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The Indians never read about Napoleon. They did not fight like a regular army. As I stated before, splitting up of one’s forces was a standard and successful tactic used against the American Indians. You cannot argue against success.

Up until the Little Big Horn, the decisive moment in any Indian battle was when the army was threatening the woman, children and elderly. If supported properly, it would have been the same here.

You blame Custer for under-estimating the size of the enemy force. Do you also blame him for the fact that the Indians opted to stand and fight this day, and not fight a delaying action? Do you blame him for their change in tactics? Up to that day, the size of the Indian force meant little. They would fight a delaying action and abandon the camp. The Army would burn the camp and kill the remaining horses while the Indians watched from a safe distance. If the Army was able to capture a large group of women, children and elderly, the braves would surrender.

Custer did not blunder in, as you put it. If you had read any books on the subject you would know that. He went in with a good plan - standard for Indian fighting.

Was Custer insufficiently supplied and reinforced? Yes. Was it his fault? No. As the article about Weir points out, Benteen did not bring up the needed supplies nor the reinforcements.

Reno made the odds against Custer so out of balance by retreating to a position that took him out of the fight. Custer had every right to believe that Reno would follow orders. If he had done so, he would have occupied the attention of most of the Indians, giving Custer a chance to capture the women, children and elderly.

I truly believe that you need to read some books on this subject, then you would not make foolish statements like your principles of warfare remark. The West Pointers were taught those principles and the smart ones quickly abandoned them when they encountered American Indians.

You also attack Custer for things beyond his control. You say that he deployed without any recourse. That is not true. He called for Benteen to come to him. He called for additional ammo. Neither happened.

It all boils down to this: The Indians realized that this was their last chance to preserve, for a while, their old way of life. On this sunny day in June of 1876, the Indians decided NOT to run, but to stand and fight. And you blame Custer for that decision!!!!!!

You are uninformed.

1. Up to the Little Big horn, Custer had not been a loser and he was NEVER a fool.

2. A junior officer does NOT have the right to disobey an order just because the man issuing it is arrogant. It is their duty to obey. Benteen and Reno failed at this.

3. As to your review of his tactics of that day, you obviously no nothing of Indian fighting. It was common practice to split a command when fighting Indians. A good example would be the Battle of the Rosebud, just prior to Custer’s fight.

4. Prior to this date, the Indian men would put up a delaying action while the women, children and aged scattered. This time, the men put up a very determined fight.

5. Custer, according to many leading authorities, was attempting to get beyond the village to capture the woman and children. If he had done so, the men would have surrendered. If Reno had pushed the attack on the village, Custer would have been able to capture the woman and children. Reno would have lost more men in that fight, but not as many as Custer ultimately lost AND it would have been a victory.

Arrogance had nothing to do with Custer’s actions that day. Based on past experience, his plan was a good one. It was the type of plan that George Patton probably approved - grab ‘em by the nose (Reno) and kick ‘em in the butt (Custer).

Read a few books on the subject and get back to me.