This entire series on the little Bighorn is excellent. I’ve been reading The Last Stand and trying to follow the battle and this is so much better than the overdramatized TV documentaries.
Excellent. Something I read yrs ago described Custer as very arrogant, but also very brave. He led 60 charges in the Civil War, and had 11 horses shot from under him. Wild man.
Mackay: You gave an example of the description you read that described Custer's bravery, but was there no example to help describe how "very arrogant" he was? I have read a lot of literature about George Armstrong Custer, and I can only recount one thing he ever said or wrote that might be considered "very arrogant". People (not historians) consistently say Custer had a huge ego and equate him with arrogance, but nobody ever provides a bonafide, historical example of his mighty ego and haughty arrogance. Why is that?
@@Eadbhard Please recount for us the one thing he said or wrote that was arrogant. And read the other comments. I thought my comment was quite complementary to him.
Could it be argued that Custer refused the Gatling Guns because they are not conducive to Cavalry tactics? Cavalry must be able to move,disengage,retreat or advance quickly. Gatling Guns are heavy,bulky and must be moved by horse..as well as a large amount of ammunition They are best suited for defending a fixed position and are actually a hinderance for quick and fluid cavalry movements
Custer may have believed that the gatling wasted ammo. Custer was in the ordinance committee that chose the single shot Springfield. He preferred the single shit because it "kept the men from wasting ammo"
@@dmacbain8326 Custer wasn't on any ordinance committee, you dimwit. You're confusing him with Major Reno. Reno sat on the committee that selected the 1873 model Springfield carbine as the primary weapon for the U.S. Cavalry, and General Terry was the officer actually in charge of the committee.
I have been interested in this battle and read about it since being a little kid. I've looked around the internet and found a couple decent documentaries but most don't have much to say. Your series is the best I have found. Your detail is awesome. I'm not sure if you are formally a historian by trade but you have bested all of them!
One of the great "What Ifs" is the possibility of Brisbin's 2nd Cavalry being along on Custer's incursion. Had those 4 companies been along, I'm thinking one of them would have stayed with the pack train, freeing up McDougall's B Company for the attack. Brisbin probably would have commanded the remaining 3 on the scout that Benteen did, and Reno would have had two companies added to the 3 he attacked the south end of the village with, and Custer would have had 7 companies instead of 5. This might have been enough to make both Reno's attack (with Benteen along who was a superior commander) and Custer's movements a success. Of course the Terry Gibbon column would have been far weaker and might itself have been wiped out instead of Custer.
You should have used video clips from the Television movie Son of the Morning Star, best and most authentic movie about Custer and the Little Big Horn battle.
Wondered if anyone could possibly help, how many men did Captain French have commanding conapnay M, under major reno?! Its for a diorama. Thanks Cheers
I did an online order of battle. Here is the link. datameister.shinyapps.io/SeventhCavalry1876/ You can download the data as a .csv All I ask is that you acknowledge where you got it. Please advise if you have any further questions and I hope to see your work.
My God, had Crook just held his ground and sent for his supplies, he could have linked up with Custer and they both could have moved together on the village!! But as you pointed out Crook withdrew and went hunting and fishing!! PS which amazes me because who would go hunting and fishing with Indians on the warpath?
Question for all you Custer nerds out there: When I was a kid (mid 50s) I visited a Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not exhibit purporting to show a necklace made from the trigger fingers of all of Custer's men killed at the battle. As a credulous kid in those innocent times, I believed it, and was enthralled to see it. As an older, more sceptical adult in these jaded times, I'm inclined to disbelieve it. Was right then, or now? Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?
Did not know that the chiefs met to determine that they would NOT go out to confront the soldiers but would let the soldiers approach the village and then fight the soldiers.
Neither did I. Still, I believe that plan was based on knowing the soldiers were close and the tribes being prepared for their arrival. Custer's approach was undetected and the tribes were thoroughly surprised by his appearance.
If the campaign was a three prong plan, then timing is everything. Better to proceed to Big Horn area as one unit, with small scout units a short distance ahead
Great Job, Col. Brisbin, if he was to come along with his 4 company's, may have caused an issue as to who was in command? I think GAC should have accepted and I think the Gatling Guns should have come along, I do fault him for that, he knew what could have happened at Washita if all the tribes camped down river had made it to BK's camp. Of course remember Crook made no attempt to warn Terry or Custer of what happened to his command,,and that is a major F-UP! Nice job U do. :)
@@Jay_Hall Terry wanted to use the 7th Cavalry as the campaign's initial strike force. Such as it were, Custer wasn't expected to "wait" for the Terry/Gibbon column to arrive. Terry and Gibbon figured they would be policing up all the fleeing Indians trying to escape Custer's attack upon their village. That's a big part of it.
