Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Virginia Time Travel)
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Custer’s Last Stand: Portraits in Time
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Since his death along the bluffs overlooking the Little Bighorn River, in Montana, on June 25, 1876, over five hundred books have been written about the life and career of George Armstrong Custer. Views of Custer have changed over succeeding generations. Custer has been portrayed as a callous egotist, a bungling egomaniac, a genocidal war criminal, and the puppet of faceless forces. For almost one hundred and fifty years, Custer has been a Rorschach test of American social and personal values. Whatever else George Armstrong Custer may or may not have been, even in the twenty-first century, he remains the great lightning rod of American history. This book presents portraits of Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn as they have appeared in print over successive decades and in the process demonstrates the evolution of American values and priorities.
The last quote from Utley sums it up best. History is complex and the passing of time blurs memories, ultimately colored by the writers own views. Archaeology provides the most objective view of history, of course this is only my opinion.
Reno didn’t set up a defense. He was drunk and had lost his mind. Benteen did that.
Oh yeah, were you there?
Reno was on the ridge before Benteen showed up
The only reason that there is so much conjecture regarding this event, is that the recollections of the victorious party have not been objectively recorded or discussed. There wasn't a battle. There was an attack by Reno and then by Custer, both of which were repulsed and, which in Custer's case, turned into a bloodbath. Reno only escaped the same because of Benteen's arrival. Custer didn't escape because he was already dead at the river crossing. The Native Americans state unequivocably, that they killed a leader at the ford, whom they later knew to be Custer. The head of the snake had been cut off, the other senior officers were spread out with their companies and were also quickly killed and no-one gave the order to retreat. They had lost most of their horses by the time they found themselves trapped on Last Stand Hill. 28 of them tried to escape the inevitable carnage by running ( with 5 on horseback ) down Deep Ravine but found themselves again surrounded on three sides and were all killed in that ravine. That is where the rout ended. No heroics in sight... save for the Native Americans. It was over " in the time it takes a hungry man to eat his dinner" according to the victors. That alone makes a joke of the idea that Benteen could have saved the day. He would not have got even half the distance to the site of the massacre even if he had left the packs and galloped all the way. He too would have been encircled and wiped out. Lastly, Reno and Benteen were not relieved by the arrival of Terry's column. The Native Americans had already left the scene, carrying their scalp trophies and all of Custer's weapons. They set fire to the grasslands, pack up camp and left. Reno and Benteen were mystified by this and thought it was a trap to lure them out. Terry arrived later on with the news about what had happened to Custer and all of his men. It is not politically correct to give proper credence to the Native American accounts. Just due diligence. Everyone knows that the US cavalry was a shit show. But what about their adversary? The finest light calavry that ever existed. Born on horseback, expert hunters who knew the land and who very well armed. They were well rested, well fed and their ponies were in top condition. Lastly, they were fired up with the vision of a great victory, given to them by Sitting Bull. They knew they couldn't lose. Custer didn't have clue as to what he was up against. End of story.
Thank you, Louisa. That about sums it up. My thoughts almost exactly, except that the Mongols were pretty good light cavalry too don't forget, and the Indo Europeans invented it..... but your point is made in that the Indians were better riders and better shots and had home-field advantage over the Army, and had maybe even hunted those very same slopes in the past, and they would have kicked the Army's ass even if their numbers were evenly matched. They were in a very defensible position for an encampment with good escapement, plenty of grazing, water and firewood, and they had the right weapons to defend themselves with.
You are 100% correct, 0% wrong. Well put.
Scholarly and well-presented.
This is one battle that never ended !
very good presentation
One of the most objective books on Custer is Stephen Ambrose "Custer and Crazy Horse, two American warriors", in which he compares everything about the two men and their situations. Written more from the Indian side, but a wonderful picture of how it really was, is Marie Sandoz 'Crazy Horse - the strange man of the Oglalas'.
Classic case of underestimating the enemy. Custer knew he was facing superior numbers -- his scouts had warned him. Yet he divided his command in the face of a larger force, a classic military blunder his West Point training certainly indicated.
