That was a really good talk. I am so glad the topic of Vietnam came up. I turned 15 in 1970 and Vietnam had a profound effect on how I perceived American history. I Remember a few movies that portrayed Custer as a good guy. Since the early seventies I can't think of a single cultural reference to Custer in a positive light Recently I have learned a more accurate view of the Battle at Little Big Horn thanks to You Tube. Thanks for a very good overview.
I served as a trooper with the 3rd Armored Cav back in the early 1970's so the history of cavalry is very interesting, in fact in the history of the Brave Rifles, they were indeed with one of the Crook portion of the Campaign. I did visit the battleground about 20 years ago and it had a profound impact on me, living and working in the Dakota's I have spent more time then I would like to admit at the Fort Lincoln campground and have walked where Custer walked, slept where the troopers worked and perhaps slept as well. Our farm was on a part of the Deadwood trail, the wagon tracks still cut the prairie, my father had a 5 gallon bucket filled with arrowheads, knives and war clubs that he picked up while farming near the Pretty Rocks in South western North Dakota. When I go fishing at a nearby lake, I can see the carvings in the cliff face left by troopers of the 7th on their way to the Black Hills. I have spent the last couple days watching videos. about Custer, Oh I did get to serve with The Old Guard in the DC area during the bi-centennial.
Please post a reply showing how we can view past and future discussions, as listed at the end of this video. I am impressed with your complete coverage of a topic, the concurrent interaction with an intelligent audience, and your tolerance of dissenting opinions with being disagreeable. That's a combination of talents it'd hard to find in one place in these times.
Just come across this video I found it very informative and interesting. Even though I come from the UK I have a deep interest in the American West. I would love to visit one day.
As a West Point grad, and a former member of the 7th Cavalry, I came to the opinion that the indian wars had more in common with our war in Afghanistan than any other historical war we studied. We barely touched on the Indian Wars when I was at the Academy. I really had an epiphany when reading Custer's "My Life On the Plains" and Libbie Custer's "Boots and Saddles", and only then saw the similarities between the Army of 1876 chasing the plains indians with a huge logistical train (carrying fodder for the US horses) and the Army of 2010 chasing the taliban with a huge logistical train. Custer's Luck ran out that day, but arguably his predisposition for hasty attacks served him well throughout his Civil War and Indian War experiences.
As an ex-infantryman with the 101st, I have to agree with you. Custer was full of himself and got a lot of his subordinates needlessly killed that day.
When were you with the 7th Cav? I was with C Troop 4/ 7th Cavalry in Korea 78/79. When I was a senior at Fordham U I met an old woman in the Brooklyn public library who was collecting books on the Indian Wars because she was helping a friend write a book on Custer. When I mention Libbie she relied "yes, she was a wonderful woman who I had tea with every Thursday in Manhattan, when I was a school girl" I was needless to say floored by this! I then remembered she lived until 1933 and lived in NYC. Then she went on to relate how Elizabeth talked about the "General" and sometimes brought out his letters and read them!!! Unreal
There is a good book on Custer called Custers Wolverines, by James Harvey Kidd. The author served with Custer as a fellow General, and the book is his memoirs of Custer.
We went into Afghanistan for one reason only. President Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, or we would come and get him. The Taliban refused and we invaded. What happen next was mission creep. The pentagon (and others) forgot why we were there. Our mission ended t5he day Seal Team Six Killed Osama Bin laden, But Obama refused to disengage and bring our troops home.
Custer was a national celebrity beginning in the Civil War and it did not end at the Little Bighorn. In an odd sort of twist, Custer won the "Indian Wars" on June 25th, 1876. The destruction of the 7th Cavalry, and Custer's death, galvanized and angered the nation during it's Centennial Celebrations. Within one year, every Indian who participated in the battle was on a reservation or dead. The War on the Great Plains was over.
@@alanblack5861 Wounded Knee was the result of "Reservation Indians" being enthralled by the Ghost Dance Craze. You really should educate yourself before you start insulting people.
Overall a very fine presentation. One can find fault with anything and everything. Anyone can do that. The presenters did a great job with visual aids, too. Given the time they had the presentation was insightful and well argued.
A fascinating discussion. This is what the internet was made for! The fact that a group of academics and others with a deep knowledge and connection to the subject can sit in discussion somewhere in Dakota in 2015 and have this 2 hour in-depth seminar and then 7 years later here I am a guy in Glasgow Scotland, can stumble upon the resource on YT and engage with the event. Marvellous! Thanks for sharing. I think all small boys grow up with a fascination about Custer and the "Last Stand"- watching Errol Flynn's heroic portrayal in The Died With Their Boots On one Sunday afternoon in the early 70s captured my 10 yr old imagination. That movie did a lot of damage by creating the myth and cementing it in the international community as fact- the heroic final scene with Custer as the last man standing has been seared on our imaginations. I was surprised that no one mention the Buffalo Bill Travelling Show that always ended with the reenactment of the "Last Stand" That surely was the foundation of the myth for most American's and folks across Europe at the turn of the 20th Century. Then along comes the Dustin Hoffman movie withe the revisionist view as seen through the Vietnam lens. The more recent inclusion of the native American oral history of the battle is vital in helping us understand the events of that day. What happened to the native peoples of America is a terrible stain on the nations history- a culture and an entire way of live almost extinguished Many say this was not an important battle in the great scheme of things but in my view its an important cypher for the colonial expansionist past and serves as an important reminder of mans inhumanity to man, intolerance, racism, arrogance the myth of American exceptionalism and folly. It also serves to remind us of danger of media hype and just one man with an inflated ego and lust for glory self promotion and political ambition can pose to the lives of many- recent history has reminded us how easily we can fall into that trap.
I've been there several times. Many folks go there now but the first couple visits I made there was hardly anyone there. This was well before the new visitor center. I've been to Gettysburg well over 20 times as I live close enough to go there. That all said weird things do indeed happen in places of past slaughters. My wife had an experience in the Cashtown Inn near Gettysburg during our wedding reception. She said something appeared in front of her in the ladies room. I didn't see it. She also claimed that her hair was pulled in the Farnsworth House attic during a ghost tour. After words with the tour folks they said that whatever is up there has a tendency to mess with blondes. As was the color of my wives hair. Who knows.
@@vinniethefinger7781 I was alone on the field of Pickett's charge, but I certainly didn't feel "alone". The whole place felt surreal. Loved the ghost tours. Thanks for the story.
The Lakota and Cheyenne deserve great credit for their great victory over one of the army's most effective battlefield commanders. No cause to denigrate anyone on that battlefield. Regarding unjust conquest issue, it's worth noting that the greasy grass battlefield was part of the territory the Lakota took from the Crow.
I agree. I always find it interesting how those supporting the American Indians forget about mentioning how the Crows land was taken from them by the Sioux.
@@OttoMattak :) No! Arickara he was. Lived his younger years among Sioux, but got on bad terms with Gal and others. Read Michnu, Gray, Th. Marquis, and others ;) - here is Wiki: " Bloody Knife was born to a Hunkpapa Sioux father and an Arikara mother around 1840. He was abused and discriminated against by the other Sioux in his village because of his background, in particular by Gall, a future chief." Ok?