@@matthewplehn4271 Custer had close to 700 men under his command, the warriors at the Little Bighorn numbered between 1,500 - 2,000. These were not insurmountable odds. If Terry had been with Custer, the combined force would have numbered close to 1,250 troops. "Heavily outnumbered"? I don't thinks so. Still "doubtful"? You're a moron.
Was gen. Crooked ever questioned about not continuing with plan after indians left. He should have at least sent scouts to let others know he was not coming.
No one knew where anyone else was really ... Where was Crook supposed to send messengers exactly, except to their certain death ... Crooks' column was not even under the same command structure ... No coordination between Crook and Custer/Gibbon/ Terry was ever planned ... There was never any rendezvous point established for that to happen ... Crook sent word to his separate command structure for resupply and as to what he was doing, which wasn't much as we all know ...
Not quite right on the offer by the second cavalry ... It was offered only if Terry was in command of the field force due to Brisbin's utter dislike of Custer ... First, Terry was not a field officer, he was a lawyer, he was in command of the operation but not as a field officer ... He wanted no part of leading the efforts in the field ... Custer refused because he didn't want to lose control of the seventh to Terry, just to have the second included ... So, make no mistake, military politics played by all three of these guys was a major part in the mess that followed ...
After watching these videos, and also jumping to other Utube vids on the Big Horn Battle, seems Custer was egotistica jerk, know it all and ignored all and any best judgement in making command decisions. When a stupid incompetent leader wants to fight, and is out of his league, you are not going to stop him. He got a lot of people killed, but it is possible that a lot of people would get killed in any forthcoming battle, all was unavoidable as US Army was in a search and destroy mission, destiny was to engage Indians in i a big decisive battle. All this analysis, second guessing aftter 150 yrs is just empty intellectualizing.
Sue, this is an interesting question, and I will touch on it more in the next couple of episodes. Some researchers from Univ. of Maryland have diagnosed Custer with Histrionic Personality Disorder. However, the next question is, did that matter? Well, it seems if we removed any commanding officer with some disorder, we would not have had Patton, MacArthur, Sherman, Stonewall, etc. Did Custer make sound decisions at the LBH? It seems up to a point. More to follow...
Most historians and scholars would disagree with you, Downing. But thanks for your biased, ungrounded opinions - they are funny. If you were to spend time reading and researching books and journals written by scholarly experts, instead of "jumping to other Utube vids", you'd probably know a thing or two; as it is, you obviously don't know your ass from your elbow. "Custer launched his attack in an authorized and tactically sound manner" - Col. Harold D. Baker, "A Defense of Custer's Actions at the Little Bighorn" "Custer lost because of peculiar circumstances, rather than poor judgement and tactics". - T.J. Stiles, "Custer's Trials". "Despite the consequences, Custer's decision to attack on June 25th was sound...." - Robert Utley, "Cavalier in Buckskins". "But one conclusion seems plain: George Armstrong Custer doesn't deserve the indictment that history has imposed on him for his actions at the Little Bighorn. Given what he knew at each decision point, one is hard pressed to say that he ought to have done differently" - Robert Utley, premiere Western historian and scholar. "Custer did not ignore his scouts". - Gregory Michno, scholar, "Ten Myths about the Little Bighorn". "The more I see of movements here (Little Bighorn), the more admiration I have for Custer, and I am satisfied that his likes will not be found very soon again". - General Nelson A. Miles (future commander of the U.S. Army). "It is most ironic that one of the major failings of the man (Custer) held up as the very symbol of rashness, on the fatal day, was a super abundance of conservatism". - David C. Evans, "Custer's Last Fight". "Speaking now as a private citizen, I do not hesitate to express it is my opinion that if Reno and Benteen had carried out their orders Custer and the five troops would not have met their fate". - Sergeant Daniel Kanipe, U.S. Seventh Cavalry. "Everything indicates that he (Custer) was convinced that the Indians were in full flight, and if this was true, his tactics are not to be criticized". - Captain M. Hughes, "Sufficient Reason" (article). "...but Custer as a glory-obsessed, arrogant fool emerged as the persistent narrative. It prevailed after his death, receded for many years, then rose again, predominating in the present day. This popular narrative contains some truth about every aspect of Custer's life EXCEPT his performance in battle - the one field in which he displayed consistent good judgement and self-possession. When in battle, Custer always proved decisive, not reckless; shrewd, not foolish". - T.J. Stiles, "Custer's Trials". "I am not impetuous or impulsive, I resent that. Everything that I have ever done has been a result of the study I have made of imaginary military situations that might arise. When I became engaged in campaign or battle and a great emergency arose, everything that I have ever read or studied focused in my mind as if the situation was under a magnifying glass and my decision was the instantaneous result. My mind worked instantaneously, but always as the result of everything I had ever studied; being brought to bear on the situation". - George Armstrong Custer.
