Read complete books and articles on: Battle of Little Bighorn

Custer, George Armstrong - 1839–76, American army officer, b. New Rumley, Ohio, grad. West Point, 1861.

Civil War Service

Custer, George Armstrong - 1839–76, American army officer, b. New Rumley, Ohio, grad. West Point, 1861.

Civil War Service

Custer fought in the Civil War at the first battle of Bull Run, distinguished himself as a member of General McClellan's staff in the Peninsular campaign, and was made a brigadier general of volunteers in June, 1863. The youngest general in the Union army, Custer ably led a cavalry brigade in the Gettysburg campaign. He fought in Virginia in the great cavalry battle at Yellow Tavern and in General Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign. Made a divisional commander in Oct., 1864, he defeated (Oct. 9) Gen. Thomas L. Rosser at Woodstock. After dispersing the remnants of Gen. Jubal A. Early's command at Waynesboro on Mar. 2, 1865, he was in the advance in pursuit of Lee's army beyond Richmond. Custer received the Confederate flag of truce, was present at the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and was promoted major general of volunteers. His record (he had also been brevetted a major general in the regular army), considering his youth, was one of the most spectacular of the war.

The 7th Cavalry

In the reorganization of the U.S. army after the war Custer was assigned to the 7th Cavalry with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and he remained the acting commander of this regiment until his death. In 1867 he was court-martialed and removed from command for leaving his command at Fort Wallace, Kans., without permission, but in Sept., 1868, he was reinstated, mostly through the efforts of Sheridan, with whom he had always been a favorite. In the massacre of the Cheyenne and their allies at the battle of the Washita (Nov., 1868), he was accused of abandoning a small detachment of his men, who were annihilated. He served (1873) in Dakota Territory and in 1874 commanded the expedition into the Black Hills that led to renewed hostilities with the Sioux.

In the comprehensive campaign against the Sioux planned in 1876, Custer's regiment was detailed to the column under the commanding general, Alfred H. Terry, that marched from Bismarck to the Yellowstone River. At the mouth of the Rosebud, Terry sent Custer forward to locate the enemy while he marched on to join the column under Gen. John Gibbon. Custer came upon the warrior encampment on the Little Bighorn on June 25 and decided to attack at once. Not realizing the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Native Americans, most of whom lay concealed in ravines, he divided his regiment into three parts, sending two of them, under Major Marcus A. Reno and Capt. Frederick W. Benteen, to attack farther upstream, while he himself led the third (over 200 men) in a direct charge. Every one of them was killed in battle. Reno and Benteen were themselves kept on the defensive, and not until Terry's arrival was the extent of the tragedy known. The men (except Custer, whose remains were reinterred at West Point) were buried on the battlefield, now a national monument in Montana. Custer's spectacular death made him a popular but controversial hero, still the subject of much dispute as to his actions and character.

Bibliography

Custer wrote My Life on the Plains (1874), and his wife, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, 1842–1933, who devoted much of her life to upholding his memory, wrote Boots and Saddles (1885), Tenting on the Plains (1887), and Following the Guidon (1890). See also biographies by F. Hunt (1928) and J. Monaghan (1959, repr. 1971); C. A. Windolph, I Fought with Custer (as told to F. and R. Hunt, 1947); W. A. Graham, The Story of the Little Big Horn: Custer's Last Fight (1959); E. I. Stewart, Custer's Luck (1955, repr. 1971); E. S. Connell, Son of the Morningstar (1984); J. D. Wert, Custer (1996).

Show Excerpt Only

11 of the Best Books and Articles on: Battle of Little Bighorn

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Little Bighorn Campaign, March-September 1876 » Read Now
by Wayne Michael Sarf. 301 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

This balanced account examines in detail events leading up to the clash at Little Bighorn, the uneven battle itself, and the bitter aftermath as the Sioux found themselves assailed by the vengeful U.S. Army.
2.

Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed » Read Now
by John S. Gray. 446 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...volume dealing with the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Sioux War of...it remains so. For the Battle of the Little Bighorn, it has now been superseded...campaign of...
3.