The gentleman who comments on Custer regulating horse color as mere show does not understand that approach was also used by many noted cavalry leaders prior since on the battlefield one could then identify which one and where his companies were from afar. We often think of war now as these early commanders having the same technological advances of recognition during an engagement (as one of the hosts then cite with the example if Custer might have had satellite recon), but they did not and did certain things to help make decisions. Custer was fascinated with Napoleon's cavalry commander Murat, and often tried to emulate him and assorting horses by color was his way of being able to keep track of his forces during an engagement
thank you...that was an awesome listen...the whole thing..........helps me learn...and distill truths from this perspective......I am also very very interested in the 1st nation perspective and account...and what were the parallels in New Zealand Aotearoa at this time...did what was happening in America pervade our perspective in subduing Maori, our 1st nation people. Great listen......thank you Larry and Clay...and all participants comments and questions.
Technical point in error. The Springfield 45-70 cartridges got stuck not so much because of heat, but because the cartridges had "verdigris" a gummy residue that built up due to contact with leather.
After many years of studying and visiting the battlefield etc I have come to the conclusion that Custer was more hero then villain , more brave than reckless. He was not perfect but neither was Patton. Thank God we have had men like them.
@@Skammee first Custer led from the front so he wasn't just sticking his men out there. Also you don't win battles like he did from civil war through indian wars by no risk. War is risk of lives. Patton was called same things so Custer can take that as a badge of honor.
Genocide? What do you think the Soiux would have done to us if they had our technological advantages --spoiler alert ask the Chippewa. Putting the moral framework of a 21st century Humanities department onto 19th century frontier life is just embarrassing.
@@douglashayes1336 well said , its what I was trying to say. These liibs forget the facts. Like Indians had slaves , Indians killed for land before whites got here , and after. Its easy for some idiot going to college on my tax money with safety for their kids to judge a frontier man who had to keep his kids safe from Indians who would torture his family.
And I am one of those people that is interested in the battle. But truth be told there hasn't been any new information about the battle come to light in decades, it's always just rehashing the same information, in maybe a slightly different way, but still the same thing in the end. Today the hottest topic appears to be the big debate over Deep Ravine, was it the true last stand or no? Bodies, or no bodies? What is the correct answer!? Having read Custer's book, My Life On The Plains, I find it astonishing at how little he thought of his troops in the 7th. He remarks about how many of them had poor horse riding skills, and how many of them had very questionable marksmanship skills. He even gives some astonishing examples. So obviously he wasn't that jacked at commanding these inept troops. But it was the only command that he could get.
Eight years on and June 25th. 2023. All the arguments still remain but some details need correcting. If we assume that GAC was mortally wounded at the river ford as stated by Pretty Shield then command would devolve to the two battalion commanders Captains Yates , Companies C, E and F and Keogh I and L. Tom Custer was subordinate to both. George Custer’s body was mutilated the extent covered to protect his widow Elizabeth. Tom Custer’s body was so badly mutilated he could only be identified by a tattoo on one of his limbs. Can you imagine that the 150th. Anniversary is only three years away and the battle is still in focus after crossing two centuries.
Threat?...if you'd have left them alone on the land you ceded to them...there would have been no "threat"...They still won't accept the money for the black hills will they??...it shows you the type of people the Lakota Sioux are compared to you lot...
Custer underestimated everything that day in 1876. His scouts told him there were as many Indians in the village as there were grains of sand. That didn't deter him one bit. He split his forces into three groups (the only thing that saved any of his men that day) and the rest is history. Had he kept them all together, the results would have been the same for his entire command. He had no effective defensive position and there were thousands of Indians attacking. Truly A sad day for the 7th Cavalry and the Indians. It was the beginning of the end for the plains Indians in that entire area.
@@step4024 Little Bighorn was (is?) on the Crow reservation, who the Sioux and Cheyenne attacked regardless of treaties. Same with many other plains tribes. That being said, the Black hills War/Great Sioux War was made on illegal grounds by the US Govt.
I think you also failed to mention that while he may have lost, on a percentage basis, more calvary troops than other officers, he ALWAYS led the fighting. He was NOT one of those officers who say safely behind the lines and ordered men to their deaths. While he was not certainly killed as were some of his men, he easily could have, and while easy to throw around the term “narcissist,” there was no indication he was suicidal. Would he press an advantage IF he felt he could exploit it, all indications say yes. Would he take risks to win a battle, sure, but educated risks. He was a successful civil war calvary officer, he was educated at West Point, which is better than most of his peers. I think IF you believe Custer was all about “glory and fame,” you can’t have either of you are dead. Custer had a wife he adored. He had no death wish. He was in red outnumbered and faced new tactics. You can also argue with no resolution that Reno was a drunk who panicked. His drinking and panic probably saved those who ended up surviving the battle.
Reno's drinking and "charge to the rear" could also be the main reason Custer ended up surrounded, because the camp diverted its attention over to Custer and his men after Reno ran away.
Try living on that ground he died for... Like Sarpy Creek... What used to be called, the Julian B. Mastin Ranch, back in the 1950s. Hard, hard living... Among Sage Brush, alkaline water, Wild Fires, and Rattle Snakes!
@@rayjohnson4741 I am wondering how she knows this? She most likely was born years after his death. Just because she is blood relative it does not make her an expert, it is still speculation. However I do tend to agree with her as well as the people who claim he was only following orders.
I have been watching a series of videos, about 4-9 minutes, on the ApolloCuster channel. He espouses a completely different view. He says that Custer did NOT want a fight. He was looking to capture all of the non-combatants, women, children & old people, in order to force the warriors to capitulate. Part of the problem was that the non-combatants moved out of the village, to the north I believe, which meant that his chances of capturing them became nonexistent. When Crazy Horse recognized that Custer was headed toward the village, he led the charge that would led to the annihilation of Custer. You mentioned another megalomaniac, MacArthur. How many died in the Philippines, on both sides, because he had said he would return. There was no necessity to take P.I. They could have been bypassed, which is what the Navy wanted to do. But, MacArthur, because he was a good friend of Roosevelt, was able to get permission to retake P.I. This was not the only place where we suffered huge losses because of MacArthur. The Battle of Savo Island, in the Solomon Islands, was another. It was because of the split areas of responsibility that the messages from the scout planes were delayed many hours.
Also then just like now you have a liberal east coast and woke city type talking down to people who are living right next to danger. Its easy to say ...let the wolf live ! ...as long as it isn't your children playing in the back yard in that area. So judge Custer or settlers by what they faced at their time , not by your time and in your easy safe area.
Did that one panel fellow call Custer a ‘jerk,’ excuse me. And the other opine Crook was a ‘more interesting’ character than Custer? Really? Crook went hunting after his disastrous battle of the Rosebud. He was supposed to be supporting Custer. He never lived that shame down.
I disagree with their assessment ofmacauther and Patton. I admit I probably wouldn't have liked them if I had served under them. Macauther and Patton would tell it like it is no matter who it offended. Many men that served under them are proud that they served under such tough leaders.