You know what? You’re really really screwed up. I took two semesters of speed reading and I still didn’t have enough time to figure out what the hell you’re saying with that tax before you took it down. You’re going to fast. But at least you have enough common snap sense to not ruin it with music because if you put music in there I wouldn’t even watch the damn thing
I have an idea for you Jay.......put together your own presentation and upload it. What's that you say, you don't have the know-how, knowledge or intellect to do so..........................then STFU. As the old saying goes: Those that can do, those that can't criticize those who can.
This entire series on the little Bighorn is excellent. I’ve been reading The Last Stand and trying to follow the battle and this is so much better than the overdramatized TV documentaries.
Thank You! I will be back out there in June for new content.
Excellent. Something I read yrs ago described Custer as very arrogant, but also very brave. He led 60 charges in the Civil War, and had 11 horses shot from under him. Wild man.
And he led his cavalry to an important victory at Gettysburg.
Mackay: You gave an example of the description you read that described Custer's bravery, but was there no example to help describe how "very arrogant" he was?
I have read a lot of literature about George Armstrong Custer, and I can only recount one thing he ever said or wrote that might be considered "very arrogant".
People (not historians) consistently say Custer had a huge ego and equate him with arrogance, but nobody ever provides a bonafide, historical example of his mighty ego and haughty arrogance. Why is that?
@@Eadbhard Remember, GAC was only 36 YO when he died, and then remember all he had done and went through. He was an amazing man.
@@Eadbhard George Custer almost got his command killed at the Washita in 1867 and he did get his command killed at the Little Bighorn.
@@Eadbhard Please recount for us the one thing he said or wrote that was arrogant. And read the other comments. I thought my comment was quite complementary to him.
Could it be argued that Custer refused the Gatling Guns because they are not conducive to Cavalry tactics?
Cavalry must be able to move,disengage,retreat or advance quickly.
Gatling Guns are heavy,bulky and must be moved by horse..as well as a large amount of ammunition
They are best suited for defending a fixed position and are actually a hinderance for quick and fluid cavalry movements
But ironically his supply train held him back.
Custer may have believed that the gatling wasted ammo. Custer was in the ordinance committee that chose the single shot Springfield. He preferred the single shit because it "kept the men from wasting ammo"
@@dmacbain8326 Custer wasn't on any ordinance committee, you dimwit. You're confusing him with Major Reno. Reno sat on the committee that selected the 1873 model Springfield carbine as the primary weapon for the U.S. Cavalry, and General Terry was the officer actually in charge of the committee.
Another very interesting video. Thanks.
This is a great series and excellent presentation..i have listen to this many times now. I'm going there in the near future.. Thank you.
I have been interested in this battle and read about it since being a little kid. I've looked around the internet and found a couple decent documentaries but most don't have much to say. Your series is the best I have found. Your detail is awesome. I'm not sure if you are formally a historian by trade but you have bested all of them!
Thank You! I am halfway through a Masters in Military History, but put that on hold.
Thank You!
Nice work. This is excellent.
Great work TDM. Thank you :)
Crows nest is still there it’s a hill climb to flat rocks facing west to Little Bighorn river I went there in the
Great video thx
One of the great "What Ifs" is the possibility of Brisbin's 2nd Cavalry being along on Custer's incursion. Had those 4 companies been along, I'm thinking one of them would have stayed with the pack train, freeing up McDougall's B Company for the attack. Brisbin probably would have commanded the remaining 3 on the scout that Benteen did, and Reno would have had two companies added to the 3 he attacked the south end of the village with, and Custer would have had 7 companies instead of 5. This might have been enough to make both Reno's attack (with Benteen along who was a superior commander) and Custer's movements a success. Of course the Terry Gibbon column would have been far weaker and might itself have been wiped out instead of Custer.
