War Military | War Rebellion

Battle of the Little Bighorn

Credit: Edgar Samuel Paxson/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
After their initial retreat, the U.S. cavalry regrouped. Skirmishes continued into the night. Despite the arrival of reinforcements the next day, a Native American victory was imminent.
In June 1876, 700 U.S. soldiers attacked an encampment of thousands of Native Americans in the Montana Territory in what became known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Refusing to relocate to reservations, about 7,000 Native Americans from across the Montana Territory gathered along Little Bighorn River on June 25, 1876. Gold had been discovered on their land nearby, and after they refused to sell off their sacred ancestral property to the U.S. government, they were ordered to vacate. When thousands resisted, the 700 men of the 7th Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer were sent in to suppress the resistance. Little did the soldiers know they were outnumbered five to one. Around 3 o'clock, the 12 companies marched into the encampment. While women and children ran for their lives, nearly 3,000 warriors rushed to confront the invaders. Within two and a half hours, Custer and hundreds of his men were dead. But the Native American victory was short-lived. Word of the costly defeat spread, prompting the United States to send hundreds more troops to the Montana Territory to force the area's Native Americans onto western reservations making way for gold prospectors and pioneer settlement.

Credit: Seifert Gugler & Co./Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
Although the Native Americans defended their lives against the formidable surprise attack of the well-armed U.S. troops, they were later condemned in the national press as bloodthirsty warmongers.

 

Credit: Library of Congress
After the battle, surviving U.S. troops gathered the dead that included Lieutenant Colonel Custer. Despite countless theories, to this day no one knows exactly when he died or who killed him.

 

Credit: Library of Congress
Ultimately, the Battle of the Little Bighorn was one of the Native Americans' final chances to defend their civilizations against the encroaching U.S. government and its unstoppable push westward.