I believe he thought capturing the non-combatants, i.e., the women, children and elders, would negate the superior numbers of the warriors as it had in the past. The strategy must have infuriated the braves.
Overestimating the enemy can be almost bad and can have catastrophic results, without affecting the ultimate outcome. See McClellan, George Brinton. His irrational timidity before Yorktown and even more egregiously, again at Antietam, prolonged the Civil war by more than two years. Custer would have benefited from a little of McClellan's caution and McClellan would have been well served by some of Custer's aggression. Character is often destiny, but not always.
General Lee did it at Chancellorsville with success.
"Pride goeth before destruction."
@@joetacoma4027 mess with the kids and women you're gonna get someone that has an anger that a burning coal wouldn't match
Very interesting......
Dustin Hoffman tried to warn Custer😀😀
There is considerable evidence stating that Custer was shot from his horse when his command first attempted to cross the Little Big Horn ... He was rescued by soldiers and from this moment on the companies he led fought an entirely defensive battle ...
There is no real evidence of that at all ! Just a clickbait video by some clown calling himself " Jay Silver Heels ". He offers hearsay evidence from a fictional person! Don't waste your time unless you want a good laugh!
The big problem with that theory is that Custer only had two combat related wounds, one to the chest and the other to the temple, either of which would have been fatal. That fact has been agreed upon for the past 146 years. If Custer had been killed at the ford, that would mean the troops dragged his dead body along for two miles during an increasingly desperate battle only to prop him up on Last Stand Hill. That's difficult to believe or explain. And even though Tom Custer was riding with that wing of the battalion if G.A. Custer had been killed command would have fallen to Yates as the senior officer of the wing. These men, the officers at least, were professional soldiers and would have maintained military discipline.
The only evidence the Custer was still in command on Last Stand hill is that his body was found there. There is plenty of evidence from Native Americans that they shot and killed someone they later identified as Custer, at the ford. Considering that the battle itself only lasted perhaps 30 minutes, there is no reason to conclude that the other officers on the hill could have done anything to reverse the situation that they found themselves in. Surrounded by a vastly superior force and having lost all but 5 of their horses, they were doomed. Yes, the public likes the idea of Custer shooting it out with a pistol in both hands until he is the last man to fall.... but the fact is, the battle ended elsewhere. 28 men, with 5 on horseback, tried to make a run for it down Deep Ravine and got slaughtered down there. Hardly the heroic picture anyone wanted but that is how it worked out. A rout.
@@MJ-we9vu But that's not how it played out though, is it?
@@louisavondart9178 Probably less than 30 minutes. Those Indians weren't playing around. The 7th Cav. was in their backyard, and they knew how to hunt it.
Very good. Just visited the battle field. Seeing it answered a lot of my questions. Was a lot bigger than Last Stand Hill. Much more complex. Still don't know if Custer was a fool or a pawn. I think both
You couldn’t be more wrong Kay, on both counts.
A objective scholarly view of the battle and General Custer.
lt col custer
Lt. Col. Custer
I have read other accounts that Custer's plan was to trap Native American women and children as hostages which would have ended the incident. When he failed to cross the river, he became trapped by Native American warriors and for whatever reason did not retreat back towards Reno. Whatever you think of Custer, this plan would not have been totally insane.
That he didn't retreat back up the way he came is an important detail, Howard, that everyone has their own opinion on. It's the crucial detail influencing how that day turned out.
Excellent.
There are always 3 truths to every story...
I am a white woman from Oklahoma....we praised our Indian communitys.....living in Az. now, Thank God for the land and resources saved by the Native American Indian!