Benteen has crazy eyes 😢
You should have used video clips from the Television movie Son of the Morning Star, best and most authentic movie about Custer and the Little Big Horn battle.
Wondered if anyone could possibly help, how many men did Captain French have commanding conapnay M, under major reno?!
Its for a diorama.
Thanks
Cheers
I did an online order of battle. Here is the link. datameister.shinyapps.io/SeventhCavalry1876/ You can download the data as a .csv All I ask is that you acknowledge where you got it. Please advise if you have any further questions and I hope to see your work.
@@MilitaryHistory317
Brilliant thankyou I have actually watched this video,.🤠.
But thankyou keep up the incredible work! 😊.
Never gets boring.
With 5-8 thousand Indian of all ages, I doubt they were going anywhere quickly. The cavalry had time to deploy
My God, had Crook just held his ground and sent for his supplies, he could have linked up with Custer and they both could have moved together on the village!! But as you pointed out Crook withdrew and went hunting and fishing!! PS which amazes me because who would go hunting and fishing with Indians on the warpath?
Gen. Crook seemed to know just when to declare victory and go home. He would have been a good advisor to Vlad Puten.
He had better successes in the southwest
Question for all you Custer nerds out there: When I was a kid (mid 50s) I visited a Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not exhibit purporting to show a necklace made from the trigger fingers of all of Custer's men killed at the battle. As a credulous kid in those innocent times, I believed it, and was enthralled to see it. As an older, more sceptical adult in these jaded times, I'm inclined to disbelieve it. Was right then, or now? Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?
Totally invalid story ... Good instincts Richard ...
What is the opening photo from? We need some context I think...
Did not know that the chiefs met to determine that they would NOT go out to confront the soldiers but would let the soldiers approach the village and then fight the soldiers.
Neither did I. Still, I believe that plan was based on knowing the soldiers were close and the tribes being prepared for their arrival. Custer's approach was undetected and the tribes were thoroughly surprised by his appearance.
If the campaign was a three prong plan, then timing is everything. Better to proceed to Big Horn area as one unit, with small scout units a short distance ahead
awesome
Great Job, Col. Brisbin, if he was to come along with his 4 company's, may have caused an issue as to who was in command? I think GAC should have accepted and I think the Gatling Guns should have come along, I do fault him for that, he knew what could have happened at Washita if all the tribes camped down river had made it to BK's camp. Of course remember Crook made no attempt to warn Terry or Custer of what happened to his command,,and that is a major F-UP! Nice job U do. :)
The gatling guns would not have helped Custer at all. Go read how big of a problem transporting those guns were for Major Reno and Colonel Gibbon.
@@Eadbhard Yes and no, there is more to consider. :)
@@Jay_Hall Terry wanted to use the 7th Cavalry as the campaign's initial strike force. Such as it were, Custer wasn't expected to "wait" for the Terry/Gibbon column to arrive. Terry and Gibbon figured they would be policing up all the fleeing Indians trying to escape Custer's attack upon their village.
That's a big part of it.
@@Eadbhard Yes, that makes sense.
Had Terry been with Custer in one unit moving together, it could have been a different outcome
doubtful....even at full strength Custers unit was still heavily outnumbered.
Good point. Makes one wonder why Terry sent the 7th Cavalry down the Rosebud by itself.
@@matthewplehn4271 Custer had close to 700 men under his command, the warriors at the Little Bighorn numbered between 1,500 - 2,000. These were not insurmountable odds.
If Terry had been with Custer, the combined force would have numbered close to 1,250 troops. "Heavily outnumbered"? I don't thinks so.
Still "doubtful"?
You're a moron.
I can't wait to plot all of this on Google Earth.
Was gen. Crooked ever questioned about not continuing with plan after indians left. He should have at least sent scouts to let others know he was not coming.
No one knew where anyone else was really ... Where was Crook supposed to send messengers exactly, except to their certain death ... Crooks' column was not even under the same command structure ... No coordination between Crook and Custer/Gibbon/ Terry was ever planned ... There was never any rendezvous point established for that to happen ... Crook sent word to his separate command structure for resupply and as to what he was doing, which wasn't much as we all know ...
Not quite right on the offer by the second cavalry ... It was offered only if Terry was in command of the field force due to Brisbin's utter dislike of Custer ... First, Terry was not a field officer, he was a lawyer, he was in command of the operation but not as a field officer ... He wanted no part of leading the efforts in the field ... Custer refused because he didn't want to lose control of the seventh to Terry, just to have the second included ... So, make no mistake, military politics played by all three of these guys was a major part in the mess that followed ...
