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Why did Custer lose at the Battle of the Little
Bighorn? This is a popular question for G.C.S.E. but the information you
need to know to get a good grading is quite extensive. It is not simply
a matter of knowing what happened during the actual battle. The history
behind this question gives a fascinating insight into the state of
affairs in America around that time. This is because to get a good
overall picture of why Custer lost you have to go back to the beginning
of the story, 22 years earlier.
This will deal with those 22 years and it will become clear
why the Indians were eventually pushed so much that they had to fight
back hard.
I am glad the question is not Who Killed Colonel George
Armstrong Custer because the actual physical killer is not known but
there are plenty of candidates along the way. Those who’s decisions
and actions were as responsible for Custer’s death as any Lakota arrow
or bullet. General Terry who got Custer back into service after his fall
from grace with the President and then did not control Custer as he was
supposed to; Lieutenant John Grattan, the soldier who started the Lakota
on the path the war; The Mormon who complained too much about the loss
of a beaten up old cow; Colonel William S. Harney, the man destined to
reinforce Indians’ distrust of the white man; Colonel John M.
Chivington, the leader of the Third Colorado Regiment, those who
murdered peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek, bringing the
Cheyenne back to the warpath; Certainly Edward P. Smith, Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, who’s ridiculous orders to the free Lakota and
Cheyenne could, in no way, be carried out: and finally Custer himself.
How much was he responsible for his own death and those of his men? The
answer has to be ‘very responsible’. The man was a loose cannon who
appears to have totally lost his way at the actual battle. Did he
disobey orders? It would seem so. Was he such a glory seeker that he put
himself and his men at risk trying to win one more battle? Probably yes.
The attack on a peaceful Cheyenne camp by Chivington was repeated
against the same people by Custer, totally destroying hopes of peace
between the Cheyenne and the white man. His encroachment into the Black
Hills where he should not have been under terms of treaty, his telling
the newspapers that the place was awash with gold, all things that went
towards the Indians anger and his death at their hands.
Who is most responsible for the defeat of Custer at Little
Bighorn? The answer is Custer himself. It could actually be classed as a
very elaborate suicide.
So read on, this is the story of the time leading up to the battle and
the battle itself. Make your own judgements from the facts laid down
here. You may or may not agree with my judgement; I think a lot may
depend on your race. For some strange reason Custer is classed as a hero
in America. I think they would do well to choose their heroes more
carefully.
At this time the Brule and Oglala were living quite
peacefully with the white man around Fort Laramie. They traded freely and
were given annuity goods from the fort. The Indians would spend many hours
watching the white emigrants pass by, heading west, on the trail they
called the Holy Road.
One day as a party of Mormons passed by, they had with them a
weak and footsore cow being forced along by an old man hitting her with a
thick stick. As they reached the lodge circle of the Brule some boys on
ponies passed by engrossed in a race. The noise panicked the cow and she
ran into the Brule village, entering a lodge through the open flap and
exiting through the back, a bundle caught on her horns. She knocked over
shield stands, crashed into kettles and parfleches and got tangled in
picket ropes. The man started to chase her but stopped at the edge of the
village, scared at the sight of all the Indians present. When a shot rang
out in the village he turned and ran, the women laughing behind him as he
did so. The band was being visited at the time by a band of Minniconjou
and the cow ran into their circle. When they saw the owner running away
they shot the cow, butchered it, cooked it and ate the meat, although it
did not make a good meal, being tough and old.
The next day Conquering Bear, the man declared chief of all
the Brule by the whites, was summoned to Fort Laramie. The old man had
returned to the fort and reported to the commander, Fleming, that the
Indians had stolen his cow and he wanted it back.
Conquering Bear explained that Straight Foretop, the
Minniconjou who had killed the cow had meant no harm but had made meat as
the man who had owned the cow had run away and left her there. At first
there had been laughter on both sides about the escapade but the
interpreter was a half breed drunk named Wyuse who twisted the words of
both Indian and White until Soldier Chief Fleming had become red with
anger and demanded that Straight Foretop should be brought into the fort
and locked up. Conquering Bear tried to tell Fleming that Straight Foretop
was not of his people but a guest with all the sacred rights of a guest.
He suggested they wait for the Indian Agent who would decide what to do.