The Dust Rose like Smoke: The Subjugation of the Zulu and the Sioux (Chap. 1 "The Little Bighorn in Comparative Perspective") » Read Now
by James O. Gump. 178 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In 1876 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors annihilated Custer's Seventh Cavalry on the Little Bighorn. Three years later and half a world away, a British force was wiped out by Zulu warriors at Isandhlwana in South Africa. In both cases the total defeat of regular army troops by forces regarded as...
Read More

In 1876 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors annihilated Custer's Seventh Cavalry on the Little Bighorn. Three years later and half a world away, a British force was wiped out by Zulu warriors at Isandhlwana in South Africa. In both cases the total defeat of regular army troops by forces regarded as undisciplined barbarian tribesmen stunned an imperial nation. The similarities between the two frontier encounters have long been noted, but James O. Gump is the first to scrutinize them in a comparative context. "This study issues a challenge to American exceptionalism", he writes. Viewing both episodes as part of a global pattern of intensified conflict in the latter 1800s resulting from Western dominion over a vast portion of the globe, he persuasively traces the comparisons in their origins and aftermath.
Show less
4.

Men with Custer: Biographies of the 7th Cavalry June 25, 1876 » Read Now
by Ronald H. Nichols. 407 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
5.

A Guide to the Indian Wars of the West (Discussion of Little Bighorn begins on p. 159) » Read Now
by John D. McDermott. 208 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

From 1860 to 1890 the United States military engaged in war after war with the indigenous peoples of the West. This informative work serves as a guide to the battlefields and fits the episodes into the larger historical drama. This detailed guide also leads students, tourists, and history buffs to...
Read More

From 1860 to 1890 the United States military engaged in war after war with the indigenous peoples of the West. This informative work serves as a guide to the battlefields and fits the episodes into the larger historical drama. This detailed guide also leads students, tourists, and history buffs to monuments, parks, museums, and other sources of information about the wars.
Show less
6.

Great Western Indian Fights (Chap. 20 "The Battle of the Little Bighorn") » Read Now
by Members of the Potomac Corral of The Westerners. 336 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

From 1832 to 1891 the state from Great Lakes west to Oregon and south to Mexico saw of massacre, bloody rout, ambush, fire, and pillage as the great Indian tribes-Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Modoc, and Apache-fought desperately to turn back the invading white men.
7.

The American West ("Battle of Little Bighorn, 1876" begins on p. 251) » Read Now
by Bradley J. Birzer, Larry Schweikart. 542 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this authoritative and comprehensive resource, you'll find detailed information on a vast array of topics related to the American West, including: Adobe architecture Apple Computer Atomic bomb testing Buffalo Soldiers Kit Carson Willa Cather Colt handguns Francisco Coronado Crazy Horse The Donner...
Read More

In this authoritative and comprehensive resource, you'll find detailed information on a vast array of topics related to the American West, including: Adobe architecture Apple Computer Atomic bomb testing Buffalo Soldiers Kit Carson Willa Cather Colt handguns Francisco Coronado Crazy Horse The Donner Party Wyatt Earp Geronimo The Grand Canyon Hollywood Lyndon Johnson Lewis & Clark The Louisiana Purchase Manifest Destiny The Mexican War Microsoft The Missouri Compromise Mountain Men Mustangs Richard Nixon The Oregon Trail The Pony Express Ronald Reagan Teddy Roosevelt The Space Needle Belle Starr Union Pacific Railroad Pancho Villa Western Swing Winchester rifles Wounded Knee Yellowstone National Park Brigham Young Wiley Desk References are comprehensive, generously illustrated reference works on major historical, cultural, and scientific topics. Their easy-to-use format helps you quickly find just the information you need, while first-person accounts and excerpts from official documents, letters, and other primary sources bring the subject to life. Wiley Desk References give you all the information you need on the subjects that matter most.
Show less
8.

Sanctuary: Native Border Crossings and the North American West, in American Review of Canadian Studies » Read Now
by Beth Ladow. 17 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
9.

History of Custer Battlefield ("Battle of the Little Bighorn" begins on p. 18) » Read Now
by Don Rickey Jr. 151 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...encourage interest in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. First Printing 1967...Prelude 14 Battle of the Little Bighorn 18...higher at the time of the Battle of the Little...
10.

Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer (1931) (Chap. VIII "On the Little Bighorn") » Read Now
by Thomas B. Marquis, Wooden Leg. 404 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...horde in the battle camps beside the Little Bighorn river. All of the Sioux...VIII ON THE LITTLE BIGHORN 208...THE COMING OF CUSTER...SPOILS OF BATTLE 258...the Custer...
11.

It Is a Good Day to Die: Indian Eyewitnesses Tell the Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn » Read Now
by Herman J. Viola. 108 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library