The Native Americans had been PUSHED out of any land where they tried to live by the US Government. The Black Hills were given to them by the Treaty of 1868, but once GOLD was discovered on that land, the Greedy US Government broke that Treasty too.
that guy on the right is odd as far as I'm concerned....for some inconceivable reason he didn't want to show the pictures??!? then he says the death of Custer eases our "guilt" and our "complex" about what was done to the Indians.... I have no "guilt" about it nor do I have a "complex" most Americans don't its a ridiculous way to view history
Custer was not well liked by his subordinate officers and men. He was a strict and at times petty disciplinarian. He underestimated his opponent and his arrogance got his command and himself killed.
the winchester 27 shot rifles appears in the last year of the civil war not 1866 there was a general who supplied is company from his own pocket the war office reject them because they said it would cost too much on ammunition
Thats the Henry rifle. Youve got to remember the army was perfectly willing to experiment with small batches of rifles for cavalry, Burnside, Spencer,Wesson, Sharps, Joslyns and everything else. The US didnt have the industrial capacity to arm its troops so they were buying Enfield and Lorenz rifles from europe, states were buying their own weapons if they could get them. Ammunition, weapons and spares supply was a nightmare already. Many of these experimental rifles were proving to be problematic. Once the war ended America was bankrupt, they had to reconsolidate and that meant finding a weapon that would use up existing stocks of ammunition as far as possible, use existing machine tooling and parts and would be easy to maintain for a trooper living off a horse four weeks hard ride away from an armourer. The lever rifles and carbines were just too hard to maintain, too slow to load, too expensive and took odd ammunition compared to warehouses of war surplus stock.
@@voiceofraisin3778 I don’t think Winchester rifles were difficult to maintain. They, the Henry, the 1866 and 1873 were simple and rugged. If the US army couldn’t maintain a Winchester in the field, then native Americans could even less so. But the Indians had up to 250 seemingly working Winchesters at the LBH used to great effect. The 7th Cav were undergunned when the Indians were able to creep up and broke range in the landscape of the LBH. I think Custer may have been running out ammunition too.
to call the Washita a "battle" is an insult to battles and various military s around the world have been color coding their cavalry regiments from the dawn of time
there were many different tribes... custer was a coward and "last stand" was actually a multi front sweep to the north against like 4 - 5 other tribes. the aramaic Cherokee "dog" (mountain lion spirit horsemen|lion spirit warriors of Judah) were warned by the "thunder beings'/angels that custer was gonna attack and instructed if they let custer attack first, they would win. the dog men swept through and slayed custers cowards... the main battle was over as the the braves from the other tribes finally mounted... they were also instructed NOT TO TAKE ANY ITEMS FROM THE DEAD COWARDS, but other tribes did and so their tribes was cursed. custer loved capturing women and children to use as leverage to "win" so they didnt have to face death... "custers last stand" ... he hid in that battle out of uniform so he couldnt be tied to it, they thought they were winners... and custer had got a haircut... wasnt it misty that morning? loool
@@timjespersen3605 the only question mark to my reveal was about confirmation of a mist commie sheople... his fuckin wife witnessed he was a pussy in original researched witness comment and you didnt present a fact to my only question and just irrelevant shit only relevant to your shallow mind gang stalking fallen angel muppet. how is it hot at "dawn"/sun break... so yea as sun broke the mist appeared cause the "thunder beings" wanted a piece of the coward who imprisoned innocent unarmed women and children as a "strategy" to "control" the warriors so custer and his bitches actually had a chance of surviving... the fact that custer attacked the natives of the americas he lived in is proof he was a pale face bitch... you can approach me with questions or confirmation too my my 1 question mark gang stalking sheople... stop humping my leg attempting a posture with your petty ass opinion.... "dur it was hot af that day"... fuckin custers pussy ass was dead before the heat of the day wasnt he and there was a mist that mornin wasnt there? theres 2 question marks for you to research 😂
@@yourangelinfleshorsackclot1523 Awwww. The Meth makes you feel smart, that is adorable. Enjoy your high sir. The only blown mind in this conversation for lack of a better word... Is yours. Dumdum ....dumdum...(Jaws music) get it? Its Jaws music.
Custers concerns about the Indians getting away, let's move in now, was based on how he dealt with the "indian problem".He didn't want the women/ children to get away before he rode them down.The men and boys of fighting age at such large numbers were not what Custer expected.Listen to his scouts was what he should have done.
I have read these accounts that Custer was badly wounded down deep in the Medicine Tail Coulee near the river bank. It would explain why Tom Custer left his company and was Last Stand Hill with his brother. Tom Custer probably assumed command after his brother was badly wounded.
Probably mortally wounded at the river crossing by a Northern Cheyenne with a repeating rifle. There were 2-3 dozen Northern Cheyenne warriors behind cover with Henry and Winchester repeating rifles who shot up the narrow column as it approached the river. Lt. Sturgis definitely was killed there, as part of his body was found on the other side of the river as well as some of his clothes. George Armstrong Custer was more than likely leading the column and was hit during the first or second Cheyenne volley, and may or might not have fallen off his horse. Sturgis definitely was shot off his horse. I agree that Tom took over tactical command, and reversed what was left of the column back up Medicine Tail Coulee, deployed Calhoun, continued north along the ridge, deployed Keough, and continued north to Last Stand Hill. Tom Custer might have been one of the last left on Last Stand Hill, and probably killed a few warriors, as they really did a number on his body after he was rubbed out. Tom might have shot his older brother in the temple on Last Stand Hill, so he wouldn't have to face the pain of torture by a Lakota or Northern Cheyenne warrior or a vengeful non-combatant from the village looking to make sure that any 7th Calvary person would be without a limb or two or a head or his manhood in the afterlife.
exactly correct and Chief John Grass not only witnessed it but could have fired the shot but did not want it known. He was among the hardest battlers that did the most killing but only the big names like Crazy horse and sitting bull got all the credit. I uploaded a great video on it a couple years ago. Chief John Grass has in effect been "striken from history" for several reasons including bias. He reported they were drinking heavily and throwing the bottles something history would want not to be known. He also fought up to last stand hill and identified Custer since he had met with him at the black hills. So he demanded he be mutilated less proving he was standing right there at the scene. Afterwards it was Grass hat became the top leader of the sioux nation. But he is stricken from history because it does not match the dozens of movies showing Custer one of the last standing.
custer divided his command without knowing for sure the size of the village. at the same time, the number one Indian scout in the army, a guy named mitch bouyer, who had never worked with custer before, tried to tell him that morning, "none of us has ever seen this many native americans in one place ." Mitch bouyer told the Arikara scouts, " this man will not quit until we are in the Lakota village, we have no chance...go, save yourselves." custer's favorite scout, Bloody Knife, told him, "Old friend, today you and I go home by a road we do not know." that meant he, also, thought they were going to be killed. Custer ignored the input of actual experts on Native American behavior and, instead, rode into total disaster. it's a weird and sad story. ,
According to some, it may have saved the 7th if artillery had been taken. The column’s progress would have been slowed enough that Gibbon and Custer may have converged on the Indians at the same time and any battle would have been very different.
He had both, or that is the 7th Cav did. Custer left them behind at the beginning of the campaign because he felt that they slowed him down too much. He wasn't actually wrong. The cavalry's job was to find the enemy. The 7th was going to find much of anyone dragging large field pieces and Gatling guns behind them. But as they say, be careful what you wish for...you might just get it. Custer wanted to find a large native encampment intact, he found same, and then attacked same. Hindsight says he should have waited for more backup or brought his artillery. Flash forward to 1890. There's signs and rumors of another possible native insurrection. The 7th this time brings their artillery, in the form of more modern, smaller, but rapid firing breech loading field pieces that can keep up with the troopers. The artillery figures prominently at Wounded Knee and it turns into a massacre of the native tribespeople.