The size of the village, and the location of the deep parts of the river, was what defeated Custer and his men. Custers scouts had given him fair warning, which he ignored. To get in front of the fleeing natives, was taking to long, plus there was way too many warriors for the army to handle. They werent running with the women and children, they were coming straight at Custer and his men. Custer was running out of men fast. There was talk of badblood between Custer and some of his officers. Thats why possibly Bentein was dragging his heels. Custers message to Bentein, was distracting. Custer knew that the ammo train was slow and possbly way behind Bentein. So he would of had to wait for it or go get it and bring it up fast. Causing more delay. There were toò many slices of holey cheese aligning. Too many mistakes were being made. Some forseeable and some unforseeable. Dog tired troopers, ignoring scout advice, indians with fast repeating carbines, not relising indians were not going to scatter, like they normaly did, not enough troopers to correl indians, not clear thinking, not a clear plan, village too big for battle feild,not enough ammo being carried by troopers, not realising how despŕite the indians were, the troopers were destroyed by the arrogant officers.
Very well said!
Had Custer done a break out move like Reno and headed back towards his other battalions, he may have saved his command and his relatives riding with him, but he continued to divide his force even further, reducing his firepower to less than what was needed to stop a charge by the Indians...He had plenty reasons to be worried about the safety of those around him but didn't seem to see the danger, the Indians were supposed to run away.?
i heard that in the past they would capture women and children and trade them for the surrender of the warriors and he thought he could do the same again
Had Custer used a drone with a real time video link, he'd known it would have been better to call in a an airstrike with A10 Warhogs or "Apache" helicopter gunships. One or two of either would have been more than sufficient.
So right, he should of pulled all the companies on the ridge for a defensive position. This is where is bravado, luck, sense of immortality prevented him from believing that Indians could defeat him
@@gamesofwar9268 Agreed. His own previous experience with success in capturing hostages/human shields and capitulating warriors who at worst skedaddled to fight another day surely worked against him.
@@SurviventheOnslaught Let me fix that for you. I heard in the past Custer would capture the women and children and trade them for the surrender....
1876, the year of our Centennial Celebrations, and Custer's defeat flashed across the telegraph wires of the nation. The pro-Indian lobby essentially disappeared overnight; and within the year, every Indian who participated in the battle (and many who didn't) was either dead or confined to a reservation.
The Native American's greatest victory, transformed into their greatest defeat. How ironic.
1876, the 100 year celebration of the Declaration of Independence which explicitly states that, "...all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that amongst these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", as demonstrated by a genocidal war against the local natives. How Ironic.
This lecture repeats the standard anti-Custer myths and distortions that Ulysses S. Grant and other Republicans began spreading about Custer's battle at the Little Big Horn soon after it occurred. He leaves out a great deal of important information that refutes his interpretation of the event.
No mention of Elizabeth Custer and her role in perpetuating the Custer legend!
She was a pistol !
Gold. Yellow metal make white man crazy.
What the hell? You speak like red man from many many moons past, when before white man come...kill MANY MANY buffalo!!
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull are true American heroes.
One thing that contributed to the tout was that many of Custers men were drunk . Many Indian accounts of soldiers firing into the air and stumbling around as if impaired . Also accounts by the Indians of many canteens the soldiers had were filled with whisky.
That’s not true. Reno yes, the enlisted men no, where do you think the troopers got the liquor from in the wilderness?
Custer should have waited for Terry troops
Why did crook retreat no talk on that what happen there ,a lot of questions on that
2 dozen M-16s would have helped as well...
And he would of been relieved of command for incompetence.
@@DM-iw2qt Sherman blamed Crook for the disaster.
Terry understood as did Custer, the camp may well have dispersed before he arrived and allowed Custer discretion.
I’ve been there and I assure you. Just the Lakotas alone could have taken Custers entire force together by itself. Splitting up made no difference.
Correct.
No, had Custer’s insubordinate officers carried out their orders, the plan would work. With Custer dead, the drunk and coward Reno and the pathological miscreant Bentine had two years to concoct an alibi to save themselves from censure. They continued to inflate their estimates of indian numbers from their modest initial guess, for obvious reasons.
wasn't Custer a colonel when he died
During the Civil War, he had been a brevet major general. Being that, as with many other officers during that time, they were often called by that rank regardless if they were reverted back to another rank afterwards. I believe Benteen was sometimes called colonel as well, as I believe he was breveted a Lt Col during the war.
karl Kruger he was, he was during civil war beverted major General
karl Kruger. Lt. Col.
