Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Understanding The Battle Of Little Bighorn

By Tammie Caldwell


Many wars have been fought on American soil by the US Army and some were won gloriously while others led to grave defeat and casualties for the army. One such battle is the battle of Little Bighorn. The battle has come to be known by several other names such as Custer Last Stand and Battle of Greasy Grass. The war was fought between combined forces of Native American tribes and the Seventh Cavalry Regiment of the American Army.

The engagement happened close to Little Bighorn River on the 25th and 26th days of June, 1976. The river is located on eastern side of what was called the Montana territory. Of all actions that occurred in the Great Sioux War, this was the most prominent. The war began in form of a sequence of conflicts that was named Sioux Wars. The encroachment of settlers into Great Plains was the source of these conflicts.

Native Indians were forced by the settles and the government to move to the shrinking reservations. Most Native Indians accepted to relocate, but a minority refused and went on the defensive. Cheyenne and Lakota tribes forms and alliance and Sitting Bull was the leader. Thousands of relocated Native Indians later joined the alliance to form a big army.

Crazy Horse and the Chief Gall are among native Indian war leaders that took part in the war. The seventh Cavalry Regiment lost its commander, top officers and several soldiers. The seventh Regiment was under the command of George Armstrong. Great victory was obtained by the Native Americans with some historians approximated the engagement to has lasted only thirty minutes. Some say it lasted a shorter time than that.

The exact facts about the battle remain largely unknown and the little that is known is very debatable. The official number of casualties on the US side is placed at 268 soldiers dead and fifty five injured. The lack of exact account of this war is hugely attributed to the fact that many officers from the US Army died in the engagement. Native Indians have since then given contradicting accounts.

Custer has been criticized a lot for miscalculations and errors during the war. His refusal to accept reinforcement for Gatling guns and overrating of his battalion against the enemy have particularly been criticized greatly. He also made his forces easier to defeat by dividing them into three groups. Wrong assumptions were prevalent in the war and contributed to the greasy loss by the Army.

The US government has made the site of this engagement into a national monument. A mass grave was used to bury all soldier who fell in the battlefield in that engagement. The war has been featured in several artistic works by different artists. Some among the works that feature it include paintings, TV shows, films, music, radio programs, and video games.

Since the battle, the 7th Cavalry regiment underwent major reconstruction to fill positions left by dead soldiers. The resistance was also defeated later and relocated into reservations. Criticism directed to Custer has also met positive support as some historians describe him as skilled in war and courageous.




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