It would have slowed Custer and the 7th enough for Custer to communicate with Gibbon and Terry to coordinate a combination approach on June 27th or later.
Excuse me, sir - truly not being rude, but Crazy Horse was an O-GLA-LA. NOT “O-ga-la-la”. Thank you for all your knowledge and a nice presentation. 💜🔆📿💕🙏✝️✡️🙋♀️
you cant judge him by the standards of the 21 century the charge of the light brigade in 1854 was for a long time always looked on with awe but we know now it was a foolish folly by the arrogant British officer class and continued to make the same mistakes in the ww1
These guys lost me when they spoke of United States colonial activity in Vietnam. I don't think they truly left the 70s behind. The weapons at the wagon box by the troops, who were sent to protect the woodcutters more mechanically no difference than the calvary carbines (45/55 not 45/70). They in fact had Allan conversion Springfields an early trap door design. The scout's name, was bloody knife. Not bloody nose. Cavalry regiments did not organize their horses by color to look good on parade. It was a functional device allowed the commander determine the position of his units at distance in the field. The 7th stationed together in one place and it's entire existence until shortly before its deployment on Custer's last Ride. Hence the need to" color" the troops. There is much to know about this event in our history. It is probably not good for us to try to judge a man in his times from ours.
The cavalry carbine was in fact 45-70. The load was reduced to 55 grains as the recoil was too severe for the carbine. But it could in a pinch use the standard rifle 45-70 rounds.
@@normanbraslow7902 Depending on which source you follow. It was also referred to as the .45 cal. round. The .45-70 cartridge referred to in those days was not the same as the one we have today. I have a Marlin 1895 .45-70 rifle, and it will set you back if you are not used to shooting large rifles. Custer's troopers had copper shells for their carbines. Those rifles were accurate only in the hands of experienced shooters. Custer had none of those.
The lecturers are snowflakes utterly ashamed of what Custer did and openly said how glad they are that he was killed. Custer was a man of his time , it’s so easy to judge with hindsight. And one of the “lecturers” points about Custers demise in a “romantic battle”, if you could go back in a time machine and watch the closing stages of the massacre (it wasn’t a battle) you would see butchery inflicted on the dead and dying that would make you peuk your guts up. Hardly romantic …
You guys referred to Custer's shameful fight at the Washita. The Chief had a white flag of peace flying above his teepee. What Custer did was charge his men into that sleeping Indian camp, and committed slaughter. No one could call that heroic. And, Custer DID know what size the camp was. He stood on top of one hill and observed the entire camp. So, he shouldn't have been surprised at the size of the force of the Indian braves at the Little Big Horn.
Custer and his troopers would probably have been heavily defeated right after the massacre at Washita, if they hadn't captured a group of women and children and used them as shields. There were many Dog Soliders close by ready to attack. Custer deliberately used this human shield tactics to succeed, and this was also his plan in June 1876.
Don’t forget the killing /slaughtering of the pony herd at the Washita. Destroy the enemies moral.. and just before The Little Big Horn Crooke’s defeat on the Rosebud where a great deal of ammunition was captured. High moral against Custer.
People fought one another all through Human History! Why is one group so darn self-righteous when it had feuds and wars with others besides the "Whites?" How many murders of Women and Children did they have part in? Isn't it true that many Indian Tribes slaughtered "White Women and children? If you look at Chicago history, there was the Fort Dearborn MASSACRE where those self-righteous Potawatomie's and Chippewa's took part in the slaughter of many Women and Children who were fleeing the fort to somewhere in Michigan, where they would avoid a fight!! Where was this old American Indian Principle that said in a close paraphrase: "The LAND does not belong to anyone?" Yet they Believed that all land in America was theirs! How disingenuous is that? For the Most part, 99.9 % of the land was unoccupied and open to settlements whether he Indians liked it or not! How many times did one Indian group trespass on the others' so-called territory and reversely as well? How much hatred was there among MANY tribes? Innocence is not warranted for those groups, Caucasians included!
Look this is all I,m going to say about this topic , are Government broke the treaty we had with the Indians that are native to this land just because they wanted what was in the ground or what they could harvest from the land & in my eyes that’s wrong in so many different ways , back when I was in my 20s I had the privilege to sit & talk to a American Indian for the Cherokee nation me & my dad sat down just to talk to him he must have been in his mid 30s dude was way to cool & well rounded & all the wile dude was making a bone choker with conch , sinew & deer skin that later after about a hour he gave to me with no questions asked or given , so out of respect for him I reached into my pocket & gave dude $75.00 bucks for he told me that he didn’t want it because he felt like it was to much to give him & that just me & my dads time was enough to pay for it that’s all , my dad standing behind me said ( the craftsmanship is remarkable it’s worth the money take the money kid ) he did & wished us safe travels , I never seen that guy again or the choker after 8 years I gave it to my step daughter & she has it to this day.
This entire "lecture" is pointless. The first half is about the image, mystic and impact of the man and not about the battle. Second problem is that none of the discussion participants are military combat veterans and are restating common knowledge information that has little impact on the battle. I'm thinking that all of these people think GAC was still alive at the end of the battle and was only killed at its very end. There is no proof of exactly when or exactly where GAC was killed other than hi body was found on last stand hill not far from Tom Custer's.
Mr. Lee the Lakota bands came rampaging out of the woodlands and lakes of Minnesota, which is their ACTUAL ancestral lands. They massacred without mercy the Oto, Pawnee, Shoshone, Kiowa, Crow and other plains tribes that claimed the plains as their ancestral lands. The Lakota lusted for their game and their rich lands. They drove these tribes from their lands and claimed the modern days states of Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, South and North Dakota as their private hunting preserve. Any trespasses or interlopers were savagely murdered. The seven sub tribes of the Lakota patrolled their newly stolen hunting grounds with great vigilance, deploying scouting, hunting and war parties over this vast 500,000 square mile area. This is a remarkable 1/6th of the present day contiguous U.S. Mr. Lee did your Cherokee friend speak of this unimaginable greed? The plains tribes were conquered for no less noble a cause. What say you to this fact? The greedy Lakota bands cloaked their claim to this staggering amount of land in the vagueness of spirituality. The Lakota claimed this land, including the Black Hills, were gifted to them by the great spirit. ??? What of the spiritual claims of the westward bound pioneers? The Mormons also claim that this land was gifted to them by THEIR GOD! Who's claim is valid? Some? None? All? The first to arrive? The strongest? The ones able to violently defend and retain their claim? What say you to this Mr. Lee? Did your Cherokee friend speak of the Cherokee alliance with the Confederate States of America? The rebel Southern states that enslaved the negro! The Cherokee nation during their removal held as many as 15,000 negro slaves. Did your Cherokee friend not also speak of the brutal savage and violent nature of the warrior culture of the plains Indians? NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MAN HAS SO MUCH BEEN HELD AND LOST BY SO FEW!!! WHAT OF THE NATIVE TRIBES LUST AND GREED FOR SO MUCH FOR SO FEW? What say to this Mr. Lee? I would like to know.