Nice Video Folks, looks as though it was a Bueatiful Day, during your Visit. The Video was Very Good, other than it didn't encompass, much other than the Immediate, areas Around the Main Entrance, Last Stand Hill, & The Native American's, Memorials. So I suggest you next Time include, more Footage, as well as more Narrative.
Also Double your time filming, & elaborate more, or Explain Better.
Thank You for Sharing.
While this is an interesting essay, it's inconclusive, proving yet again that Bill Faulkner was right when he said: "The past is never dead. lt's not even past."
My big "what if" pertaining to Custer and his ambitions, would he have ultimately been the Indians best representative in treating the Indian Nations as a nationality thus enforcing and rewriting treaties?
No.
History is often written to the view point of the author. Many times history accounts are used to hide some wrong doing. or mistake.
Bingo. It always reveals a political bias, when you read between the lines, the intentional omissions, the obtuse interpretations, the mis-emphasis and the exaggeration of the irrelevant. Disinformation. It can't be escaped.
With a larger nose, Benteen would resemble the actor Karl Malden quite a bit...
I am a proud European-American and glad that we prevailed over the Indians. I'm tired of all the Indian sympathy, several of my relatives were brutally murdered by Comanche Indians in Central Texas, but my great great-grandfather extracted revenge against that Indian Chief that senselessly murdered his family near Blanco, Texas circa 1875, and our family keep that Chief's war bonnet and we proudly still live near Blanco,Texas to this day.
HURRAY for you and for your very brave great great-grandfather. You must be very proud, and indeed you should be. I am proud of your straight-forward post and courage regarding this countries glorious past and your magnificent battle trophy.
I too am a proud European-American that is well past sick and tired of the Hollywood glorification of the mythical noble savage when history actually shows them as just savage. Thank you for your post.
@@johnandrews3547 Both of you narrow minded bigots are in for a surprise. The days absolute control of the US by descendants of European settlers is rapidly coming to an end. As one myself, l can only say it's about time. Better pucker up, boys. America is changing. Change with it or get pushed aside.
@@frankmiller95 Absolutely correct... 👍
Proud of the near extermination of 60 million Buffalo, 50 million Pronghorns and millions of other animals, the greatest crime against creation in human history.
What a feeling it must be.
Funny how Germans are so extreme.
What's amazing is that a ten minute battle gained such notoriety.people have played this thing every which way you can imagine. And it is amazing Benteen and Reno weren't wiped out . The indians would have finished them as quick as Custer if they had been more organized . But evidently they heard Terry with his column was hours away. So the Indians packed up and left.
Much different field of battle, open visage and dug in positioned plus 400 troopers and ammunition which makes one hell of a difference than the at most men Custer ever got together for a few minutes at the end, around 100 quickly fell to 40-50 when E troop left the hill and headed towards deep gauge and their deaths.
Incorrect. Reno and Benteen's 400 plus surviving troopers held off the Indians for another day and a half. Because the troopers had a strong defensive position and better rifles. Numbers alone did not determine the outcome of this battle. Custer and his 200 men were caught in the open, with no rocks or trees to use as cover. Plus Reno panicked and Benteen failed to follow a written order to come to Custer's aid. Indians fought very well and aggressively that day but it was not a simple matter of having 2000 against 650. Soldiers back then faced bigger odds at Beecher Island and the Wagon Box fight and prevailed.
The battle's duration was on the order of 6 hours.
@@josephstabile9154 I presume he meant the Custer's Last Stand part. Probably 20 minutes.
where did the Indians get the rifles?
Civil war hero for sure...
Custer’s Last Stand: Portraits in Time
www.amazon.com/Custers-Last-Stand-Portraits-Time-ebook/dp/B00IV1O6BY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401378564&sr=8-1&keywords=Custer%27s+Last+Stand%3A+Portraits+in+Time
"It was a good day to die."
