The Sioux chief known as Gall destroyed Custer's rear guard while Chief Crazy Horse led the assault on his defensive perimeter. The fighting lasted less than 20 minutes.
News of the disaster became public in the midst of the country's Centennial Celebration. It provoked a patriotic clamor for revenge. Political leaders used it to justify escalating the war against the plains Indians.
In America the fiddle tune Garry Owen is forever linked with George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry. It is believed to have been played as Custer separated from General Terry's Column and headed for the Little Big Horn.
Although honored during the Civil War, Custer was often derisively referred to as the boy general. His military career after the war was undistinguished.
In 1867 he was court-martialed for misuse of government property and abuse of enlisted men. He was removed from command for one year. In November 1868 he led the infamous attack on a Cheyenne village near the Washita River. Killed were Black Kettle, a respected chief who was trying to make peace, and over 50 women and children.
Modern historians point to Custer's arrogance and inept leadership as playing a large role in the tragedy. What remains unclear is why someone with Custer's propensity for reckless behavior was given a command position.
* Source: National Park Service
Custer's recklessness and nepotism have been largely forgotten. He is remembered today because of his death.
On June 25, 1876 near the Little Big Horn River in the Montana Territory, Lt. Col. Custer along with 262* soldiers and personel of the 7th Cavalry, were overrun and killed by an estimated 1,500* Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors.
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