Custer's Last Stand: Native Tribes Crush U.S. Army
Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors annihilated five companies of the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876, killing Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and approximately 268 soldiers. The Native American force, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 warriors led by Crazy Horse and inspired by Sitting Bull's vision of soldiers falling from the sky, outnumbered Custer's divided command. Custer had split his regiment into three groups and attacked without reconnaissance. The battle lasted roughly two hours. Every soldier in Custer's immediate command was killed. The victory was pyrrhic: the US Army responded by flooding the region with troops, and within two years most Lakota and Cheyenne bands had been forced onto reservations. The battlefield is now a National Monument visited by 400,000 people annually.
June 25, 1876
150 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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