Custer surely lied to Reno, Reno wasnt suported, like Custer promised. He had no show of pushing the indians north. Although the noncombatants did head north, while most of the warrriors went east, straight at Custer. I think that the size of the village
Custer did not lie; after all, he desperately wanted to win this battle for both the military & himself. "I'll support you with the entire outfit." also doesn't ONLY mean "I'll just let you lead the charge into one end of the village, following you with my co.'s, because that's the generous leader of the 7th I am, and we'll just allow the Indians to scatter where they may, because that's just how you attack Indians."--NOT!!
Anyone above a 5th grade education in the army--and brevet brig. Gen'l. Marcus Reno would certainly have to be considered in this category--would know that full support could (and DID) mean Custer's 5 co.'s would hit the village also, just at a different location so as to produce a SUCCESSFUL outcome (the goal). And the entire outfit was being brought into the fight ASAP, by written & verbal message.
The non passive-aggressive, non insubordinate officers of the 7th
(that would be just about everyone except Reno & esp. Benteen) fully understood this, and that's why there was regimental oprobrium for these two (viz. their subsequent drinking & courts-martial w/in the 7th).
Could it be that Custer wasn't scalped because it appeared to the Indigenous Warriors that he had shot himself in the head and that scalping a suicide release negative energy onto the scalper?
Suicide is unlikely. Custer was shot in the left temple, but he was right handed. He was also shot just below his left nipple, a very bloody wound close to or even hitting his heart. Doubtful he could have survived that and it's a frontal hit which suggests he died as he lived, facing the enemy. Whatever his flaws, Custer was as courageous as they come. The head shot could have come from an Indian or a dying comrade as they were over run. Indians pumped lots of bullets into the bodies on the ground to make sure. This was witnessed by Captain Weir's advance party from about two or more miles distance, though at the time they had no full understanding of what the Indians were shooting at.
It was passed down from the old ones Custer died the cowards death
@@gdubgoin...Then the old ones made that up, as old ones are prone to do. The Sioux didn't know they were fighting against Custer until the battle was long over so it's highly improbable any of the old ones could identify him, specifically, as being a suicide or a coward. And the real evidence the Sioux didn't know they were fighting Custer is that he wasn't scalped. Even though Custer was balding and had short hair if warriors had recognized him they would have taken his scalp, or head, as a trophy of their great victory.
@@alanwallace5342 They were shooting down into Deep Ravine at the very end of the shooting, not at already dead or dying soldiers. That was women's work. Also, you can shoot yourself with either hand, it's not difficult. Custer was wet from falling into the river, so it made his wound seem even bloodier. He managed to get up the hill somehow, so it couldn't have been a heart shot. And he did suicide.
@@gdubgoin That's why nobody scalped him. Suicide is not an act of bravery. It's an escape.
Bought on by Crook not reporting the numbers and repeating rifles he would face . The man left the field and did not report the engagement to superiors for days, suppose he was to busy hunting and fishing. The man should have been court martialed.
Precise
It is reported that Custer's reason for obtaining advantage on the opposite end of the village(s) that Reno was charging was to capture the retreating assembly of women and children who traditionally fled the village whenever it was attacked. Women and their children fled opposite the advancing enemy to insure safety while the men charged and defended the village. Custer's strategy was to capture the women and children in order to get the men to surrender. He was stopped and repulsed before he could accomplish his intention and retreated to the nearest high ground- Last Stand Hill.
Reno’s position in the timber was safe, Indian commentary says they couldn’t understand why the soldiers ran away. Up until that point only a couple of troopers were killed. In the scramble to escape 50 were killed whilst the men LBH left behind in the trees escaped alive later.
I would like to know when the Lakota killers are going to return the Regimental Colors of the 7th Cavalry to the United states Army?
You sound a little biased there MR. ANDREWS. Custer picked the fight with the Lakota warriors and lost . Plus several other tribes were involved. Skull and Bones society had Geronimo' s skull which the Apache had requested be given back many times.
The Lakota might do so when the US government Returns the Black Hills.
@@perspellman And will the Lakota then return the Black Hills to the Crow and Arikara tribes? Since they took the Black HIlls from them by killing and driving them off?
Could this be a sign from god in how things will end for the world
😂
Probably not
I am completely absorbed by these authors who detract from G. Custer. I am compelled to wonder why these self-same authors neglect employing this same scrutiny to non-white historical figures.
