On 25 June 1876, beside the Little Bighorn River in Montana, a huge village of Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho, inspired by Sitting Bull and led in the fight by Crazy Horse and others, destroyed five companies of the US 7th Cavalry and killed their commander, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Custer's Last Stand was the most famous Native American victory of the Plains wars, though it hastened the very defeat of those nations.
It is the most famous defeat in the history of the United States Army, and one of the greatest victories ever won by Native Americans in defence of their land. On a hot June afternoon in Montana, a cavalry regiment rode down toward the largest gathering of Plains warriors anyone could remember, and much of it never rode back.
The Great Sioux War
In 1876 the United States moved to force the Lakota Sioux and their allies onto reservations and open their lands, including the sacred Black Hills, to gold miners1. Thousands of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho instead gathered on the plains under the spiritual leadership of Sitting Bull, who had seen a vision of soldiers falling into camp1. The army sent columns to round them up, among them the 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer.
Custer divides his command
On 25 June Custer found an enormous village along the Little Bighorn, far larger than he expected. Fearing the people would scatter, he attacked at once1, splitting his regiment into three. While Major Reno's men were driven back across the river, Custer led five companies, around two hundred men1, along the bluffs to strike the village from the flank, and rode out of contact with the rest of the regiment.
The last stand
Custer's battalion was met by warriors in overwhelming numbers, led in the fighting by Crazy Horse and others, who crossed the river and enveloped the strung-out companies. Driven onto the ridges, the cavalrymen were overrun position by position. Custer and every man of his immediate command were killed.1 Reno and Benteen's survivors held out on a hilltop nearby1 until the village moved off.
A victory that hastened defeat
The Little Bighorn was a stunning triumph, but it enraged and shocked the United States, coming in the year of its centennial3. The army poured reinforcements onto the plains, and within a year the great village had scattered, Crazy Horse had surrendered, and Sitting Bull had fled to Canada4. The victory that destroyed Custer helped seal the end of the free life of the Plains nations.