@@richardlytle2914,I agree! This lecture is a waste of time! Most of the time the two guys on the podium have nothing new to say. It's just pointless banter! As to the question when Custer actually died: as far as I know this can be roughly determined by the location where his body has been found. Custer couldn't have ended up there if he would've been killed soon after the battle started.
The risks they talk about fail to consider he was bringing along with him the lives of other men. Custer himself failed to consider those men. Seems historians and most people fail to consider the unfortunate grunts that serve in battle. For me, a great leader and great historians are those people, though few they are, that do consider the men that make it happen, But then Im just one of the shadows.
We can never know everything Custer knew before going into the battle in June of 1776 but there is evidence that his scouts told him that it was the largest gathering of Indians they had ever seen and that the could be as many as 1,500 warriors.
You forgot to mention Sitting Bull premonition after he, himself, had his body painted yellow in celebration of "Sun Down Ceremony" and during this ceremony he cut the full length of his arms causing much blood, then he danced around the camp and singing and after exhausted went into a trance and when he awoken he told all that were present that he was told by the spirits to go forth and fight the white man with united Indians tribes and they would win against the White men and he went forward to acquire full cooperation of all the Indians Tribe to be United and there was no way for Custer to anticipate what he was up against and if he would of he would have been allowed more soldiers. He did not know the Indians almost doubled him in numbers till the moment his Indian Scout rode to him with the news that there were many Indians and for some reason he chose knowing that not to back down. I think he was getting much pressure from President Grant, lets not forget President Grant had just had Custer thrown into jail for testifying against Grants brother. That and because of the gold needed from the Black Hills and many miners were in Indian territory and the Indians weren't interested in selling the Black Hills land and feared the White man would take over by force and Custer knew timing was everything and when would there be another opportunity to know where they were camped out., so much pressure from President Grant. After following the scout to assess the situation learning there were many horses and many tents but all Custer saw were children and women outside the tents but no men so he came to the conclusion that the men were out hunting buffalo when in fact they had a late night and were catching up on their sleep inside their tents. The Indian warriors were aroused by Reno's men coming into their camp and the fight began. Our troops were out numbered. So I would have to refer back to the premonitions of Sitting Bulls connection to the spirit world. Sitting Bull did warn his people that they were absolutely not allowed to take one thing from from those that were killed. The Indian Warriors did not listen to Sitting Bull and the demands of their Spirit World, so they will pave out their own misfortune but this day the White Man will suffer. Custer was not there to kill the Indians he was there to take them to the reservation, he wanted to use the women and children for a shield because he knew there would be much less fighting/killings in order to protect the Indian's warrior cherished tribal woman and children. It had worked before but would not work out that way this time.
Custer was going to fight. He wanted to prove himself again (mostly to himself) and also gain more credit going into the upcoming Democratic Convention in attempt to gain a bid to run for President. What is left out of most history, that General Terry carries more responsibility for this battle then those in attendance let alone the weaknesses and conflicting personalities of Benteen, Reno, Terry and Custer.
Linda, well said. I agree with your detail analysis. A few points I might add: 1. It is thought in some circles that Custer was trying to get to the Indian women and children so he could do the hostage trick like he did in the Washita battle some years earlier, but he couldn't find a ford across the river. As he did no intelligence gathering of any kind, he was just charging around all over the place until ending up at Last Stand Hill. 2. He was not the leader of that campaign. BGen. Alfred Terry was the Commanding Officer. Custer had orders to meet up with him the next day. That is why Custer rode his men to exhaustion where he could be there first and reap the glory. 3. The Indian women also took part in mutilating the slain troopers against Sitting Bull's warnings. This act started the beginning of the end for the Plains Indians. When this news reached the settlements, all Indians were tarred by this brush. Very sad indeed!
That attitude towards indigenous peoples not only here in the continental US, but in Southeast Asia, South America and elsewhere has largely been ignored by the public education system and our elected representatives
I asked this very question just yesterday about the new Supreme Court justice. She can’t even define what a woman is let alone what an indigenous person is. Agree with you 💯%
The same arrogant attitude of Politicians in the Washington DC Government exists today. All those low life insects that hold office in that corrupt city are concerned about is having a cushy high paying government job with LAVISH benefits in order to get rich. A lot of them, like Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Pocahontas, get rich by routinely using Insider Trading (Which is against the LAW) To buy multiple million dollar mansions while they laugh at us all the way to the Bank.
Some interesting aspects indeed, but basically not much new. Some in the audience have more knowledge than those two on stage. Also, not everything is accurate, like the first talker says when given the microphone, and Larry Skogen even has to brag about that, perhaps ironically but not funny rather tasteless. For one, Clay Jenkinson claims that Sitting Bull was "in his 50's" in 1876. The Hunkpapa holy man was most likely born in 1831, so he was in his mid 40's. It's also claimed that Crazy Horse was 31, when he was at least 36 years old at the time of the battle. It's appropriate to question these two experts' credibility when they not even can get the age of most pivotal persons right. For the record, Custer was 36, and it's perhaps easy to think of this as young, but the average expected age in the 1870's was no more than 39-40.
Cùster did understand Intelligence, at one battle in the Civil War, he had had himself winched up in a balloon to 600 ft so as to get a proper view of the battlefield! Apparently, the 45/70 cartridges were copper and more prone to tearing! That was the War Department! Custer should have had Winchester 50/95 with brass cartridges for those who were good marksmen, and single shot for those who were not? That way he would have had better firepower than the indians?
With trapdoor Springfield you can fire 20 shots per minute. Deadly up to 1000 yards. At Winchester do not forget: a) reloading b) only up to 200 yards distance
@@dks13827 yes...a spelling error. Witchita...anyway...an outrage...a war crime....murder...savagery against those you dare call savage. Always weird isn't it...no one ever makes a movie of things like that?. Ironic one of those brave lads raising your flag at Iwo Jima....was....a Cheyenne.
Reno's assault drew the warriors south, from the village, to attack him. To me it is likely, Custer assumed this would happen, and was using it to take the women and children hostage at the north end of the village. His most recent engagements on the plains suggest this. It is less likely but possible that Reno knew this and was therefore not terribly interested in keeping up the fight or coming to Custer's aid, later in the day. If Custer waved his hat at Reno to say he would support him, perhaps that was because Custer knew Reno was suspicious of Custer's plan.
Absolutely, Reno had about 130 men and there's no way Custer would have thought such a number could have defeated the village so yes Reno's attack was a distraction to get the Indian's attention riveted on the south. This is especially obvious as Custer had another 210 troops with him to lead off around the side of the village at the same time. With the warriors focused on Reno Custer could ride across the river into the village from the side and grab women and children as hostages. This would win him the battle as he could demand the warriors surrender if they wanted their families back. It was a simple plan and the Indians fell for it. But Custer messed up by not crossing the river. He tried once about a mile north of Reno but was driven off by just four warriors. He then headed further north to the other end of the village but the warriors knew where he was now and abandoned the bait... Reno, and went charging after the real threat... Custer. They caught him at the north end of the village as he descended to the river again and drove him back up the slopes and killed him on last stand hill. His plan would have worked if he'd forced a charge againt the four warriors and pushed into the village. He could have grabbed hostages and ended it.