Until then the owner of the cow could go to the village and choose any of
Conquering Bear’s own horse herd in payment. This too was rejected; the
man who had killed the cow must be brought in or soldiers would come and
take him away.
The next day saw the approach of Second Lieutenant John
Grattan and thirty volunteers and two cannons with Wyuse along to
interpret. Grattan hated Indians and was convinced they were all cowards.
He had stated that with ten good men he good beat the Cheyenne and with
another ten he could beat all Plains Indians. Through Wyuse he lectured
and abused the Lakota, Wyuse adding his own insults for good measure. He
tried to scare the Lakota by saying the army was coming and “would eat
their hearts raw”. Unlike at the fort there were some Lakota in the
village who understood a bit of English and they realised that Wyuse was
not translating exactly what was said in either direction and started to
murmur amongst themselves to this effect.
Chief Conquering Bear
Conquering Bear tried to calm things down but
suddenly a shot rang out, probably a soldier’s gun fired by accident.
The men on the cannon took this as a signal to fire and let off a round.
Rifle fire came from both sides as the first cannon shell landed almost on
top of Conquering Bear, mortally wounding him as he called out to his
people not to shoot. The village became a hornets’ nest and the Brule
were joined by the Oglala and Minniconjou in their battle against the
soldiers. All of Grattan’s men were killed. One managed to get back to
the fort but he died almost immediately of his injuries.
Wyuse ran into a burial lodge thinking he would be safe there
but the warriors chased him in and dragged him out. His own brother in law
struck him down with his war club, tore off his clothes and cut a long
gash up each leg from ankle to waist. A dozen warriors struck him with
their bows or knives but no one would take his scalp. The Indians were now
as mad as they could be and they raided the annuity warehouse, taking
everything they could carry. The young men wanted to attack the fort
(Fleming only had 42 soldiers left to defend it now) but the older men
stopped them. They eventually broke up into smaller bands and left
Laramie.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs declared Grattan’s
action illegal and decreed that he had exceeded his authority, but
Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis said it was a deliberate plan by the
Sioux to obtain by looting all the annuity goods.
While not actually engaged in the fighting on that day the
young boys of the Oglala village were there watching and offering any help
they could. One young man in particular was so struck by what he had seen
that day he decided there and then never to trust another white man again.
His name was His Horse Looking, although everyone called him Curly. As he
grew up he would take another name Tasunke Witko – Crazy Horse.
 The Brule regrouped under chief Little Thunder at
Blue Water Creek, trying for the most part, to return to peaceful ways.
They had a party of Cheyenne people visiting with them. The Secretary of
War sent out six hundred soldiers under William S. Harney to avenge
Grattan. Harney hated Indians and had done so ever since he had fought the
Seminoles in Florida and been forced to run and hide for his life, dressed
only in his underwear. He approached the village with his troops as was
seen. Some of the women started to take down the tipis and run into the
hills when they saw more soldiers approaching from there. Little Thunder
and Spotted Tail rode out to meet Harney carrying a flag of truce. They
stated that they were for peace and had held back those who had wanted to
attack the fort after Grattan was killed but Harney would not listen. He
demanded that those who had been responsible for the massacre were handed
over at once. Little Thunder stated that this was impossible as the
Minniconjou had already returned north and nobody could say who, among the
Brule, had the killed that day. The chiefs returned to their village and
as they did so Harney gave the order to fire into the village. The Brule
fought back bravely but they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Over a
hundred died, including women and children. Another seventy women and
children were taken prisoner. Luckily a fair few managed to get away in
small groups to re-group later.
Chief Spotted Tail
Young Curly was out riding when he came upon a trail of
desolation and dead bodies. He managed to save a Cheyenne woman and remain
her to her people in the remains of the Brule camp.
The death and destruction caused him to be sick to his
stomach and re-enforced his hatred and distrust of the white man.
 The Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho bands under Black
Kettle and Little Raven were at peace thanks mainly to the work of those
two chiefs and their relationship with Major Edward Wynkoop.
Black Kettle and Lean Bear of
the Cheyenne had been to Washington the previous year and spoken with the
Great Father (President Lincoln). Lincoln had given them peace medals to
wear and a Colonel Greenwood presented them with a huge United States
flag. Colonel Greenwood told Black Kettle that as long as the flag flew
above him no soldiers would attack him. Black Kettle was very proud of his
flag and it always flew on a long pole above his tipi. Most of the
Cheyenne warriors would have nothing to do with Black Kettle and his ways
of peace and they were camped several miles away from him at Smokey Hill.
