The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Frederick W. Benteen

It would appear BG has the Knack

LOL. Don't blame yourself. :-)

You obviously are very passionate about the subject and I feel I need to clarify my statement.

I stand by my view that Custer rushed in, I believe his plan was doomed from the start. While it was proper to pursue the "war party" to prevent the alerting of the village, it was not prudent to launch the attack on the village without Gibbon and Terry, without reconnaissance of the routes, without reconnaissance of the village, and without messaging Terry and Gibbon. While it is true that he was under orders to make sure all the Indians were destroyed, he was also under orders to attack WITH Terry and Gibbon.
As you say its the "Cavalry", and as a Calvary officer Custer should have known the terrain that his units can operate in, and what terrain will impede them. The area surrounding Little Big Horn is a mesh of ravines and bluffs, not terrain conducive to cavalry operations. The Indians chose this area because it was easily defendable and had the resources they needed to survive. As I see it, even if the estimate of 800 warriors turned out to be true, the Seventh would have still have had a bloody battle on their hands.
Hindsight is 20/20, and it is our duty learn from history, we are expected to apply this knowledge to future decisions, Custer failed in this, lets not forget Custer had charged in before and had been surprised.
There were many contributing factors to Custer's defeat, their were many heroic acts and many mistakes and not all made by Custer. Custer had many successes but he was not infallible, his decisions made at Little Big Horn did unquestionably lead to the Sevenths defeat. I do not see Custer as a villain or as an incompetent commander, nor do I see Benteen as an incompetent commander, I believe both acted honorably.

Oh, no! Not the knack! Anything but that!

Custer planned to recon the village on the afternoon/evening of the 25th, while the 7th rested in their bivouac area. Being spotted by the Agency bound Indians forced him to move without the recon [His orders NOT to let the Indians escape]. That is why I believe he used the plan, and the formation, he did.

The Indians were going to move the village on the 25th or 26th. It was too big to stay in one place more than a few days. If Custer waits for Gibbon and Terry, the Indians escape, since Gibbon and Terry were a day later than the plan, and Custer's understanding called for. And the Indian village was in the area the Army thought it was, and where Gibbon and Terry were to rendezvous with Custer [which explains their arrival on the 27th] Custer would again have been in disobedience of his orders. And remember, Gibbon and Terry NEVER made contact with the Indians for the remainder of the summer and autumn of 1876.

Finally, Custer's orders left him the latitude, if he found the Indians, to attack on his own, or do what he thought best. He did. He lost. He died. Benteen dawdled. Benteen halted. Benteen survived, while three miles away 211 of his comrades didn't. While I don't think Benteen was incompetent - I reserve that sobriquet for that craven, Marcus Reno; I think he was dishonorable. We'll just have to disagree on this.

You gave me some great stuff to think about. Although I don't agree about Benteen I do about Reno. I am looking forward to our next discussion.