His entire plan rested on that capturing the women and children as he had done at the Washita battle. When that didn’t work, he had no contingency plan and it became a rout.
@@ingurlund9657 Custer faced between two and three dozen Northern Cheyenne warriors behind cover armed with Henry and Winchester repeating rifles at the narrow river crossing at the bottom of the Medicine Tail Coulee. That is where Lt. Sturgis was killed and possibly George Armstrong Custer took a rifle shot to the chest above his heart. This is according to Northern Cheyenne testimony. Tactical command may have transitioned to Tom Custer at that time if George was close to being mortally wounded. The basic problem was that 210 men wasn't nearly enough to traverse a narrow passage, cross the river and capture the fleeing Lakota and Northern Cheyenne women, children and older men. Where they blew it was turning left and deploying a company under Calhoun and further north along the narrow ridge deploying a company under Keough, and the advancing the remaining companies along the narrow ridge to Last Stand Hill. Had they turned right and retreated back south to the more advantageous bowl defensive position that Reno, Benteen and the pack train ended up in, it's possible that the 7th would have been able to hold off the warriors for two days until Terry arrived on the afternoon of June 27th with only about 50-100 casualties. This argument has been debated about by Little Big Horn scholars and aficionados for years. What do you think? Could Custer, Benteen, Reno and the pack train have held out until Terry arrived? If George Armstrong Custer took a rifle shot to the chest above his heart at the bottom of the Medicine Tail Coulee, he probably wouldn't have survived the night of the 25th.
Custer had no idea of the terrain & did not have a clear cut # of how many warriors he was up against, him & his men where not prepared for this battle.
Wrong, wrong. Custer was a brilliant tactician. He was given very bad intelligence as to the numbers and location of the hostiles. He was, true, hash, judgmental, bold and a bit rash. But he was no fool.
@@normanbraslow7902 revise and improvise if given bad intel once you realize the intel is wrong. He was too arrogant to do that. Hardly any intel given to field generals and officers is ever absolute. He finished last in his class at OCS but in those days nobody kept track of that stuff
Crazyhorse was a little bit older than 32 at the littlebighorn. He was closer to 36 or 37. Probably 36. Or maybe 35. Otherwise a very informative lecture
@Mactrip100 They had a few, they also had a lot of bows and arrows which had the advantage of being able to arc fire over cover. The US army had rejected repeating rifles because they didn't offer any advantage in fire rate per minute, although with a magazine you could dump a dozen rounds into a target fast, you then had to spend a minute reloading it, but it had the disadvantage of mechanical complexity, reduced range and accuracy and before the era of smokeless powder a real problem with barrel fouling. Their main problem was using bad skirmish line tactics against overwhelming numbers with a limited ammunition supply.
They had around two hundred Winchester repeaters and a buncha smooth bore flintlocks, on the other hand Custer divided his force so he never had much more than 200 men together at any point and they was all armed with breechloader single shot Springfield's. That would have sucked...
Custer said there wasn't anything the 7th couldn't lick. He might have attacked anyway. Even if he knew how many people were camped there. i have a hard time beleiving custer would have turned around after seeing the camp. the hunk papa had a sundance they were probably resting.
All it boils down to is you euro people came and took what was not yours.to this day your still doing it.i think it's time GOD WE BRING THE REIGNS ON EVERYONE.WE HAVE ONLY JUST BEGUN...
No it wasn't. He had men shot, whipped and punished for desertions while he commanded . He was in fact arrested on a murder charge by civilian authorities on one occasion for the shooting dead a army deserter. He also faced Court Martial for ordering his brother Tom and Lt Cooke to go after a group of deserters and shoot them which they did killing one and wounding others. The army had banned the practice of shooting deserters but Custer as usual ignored it. Custer refused medical treatment for the wounded men. Custer took 30 men with him when he left his command to go to his wife and 2 of those men could not keep up and straggled and attacked by Indians. When Custer was told he refused to go back and those men died. He was not charged with AWOL he was charged with deserting his command, illegal use of US army equipment, mainly the horses he took. He was also charged with lying to his superior officer etc etc etc. He was dumped forfor 12 months without pay. He should have been thrown out.
I am a proud European-American and glad that we prevailed over the Indians. I'm tired of all the Indian sympathy, several of my relatives were brutally murdered by Comanche Indians in Central Texas, but my great great-grandfather extracted revenge on that Indian Chief near Blanco, Texas circa 1875, and our family kept that chiefs war bonnet and we proudly still live peaceable near Blanco to this day.
Don't act without the facts of the matter. Don't jump to conclusions, Custer. It could cost you and it did. Pride comes before a fall. Never follow a foolish leader. So many lessons here.
At the time it was thought you could in no way have that many Indians in one place. Food for people, grass for horses. No latrines in place or garbage pickup.. Scouts saw the horse herd size. Custer when he got to the overlook to see herd there was haze in air so he could not see the horse herd. It gets even deeper if read few books.. The battle big horn, or say shoot out at ok coral. Events drugged thru courts with ton documentation??
Custer followed textbook US cavalry tactics and strategy. The plan at LBH was audacious, but he was always that. Custer never got past Medicine Tail Coulee ford. Two Moon, Crow King, One Bull, and many others saw to that.
Funny how this academic knocked the italian parliament as an example of uncivil poltical discourse. He only had to go as far as the leftists on his own campus who he of course is covering for. You have to expect that from north dakota based yokels. They were absolutely correct in their opening statement. Any half dozen folks have more knowledge on this subject than both of them put together. Dont waste time on this video. Made in north dakota is synonymous with made in india.
Custer didn't perform in a breathtaking way in the Washita fight.... They outnumbered the indians and attacked a village at dawn. After killing the majority of braves they took hostages.... After they had secured the hostages the main force of indians arrived.... As they were Cheyanne indians the squaws were very important so Custer was able to bribe his way out by threatening to kill the squaws.
the village attacked was flying a white flag of truce and a US flag to show that they were peaceful but that was disregarded and Custer attacked anyway taking many hostages ,killing many women and children and some warriors and destroying everything that couldn't be carried off
And Custer abandoned Major Elliot. Elliot had run the 7th while Custer was suspended for deserting hos post. When he returned Custer treated him like dirt. He refused to look for his men, abandoned him, and only found their tortured remains when his superior insisted on a search. My Great great grandfather was in the 7th and had no respect for Custer
What he killed...as usual was women and children and old men. There was other bands of Cheyennes, Arapaho and Lakota camped further along the river, who Custer did'nt know about. When the warriors rallied, Custer turned tail and ran...when he had to fight men...and was lucky to escape. He got exactly what he deserved at the greasy grass and what's awesome it's something you lot just can't come to terms with...Sitting bull's and Crazy horses ultimate revenge, for the disgusting way you treated all Indian tribes and just won't admit.