Lean Bear had been killed by
soldiers in an unprovoked attack but Black Kettle still led his followers
on the path to peace.
Edward Wynkoop
Wynkoop arranged for Black Kettle and other chiefs to visit Denver to meet
the Governor of Colorado, John Evans. He thought it would be good for both
sides as well as a P.R. exercise. However, Evans did not really want
anything to do with the Indians, it was politically embarrassing to meet
them. He actually wanted Colorado cleared of Indians altogether. Evans was
worried that meeting with Indians would expose him as a liar and a fraud.
He had just formed a new regiment with permission and money from
Washington. He had formed the Third Colorado Regiment specifically to
fight Indians and had stated that the danger from Indians in the state was
great, when actually most of the Indians in Colorado were peaceful.
So the Third Colorado was formed to fight Indians, trained to fight
Indians and would have to disband if there were no Indians to fight. The
regiment was basically made up of people who did not want to go east to
fight in the Civil War and the Colorado people would exert pressure on him
to keep the regiment to fight a few badly armed Indians as opposed to a
well armed Confederate Army.
Black
Kettle
Little Raven
At the meeting Evans immediately
accused the Cheyenne and Arapaho of being allied to the Sioux and
preparing to take to the warpath. Black
Kettle was surprised by this accusation and denied it but Governor Evans
was in no mood to believe them. He said that he would make no peace treaty
while the Cheyenne were friendly with the Sioux. The talk was getting
nowhere and finally Governor Evans turned to the commander of the Third
Colorado, Colonel John M. Chivington and asked if he had anything to add.
The former Methodist Minister stood up and explained that he was in charge
of all the soldiers in the territory and his idea of fighting was to fight
until all his enemies were dead or lay down in surrender. He added that
the Indians were closet to Major Wynkoop and when they were ready to
submit to military law they could go to him and lay down their weapons.
The meeting broke up, the Indians unsure as to whether or not they had
made peace. Still, Colonel Chivington had told them to go to Wynkoop at
Fort Lyon so that is what they decided to do. They moved their camp down
to Sand Creek, about forty miles from Fort Lyon and then went in to visit
Major Wynkoop. Eventually the Arapaho moved their tipis down and camped
around the fort. Little Raven and Left Hand, the Arapaho chiefs told
Wynkoop that they could find no buffalo and did not wish to leave the
safety of the fort so they were issued with rations. Their desire to stay
close to the fort may have been because they had heard the order from
Colonel Chivington to his soldiers; “Kill every Indian you come
across.”
Wynkoop was not viewed kindly for his dealings with the Indians. He was
reprimanded for taking the chiefs to Denver and accused of allowing the
Indians to run things at Fort Lyon. On November 5th 1864 Major
Scott Anthony, one of Chivington’s Colorado Volunteer officers arrived
at Fort Lyon and relieved Wynkoop as commander of the post. One of
Anthony’s first orders was to cut the rations to the Arapaho and to
relieve them of their weapons. A few days later as a group of Arapaho
approached the fort to trade buffalo hides for food Anthony ordered his
men to fire on them and then laughed as they ran away.
The Cheyennes heard of this new
soldier chief at the fort and Black Kettle went to visit the fort with a
small party of Cheyenne to meet the new man. Anthony pretended to be
friendly and he assured the party of Cheyenne that they would be safe on
Sand Creek as they were under the protection of Fort Lyon. Black Kettle
stated that he was glad of it and that the Cheyennes would stay at Sand
Creek for the winter on the strength of Anthony’s words. After the
Cheyenne delegation had departed Anthony ordered Little Raven and Left
Hand to disband the Arapaho camp and go to hunt buffalo to feed
themselves. Alarmed by this attitude the Arapaho speedily packed up and
moved away. Left Hand took some to Sand Creek to join up with Black
Kettle’s people but Little Rave took his people further south, away from
the white man he had come to distrust so much.
Colonel Chivington meanwhile had
made a speech in Denver advocating the killing and scalping of all
Indians, even children. “Nits make lice.” He said.