Detract?
US Gov sent soldiers against the Indians in 1876 to remove them from gov land. Finally in 1889 the soldiers defeated the Indians. Now the Gov could claim the land.
Do you have a hearing difficulty? That 'government land' was given to the Indians - some would say given back - in the form of a written agreement in perpetuity....until the whiteman discovered gold, when the agreement was promptly junked. How very dishonourable. For that alone, Little Big Horn could be viewed as recompense.
Right.....the red man isn't
Greedy for gold like the
White man......as demonstrated by all
The casinos.
That was introduced by white man as compensation so the money didn't come out of the pockets for their crimes committed against them instead of paying out of there own pockets they donated Casinos so everyone else but them pays for their crimes
@@markt8719 You mean all the money the Indians use for A/C, big cars and color TVs, to preserve their heritage?
Easy n convenient to critique Custer from the comfort of 21st century academia, and therefore subjective n worthless.
Sounds like the white man was the hostile forces, not the Indians. The white government put the Indians on the agreed upon land and the government promised to protect the Indians. The government didn't give a shit when the white man started trespassing on the Indians land looking gold. The Indians started protecting what was theirs and the white government decided the Indians were hostile for protecting what was theirs. The government hasn't changed much since the early days.
Which tribes were 'protecting what was theirs"??? How did the Sioux get possession of the Black Hills in the first place, since they originally came from Minnesota? They took the Black Hills by force, that's how. By killing and driving off the Crow and Arikara tribes who were there first. So the Crow and Arikara tribes also were "protecting what was theirs" from the Sioux decades before. That's why Custer had Crow and Arikara scouts with him that day.
@@TWS-pd5dc Good job I could not have said it better myself .
We listened to four minutes before we were overcome by bullshite.
H.R.H. Hannimal Two Moon's 3rd great grandson of Chief Two Moon's.
If anyone deserves a reparation payment in the Excited Snakes of Saudi Israelia... it's the indigenous peoples.
Whatever you deem plausible Simple Facts In Battle Superiority In Knowledge Local Terrain + Huge Advantage in Armed Warriors Really It was a Rout Indians Easily Took Out Custer and his 261 7th Dont forget Egos George C was at the top of his class He Wins Little Big Horn He Runs For President of The United States Easily Winning Wait A Day Crook Gibbon & Terry Make it A Much Better Battle Even Up Edge To US Army Thus Glory Evenly Doled Out Custer Remains In The 7th Promoted to Full Bird Colonel
If Custer had somehow survived, he would have been lambasted. Perhaps even court-martialed. Reno and Benteen might have been viewed as the officers who displayed some common sense.
Common sense??? Reno violated his order to attack the village, then was the first one to run out of the timber in panic, leaving behind 18 troopers and didn't have the common sense to leave a force to cover his retreat, resulting to about 40 of his men being killed? And Benteen, who received a written order from Custer to "come quick, bring packs" and never tried to come to Custer's aid until a junior officer shamed him into it? Try reading up on this battle, so you won't push myths.
"Chief me know, not there". Only thing probably killer about this clown is his breath.
Who listens to these 'experts'? Imagine him on a horse? Shooting a rifle? Being a trapper? A pioneer? Hes a fish on a bicycle.
He was told not to engage by general terry and general crook. He was a glory seeker that met his demise. He picked on the wrong group of people that were tired of being lied to by Indian agents and the government .
Incorrect. His written orders from Terry gave him full discretion to act as he saw fit. Those written orders are a matter of record.
Correct. Custer engaged people tired of lies and paid for it.
IN CORRECTOMUNDO! !
Please produce this "no engage" order from Terry! Actually, Terry's order suggests just the opposite!
And, Crook? No orders from the Arizona column to anyone whatsoever in the Montana/Dakota columns. Crook put himself completely off the chessboard in this campaign.
CUSTER WAS A WIZ -AH-WAH-HOO!!!!!!!
You really skew your facts to favor your perspective
If Custer had somehow survived the battle he’d have been court martial’d out of the US Army.