Custer had scouts. The Indian Nation had scouts. Custer had recon information. On his way there he inspired men in a forced march which he did as well as his men did. At that point he knew he was a pawn so Government could escalate the extermination of the Native American.
best thing on the subject I have ever seen two true brainiacs with more degrees than there are on a thermometer. However on the subject not much is new except when Custer was shot and by whom. It was mentioned there are rumors he was shot among the first as they came down medicine tail coulee and Custer always led from the front and was shot immediately among at least four other officers which was not only witnessed by Chief John Grass and its possible HE shot him. Him and others were already on the other side of the river on both sides and they knew quite well to shoot the top leaders. Yet he is stricken from history because as I uploaded because of bias. He and others used the name Custer in retrospect but they said "no way could they know it was Custer". But after the battle many indians used the name Custer because they THEN knew who it was. Yet only the top leaders took all the credit even though Chief John Grass was the "Audie Murphy" who did alot of the killing at the exact location where Custer was shot but also up the slopes where CHIEF JOHN GRASS identified Custer and asked that he not be mutilated very much. It was CHIEF JOHN GRASS who identified him and the women gored out his ears because of the meeting in the black hills where Grass met and smoked the pipe with him where Custer said "I will not kill another Cheyenne". None of the women had any idea who Custer was further proof that Chief John Grass was not only there on last stand but witnessed him shot as he approached the ford and he possibly was the shooter. as far as the maneuvers rushing up the slopes we have dozens of movies that demand that Custer fought to the end up on the hill even though he was drug up between two horses dying. HUGELY important information but Chief John Grass is in effect "stricken from history" because he saw the soldiers drinking whiskey and throwing the bottles knowing they were being overwhelmed. This is not something the US would want known. Nor would the movies want it known. The movies demanded Custer up on the hilltop last person killed fighting with a non existent saber otherwise the movies could not have been made. Those movie clips then pervaded history and are used to this day. Custer shot immediately approaching the ford? CANT HAVE IT. men drinking as Custer likely was? CANT HAVE IT--not acceptable. so you have true history spoiled when an ultra important person Chief John Grass who witnessed if not shot Custer stricken from history because he cooperated with whites where the indians did not like him and you end up with a bunch of garbage like white cow woman killed by rushing up to his horse and killing him. In the next twenty years Chief John Grass will come to the fore. in the meeting on the hilltop next day who was there? Chief John Grass sitting bull and Crazy horse with indians ringed around them.
It's so facinating, because America lost, in a big way. Custer, died at his "full moon". Shelby Foote who wrote the 1.5 millon word naritive history of the Civil War, said that the war was an obsession for the south, 'cause they lost; big time. The generals should lead the charge! That's the habit of a society, that's emotionaly well, properly laid out.
That was a really good talk. I am so glad the topic of Vietnam came up.
I turned 15 in 1970 and Vietnam had a profound effect on how I perceived American history.
I Remember a few movies that portrayed Custer as a good guy. Since the early seventies I can't think of a single cultural reference to Custer in a positive light
Recently I have learned a more accurate view of the Battle at Little Big Horn thanks to You Tube.
Thanks for a very good overview.
I served as a trooper with the 3rd Armored Cav back in the early 1970's so the history of cavalry is very interesting, in fact in the history of the Brave Rifles, they were indeed with one of the Crook portion of the Campaign. I did visit the battleground about 20 years ago and it had a profound impact on me, living and working in the Dakota's I have spent more time then I would like to admit at the Fort Lincoln campground and have walked where Custer walked, slept where the troopers worked and perhaps slept as well. Our farm was on a part of the Deadwood trail, the wagon tracks still cut the prairie, my father had a 5 gallon bucket filled with arrowheads, knives and war clubs that he picked up while farming near the Pretty Rocks in South western North Dakota. When I go fishing at a nearby lake, I can see the carvings in the cliff face left by troopers of the 7th on their way to the Black Hills. I have spent the last couple days watching videos. about Custer, Oh I did get to serve with The Old Guard in the DC area during the bi-centennial.
Please post a reply showing how we can view past and future discussions, as listed at the end of this video. I am impressed with your complete coverage of a topic, the concurrent interaction with an intelligent audience, and your tolerance of dissenting opinions with being disagreeable. That's a combination of talents it'd hard to find in one place in these times.
Just come across this video I found it very informative and interesting. Even though I come from the UK I have a deep interest in the American West. I would love to visit one day.
Colour-coding horses wasn’t about PR. It actually had a legitimate martial purpose and impact on the enemy.
Interesting point
That's why every cavalry regiment in the US and abroad copied the idea thereafter. Oh, wait...
Obviously it didn’t work worth a 💩🤔
But to a smart enemy it makes singling out your movement, evident. ?
@@12rwoodyThe idea wasn't copied. It was standard procedure in European armies for a couple of hundred years !
As a West Point grad, and a former member of the 7th Cavalry, I came to the opinion that the indian wars had more in common with our war in Afghanistan than any other historical war we studied. We barely touched on the Indian Wars when I was at the Academy. I really had an epiphany when reading Custer's "My Life On the Plains" and Libbie Custer's "Boots and Saddles", and only then saw the similarities between the Army of 1876 chasing the plains indians with a huge logistical train (carrying fodder for the US horses) and the Army of 2010 chasing the taliban with a huge logistical train. Custer's Luck ran out that day, but arguably his predisposition for hasty attacks served him well throughout his Civil War and Indian War experiences.
As an ex-infantryman with the 101st, I have to agree with you. Custer was full of himself and got a lot of his subordinates needlessly killed that day.
When were you with the 7th Cav? I was with C Troop 4/ 7th Cavalry in Korea 78/79. When I was a senior at Fordham U I met an old woman in the Brooklyn public library who was collecting books on the Indian Wars because she was helping a friend write a book on Custer. When I mention Libbie she relied "yes, she was a wonderful woman who I had tea with every Thursday in Manhattan, when I was a school girl" I was needless to say floored by this! I then remembered she lived until 1933 and lived in NYC. Then she went on to relate how Elizabeth talked about the "General" and sometimes brought out his letters and read them!!! Unreal
There is a good book on Custer called Custers Wolverines, by James Harvey Kidd. The author served with Custer as a fellow General, and the book is his memoirs of Custer.
I agree just weren’t able to wipe them out with diseases
We went into Afghanistan for one reason only. President Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, or we would come and get him. The Taliban refused and we invaded. What happen next was mission creep. The pentagon (and others) forgot why we were there. Our mission ended t5he day Seal Team Six Killed Osama Bin laden, But Obama refused to disengage and bring our troops home.
Custer was a national celebrity beginning in the Civil War and it did not end at the Little Bighorn. In an odd sort of twist, Custer won the "Indian Wars" on June 25th, 1876. The destruction of the 7th Cavalry, and Custer's death, galvanized and angered the nation during it's Centennial Celebrations.
Within one year, every Indian who participated in the battle was on a reservation or dead. The War on the Great Plains was over.
Custer was the Justin Beiber of the west. Aaaaye!
Rubbish...the 'Indian Wars' probably ended at Wounded Knee many years later..
@@alanblack5861 Wounded Knee was the result of "Reservation Indians" being enthralled by the Ghost Dance Craze. You really should educate yourself before you start insulting people.