John M. Chivington
At dawn on 29th
November Black Kettle’s village was woken to the sound of drumming
hooves. They thought at first that a large herd of buffalo was near but
soon realised it was soldiers. Black Kettle had tied his American flag to
a lodge pole and was waving it over his head. He was calling out to his
people not to be afraid, as the soldiers would not hurt them. The troops
then opened fire from two sides of the camp. White Antelope went out to
meet the soldiers; confident that they would stop firing when they saw the
American flag and white flag of surrender that Black Kettle had now also
run up. White Antelope ran with his arms in the air yelling “stop,
stop” in English. Realising he was getting nowhere he eventually
stopped, sat on the ground and folded his arms. He was then shot and
killed. Black Kettle was now surrounded by many of his own people and also
the Arapaho of Left Hand and he tried to organise them in an escape. The
soldiers kept firing, killing indiscriminately, men women and children. As
well as the killing there was mass mutilation. Babies were waved in the
air on the ends of sabres, women had their breast cut off, and men were
castrated. The women were raped and then pubicly scalped. These scalps
were stretched and dried to make hatbands. The men’s scrotums were made
into tobacco pouches. Some of the women took their small children and hid
in an area of rock and shrub behind the village. As others made good their
escape they cowered in the rocks urging their children to be silent. The
soldiers found tem however and killed every woman and child they found,
these too being horribly mutilated. By the time the soldiers withdrew
there were 105 women and children dead and 28 men (this is an approximate
number, the exact numbers will never be know for sure – Chivington
claimed in his official report that between 400 and 500 Indians were
killed). Black Kettle had managed to escape, along with his wife although
she was badly wounded, as did Left Hand. The survivors fled towards Smoky
Hill to join up with their warriors but it was a fifty mile trek on foot
with only the clothes they were wearing when attacked, no shelter,
enduring icy winds, hunger and the pain of injuries sustained.
Chivington’s soldiers
considered the day a great success; a great victory and they exhibited
their scalps and other trophies at a theatre in Denver.
Any peace chief who thought as
Black Kettle did that the Cheyenne could live in peace with the white man,
could trust the white man, soon lost all respect and influence within the
Cheyenne nation.
Although the U.S. Government
were quick to condemn the actions of both Colonel Chivington and Governor
Evans the damage was done. The chances of peace between the whites and the
Cheyennes was now pretty much dead.
 Despite what he had been through at Sand Creek Black
Kettle was still convinced that peace with the whites was possible. He
still had his peace medal and his American flag.
We have two different stories
about his presence on the Washita during the winter of 1868. The history
books will tell you that Custer was not aware of Black Kettle being there
at all. Cheyenne history says that Black Kettle had met Custer previously
and told him where he would be for the winter.
There were several villages
camped in the valley of the Washita that winter. Not only was Black
Kettle’s village there but nearby were villages of other Cheyenne,
Arapaho, Comanche and Kiowa. The Comanche and Kiowa had always been
enemies of the Cheyenne but during that year they had made their peace and
now they were camped nearby for the winter. Black Kettle’s village was a
way away from the others. He was not respected by the other Indians as he
still preached peace.
A party of Kiowa had been out raiding and they returned to their village
in the valley, stopping off at Black Kettle’s camp on the way home.
Custer’s scouts had picked up the raider’s trail and followed it.
Naturally, it led into Black Kettle’s village. The night of 26th/27th
November was bitterly cold. Snow lay on the ground and any sentries had
crept back to the warmth of their tipis and their women.
As dawn broke the sound of ‘Garry Owen’ shattered the silence.
Custer’s band was leading the charge. The village was awoken by the
noise and emerged from their tipis still wiping the sleep from their eyes.
They were greeted by the sight of two columns of troopers heading into the
village. Unknown to them there were another two columns heading along
behind them to cut off their retreat. Gunfire stared and man, woman and
child fell to the bullets of the soldiers. Those men who could arm
themselves did so and started to usher their women and children back
towards the river. The water was freezing cold but the only escape was to
jump into it and cross to safety. Black Kettle still flew his American
flag from his tipi and he tried to reason with the soldiers attacking his
peaceful village but to no avail. Giving up he jumped onto a horse, pulled
his wife up behind him and made for the river. Before he could get there
he was shot and fell from the horse. His wife jumped down to him and she
too was shot. They died together on the ground at Washita.