Custer was pretty arrogant.
After watching these videos, and also jumping to other Utube vids on the Big Horn Battle, seems Custer was egotistica jerk, know it all and ignored all and any best judgement in making command decisions. When a stupid incompetent leader wants to fight, and is out of his league, you are not going to stop him.
He got a lot of people killed, but it is possible that a lot of people would get killed in any forthcoming battle, all was unavoidable as US Army was in a search and destroy mission, destiny was to engage Indians in i a big decisive battle. All this analysis, second guessing aftter 150 yrs is just empty intellectualizing.
Sue, this is an interesting question, and I will touch on it more in the next couple of episodes. Some researchers from Univ. of Maryland have diagnosed Custer with Histrionic Personality Disorder. However, the next question is, did that matter? Well, it seems if we removed any commanding officer with some disorder, we would not have had Patton, MacArthur, Sherman, Stonewall, etc. Did Custer make sound decisions at the LBH? It seems up to a point. More to follow...
Most historians and scholars would disagree with you, Downing. But thanks for your biased, ungrounded opinions - they are funny.
If you were to spend time reading and researching books and journals written by scholarly experts, instead of "jumping to other Utube vids", you'd probably know a thing or two; as it is, you obviously don't know your ass from your elbow.
"Custer launched his attack in an authorized and tactically sound manner" - Col. Harold D. Baker, "A Defense of Custer's Actions at the Little Bighorn"
"Custer lost because of peculiar circumstances, rather than poor judgement and tactics". - T.J. Stiles, "Custer's Trials".
"Despite the consequences, Custer's decision to attack on June 25th was sound...." - Robert Utley, "Cavalier in Buckskins".
"But one conclusion seems plain: George Armstrong Custer doesn't deserve the indictment that history has imposed on him for his actions at the Little Bighorn. Given what he knew at each decision point, one is hard pressed to say that he ought to have done differently"
- Robert Utley, premiere Western historian and scholar.
"Custer did not ignore his scouts". - Gregory Michno, scholar, "Ten Myths about the Little Bighorn".
"The more I see of movements here (Little Bighorn), the more admiration I have for Custer, and I am satisfied that his likes will not be found very soon again". - General Nelson A. Miles (future commander of the U.S. Army).
"It is most ironic that one of the major failings of the man (Custer) held up as the very symbol of rashness, on the fatal day, was a super abundance of conservatism".
- David C. Evans, "Custer's Last Fight".
"Speaking now as a private citizen, I do not hesitate to express it is my opinion that if Reno and Benteen had carried out their orders Custer and the five troops would not have met their fate". - Sergeant Daniel Kanipe, U.S. Seventh Cavalry.
"Everything indicates that he (Custer) was convinced that the Indians were in full flight, and if this was true, his tactics are not to be criticized". - Captain M. Hughes, "Sufficient Reason" (article).
"...but Custer as a glory-obsessed, arrogant fool emerged as the persistent narrative. It prevailed after his death, receded for many years, then rose again, predominating in the present day. This popular narrative contains some truth about every aspect of Custer's life EXCEPT his performance in battle - the one field in which he displayed consistent good judgement and self-possession. When in battle, Custer always proved decisive, not reckless; shrewd, not foolish". - T.J. Stiles, "Custer's Trials".
"I am not impetuous or impulsive, I resent that. Everything that I have ever done has been a result of the study I have made of imaginary military situations that might arise. When I became engaged in campaign or battle and a great emergency arose, everything that I have ever read or studied focused in my mind as if the situation was under a magnifying glass and my decision was the instantaneous result. My mind worked instantaneously, but always as the result of everything I had ever studied; being brought to bear on the situation".
- George Armstrong Custer.
You know what? You’re really really screwed up. I took two semesters of speed reading and I still didn’t have enough time to figure out what the hell you’re saying with that tax before you took it down. You’re going to fast. But at least you have enough common snap sense to not ruin it with music because if you put music in there I wouldn’t even watch the damn thing
Nobody cares
Jay, take a hike A-Hole! :)
I have an idea for you Jay.......put together your own presentation and upload it. What's that you say, you don't have the know-how, knowledge or intellect to do so..........................then STFU. As the old saying goes: Those that can do, those that can't criticize those who can.
DataMeister doc's are fantastic! Great work rite cheer!
Settle down Beavis