From that fateful Sunday in June,
1876 until the present, Custer's
movements, after a messenger left him
and until his defeat, have been the subject
of hot debate. No white survivors lived
to tell the tale, and Indian accounts
of the battle have often been discounted,
suggesting that the Indian's fear of retribution
and the language barriers combined to
create inaccuracies.
A literal conflagration in August 1983
produced the opportunity to examine the
battlefield in a new way when a wildfire
scorched the Little Bighorn Battlefield
National Monument, administered by the National
Park Service. Recently, a series of multidisciplinary
studies have combined to provide fresh interpretations
of the battle and its significance in American
history.
Archeological investigations
have used physical evidence,
artifacts, to interpret specific elements
of the battle. In turn, the archeological
studies spurred historians and other researches
to re-evaluate the documentary record, Native
American oral tradition, and ethnohistorical
accounts.
The results are a significant
reinterpretation of the battle events. Some
of the reinterpretation is particularistic
in nature, literally following combatant
movements across the field or revealing
physical evidence that combined with oral
tradition identifies the site and occupants
of a previously unknown Lakota camp circle
on the west side of the Little Bighorn river.
Other elements allow a broader re-evaluation
of the events.
In an attempt to make the battlefield speak for itself, archeological
procedures were applied during the summers
of 1984, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1994, and 1996.
This has resulted in the accumulations of
over 5000 artifacts, and much new data on
the battle. The multidisciplinary work clearly
demonstrates that Custer divided the Seventh
Cavalry into three elements during the early
phases of the battle and then subdivided
his immediate command into wings. This division
of his troops in the face of an overwhelming
number of Indians may not have been his
best decision, but it was an accepted and
field tested military tactic that was successful
until this battle.
The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors, although surprised by the
army's attack, quickly rallied and put all
elements of the Seventh Cavalry's attack
on the defensive. The Indians fought in
a prescribed cultural manner as is demonstrated
by oral tradition and physical evidence.
Ramifications of the event aside, it is
clear from the newly reinterpreted multidisciplinary
sources that the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors
outnumbered, outgunned, and outfought the
soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry, giving
the army its worst defeat of the entire
Indian Wars. NEXT
>>
Text by Douglas
Scott
Links:
Little Bighorn Sites of Interest
Friends
of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
NPS
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Custer
Battlefield Historical and Museum Association
Little
Bighorn Associates |
Granite monument dedicated to General George
Armstrong Custer, his officers and soldiers