Lt. Colonel George A. Custer
One of the columns sent to cut off the retreat was led by Major Joel
Elliot. He swung around in a wide arc attempting to come at the village
from behind. Suddenly his soldiers ran into a party of Arapaho who had
come down to see what the noise was about. Not stopping to ask questions
the Arapaho attacked and Elliot’s column was wiped out to a man.
The village was burnt and looted
and many women and children were captured.
It is quite possible that Custer
was not aware of the other villages around him. Suddenly warriors appeared
along the high tree line looking down into that particular part
of the valley and Custer found himself heavily outnumbered. He ordered
Black Kettle’s pony herd to be moved into plain view of the other
Indians and then gave the order that all the ponies were to be killed.
This order was swiftly carried out, either with a bullet to the head or by
the pony having its throat cut. As this butchering took place it stunned
the watching Indians. They could only stare in disbelief as one of their
most sacred animals was killed in this way. It took all the fight from
them and they felt the shock deep inside themselves.
While they were still stunned
into inaction Custer called for a hasty retreat and quickly left the area,
taking his prisoners with him.
He made no attempt to find Major
Elliot and his men, sent nobody to look for them; he simply left them to
their fate.
Black Kettle could no longer
talk of peace and all hopes of peace lay as dead as he was. The Cheyenne
never forgave Custer for the Washita; they would remember.
 In June of 1866 the U.S. Government organised a
great peace conference at Fort Laramie with the Sioux and Cheyenne.
William T Sherman led the council and chiefs such as Dull Knife, Spotted
Tail and Man Afraid Of His Horses etc. came in to talk.
The government wanted permission
for white emigrants to cross Indian lands and for three forts to be built
along the Bozeman trail. The Indians were not happy with the idea and said
so. When they found out that soldiers were actually in their lands already
and starting to build the forts they were outraged and stormed from the
meeting.
A warrior named Red Cloud (who
was not, despite some reports to the contrary) a chief was so enraged he
organised a fierce resistance to the forts and the trail.
Red Cloud
Fort Phil Kearney was built
quite quickly and met the initial brunt of this resistance. The Lakota,
Cheyenne and Arapaho alliance really proved its strength at this time.
Anyone leaving the fort was
almost certain to be attacked. The trouble was that woodcutter details
were always having to leave the fort.
One of the officers present was
Captain William Fetterman, a brash personality who had no respect for the
Indians. He said that with forty men he could beat the Sioux and with
another 40 he could subjugate all the Plains Indians. (Something like
Grattan?)
When a party of woodcutters was
attacked Fetterman, with 79 soldiers, rushed to their aid. He was warned
by the fort commander Colonel Carrington not to pursue the Indians,
especially over Lodge Trail Ridge where he would be out of sight of the
fort.
Despite the warnings Fetterman
was enraged by a group of 6 warriors who rode just ahead of him taunting
him. These were 2 Lakota, 2 Cheyenne and 2 Arapaho – one of the Lakota
was a young warrior named Crazy Horse. If the soldiers stopped then the
Indians would stop and jeer at him. He continued to give chase, at last
disappearing over Lodge Trail Ridge, disobeying his orders.
Once out of site of the fort the
trap closed. The six became hundreds and the soldiers were ambushed and
wiped out to a man. Fetterman had his 80 men and they were all killed.
Probably the only thing that
stopped the fort being attacked afterwards was the terrible weather.
The harassment of the forts
continued and the Indians caused havoc on the Bozeman trail.
Captain William Fetterman
In April 1868 General Sherman called for another meeting to try to talk
peace. In the face of the death and destruction that the alliance had
caused the government took the Indians a bit more seriously this time. In
fact they virtually conceded to every demand. The Bozeman trail was closed
and the three forts along it were abandoned.
The soldiers from the forts felt
betrayed by this surrender but as they looked back they could already see
the smoke rising from the burning forts.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 contained many clauses
appertaining to keeping the peace on both sides and various promises to
supply annuity goods etc. From the Indians point of view however the most
important ones were those appertaining to the keeping of their lands. For
as long as the wind shall blow, the grass shall grow and there be buffalo.
They had obtained a victory that ceded them the lands for all time. For
any change to be made to this treaty 75% of all Lakota men had to agree to
it.
Agreed
Indian Lands under Fort Laramie Treaty
(Orange
= Black Hills - Red = Reservations)
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