Plus Custer refused the carrying of Gattling guns so he made a mistake there, also. Custer was a fool and wished to kill Indians for his name. He’s more famous now this way.
wy69
I’m going to take a controversial stand here and say Custer was right about not bringing the Gatling guns. There is no practical way for them to contribute to kind of fighting he anticipated (Battle of Rosebud is a good example).
Thanks for your posts.
There’s so much ignorant asshattery being posted - it’s good to get some detailed info on Custer and the demise of his command.