So true. The Battle of Little Big Horn was the last stand of the Plains American Indian as well…
Overall a very fine presentation. One can find fault with anything and everything. Anyone can do that. The presenters did a great job with visual aids, too. Given the time they had the presentation was insightful and well argued.
this sheople even liked "the ads" 😂
A fascinating discussion. This is what the internet was made for! The fact that a group of academics and others with a deep knowledge and connection to the subject can sit in discussion somewhere in Dakota in 2015 and have this 2 hour in-depth seminar and then 7 years later here I am a guy in Glasgow Scotland, can stumble upon the resource on YT and engage with the event. Marvellous! Thanks for sharing. I think all small boys grow up with a fascination about Custer and the "Last Stand"- watching Errol Flynn's heroic portrayal in The Died With Their Boots On one Sunday afternoon in the early 70s captured my 10 yr old imagination. That movie did a lot of damage by creating the myth and cementing it in the international community as fact- the heroic final scene with Custer as the last man standing has been seared on our imaginations. I was surprised that no one mention the Buffalo Bill Travelling Show that always ended with the reenactment of the "Last Stand" That surely was the foundation of the myth for most American's and folks across Europe at the turn of the 20th Century. Then along comes the Dustin Hoffman movie withe the revisionist view as seen through the Vietnam lens. The more recent inclusion of the native American oral history of the battle is vital in helping us understand the events of that day. What happened to the native peoples of America is a terrible stain on the nations history- a culture and an entire way of live almost extinguished Many say this was not an important battle in the great scheme of things but in my view its an important cypher for the colonial expansionist past and serves as an important reminder of mans inhumanity to man, intolerance, racism, arrogance the myth of American exceptionalism and folly. It also serves to remind us of danger of media hype and just one man with an inflated ego and lust for glory self promotion and political ambition can pose to the lives of many- recent history has reminded us how easily we can fall into that trap.
I was at the Custer Battleground many years ago. We were the only people there & it was eerie. And I’m not one who believes in ghosts & so on.
Places can take on the atmosphere of terrible things that have occurred there. The Nazi concentration camps for
example
@@alnic5730 Gettysburg
I've been there several times. Many folks go there now but the first couple visits I made there was hardly anyone there. This was well before the new visitor center. I've been to Gettysburg well over 20 times as I live close enough to go there. That all said weird things do indeed happen in places of past slaughters. My wife had an experience in the Cashtown Inn near Gettysburg during our wedding reception. She said something appeared in front of her in the ladies room. I didn't see it. She also claimed that her hair was pulled in the Farnsworth House attic during a ghost tour. After words with the tour folks they said that whatever is up there has a tendency to mess with blondes. As was the color of my wives hair. Who knows.
@@vinniethefinger7781 I was alone on the field of Pickett's charge, but I certainly didn't feel "alone". The whole place felt surreal. Loved the ghost tours. Thanks for the story.
@@garysites1528 are the ghosts of the seventh calvery and indian warriors roaming the Little BigHorn ???
Damn right they are......
The Lakota and Cheyenne deserve great credit for their great victory over one of the army's most effective battlefield commanders. No cause to denigrate anyone on that battlefield. Regarding unjust conquest issue, it's worth noting that the greasy grass battlefield was part of the territory the Lakota took from the Crow.
Read John S.Grey's analysis of the final fight. Easy to understand the results, blame for all especially national political leaders.
I agree. I always find it interesting how those supporting the American Indians forget about mentioning how the Crows land was taken from them by the Sioux.
@@geekone6621 And previous to that the crow took it from the Arikara.
Bloody knife, not Bloody nose - is the name of Custers favorite Arickara scout
Bloody Knife was under Reno's detachment when he died feet away from Reno.
Bloody Knife died standing next to Reno. His brains spattered all across Reno's face!
Bloody Knife was Crow, wasn't he?
@@OttoMattak :) No! Arickara he was. Lived his younger years among Sioux, but got on bad terms with Gal and others. Read Michnu, Gray, Th. Marquis, and others ;) - here is Wiki: " Bloody Knife was born to a Hunkpapa Sioux father and an Arikara mother around 1840. He was abused and discriminated against by the other Sioux in his village because of his background, in particular by Gall, a future chief." Ok?
@@ivannio4783 Ah, thank you for explaining.
The gentleman who comments on Custer regulating horse color as mere show does not understand that approach was also used by many noted cavalry leaders prior since on the battlefield one could then identify which one and where his companies were from afar. We often think of war now as these early commanders having the same technological advances of recognition during an engagement (as one of the hosts then cite with the example if Custer might have had satellite recon), but they did not and did certain things to help make decisions. Custer was fascinated with Napoleon's cavalry commander Murat, and often tried to emulate him and assorting horses by color was his way of being able to keep track of his forces during an engagement
you do not regulate horses just before going to battle, you need time to know your horse!!! Custer was a fool!
Three colors of horses were used.
Read Chris Bagley's "The Horse at Gettysburg" and you'll find out why the US Army purchased only certain color horses.
I really enjoy listening to the Indians on this subject as they have a great insight to the actual events as they happened.
Great lecture! Thank you!
I had never heard of the appellation bloody nose. I think he was better known as bloody knife
Two different men.
he corrected the slip for gods sake
Today my people remember the Battle of Greasy Grass and Crazy Horse who's battle cry Was " HOKAHEY!!
Lakota 4 ever!
thank you...that was an awesome listen...the whole thing..........helps me learn...and distill truths from this perspective......I am also very very interested in the 1st nation perspective and account...and what were the parallels in New Zealand Aotearoa at this time...did what was happening in America pervade our perspective in subduing Maori, our 1st nation people. Great listen......thank you Larry and Clay...and all participants comments and questions.
Technical point in error. The Springfield 45-70 cartridges got stuck not so much because of heat, but because the cartridges had "verdigris" a gummy residue that built up due to contact with leather.
Norman, the troopers were using .45 cal. 1873 Trap Door Springfield Carbines. Shorter barrels (32 in.) for the cavalry.
@Randall Glatt Probably so. There were finicky copper cartridges. And in the hands of poorly trained, inexperienced troops were a recipe for disaster.
The build up of Black powder fouling is the biggest problem
Custer's top commander, Sherman, influenced drive to exterminate
Do you mean Sheridan?
After many years of studying and visiting the battlefield etc I have come to the conclusion that Custer was more hero then villain , more brave than reckless. He was not perfect but neither was Patton. Thank God we have had men like them.
Glory seeker , risking his men's lives recklessly for his own ambition. Not a good leader. Unfortunately people like him get promoted all the time .
@@Skammee first Custer led from the front so he wasn't just sticking his men out there. Also you don't win battles like he did from civil war through indian wars by no risk. War is risk of lives. Patton was called same things so Custer can take that as a badge of honor.
Genocide has no heroes, and making him one is racist and totally contemptible.
Genocide? What do you think the Soiux would have done to us if they had our technological advantages --spoiler alert ask the Chippewa. Putting the moral framework of a 21st century Humanities department onto 19th century frontier life is just embarrassing.
@@douglashayes1336 well said , its what I was trying to say. These liibs forget the facts. Like Indians had slaves , Indians killed for land before whites got here , and after. Its easy for some idiot going to college on my tax money with safety for their kids to judge a frontier man who had to keep his kids safe from Indians who would torture his family.
The feeling of dread is real at the battle site.
Custer wouldn't think much about these two goons either.
Didn't numerous scouts warn Custer about the size of the Village in-advance?
Great show !! ps It is not Calvary.
And I am one of those people that is interested in the battle. But truth be told there hasn't been any new information about the battle come to light in decades, it's always just rehashing the same information, in maybe a slightly different way, but still the same thing in the end. Today the hottest topic appears to be the big debate over Deep Ravine, was it the true last stand or no? Bodies, or no bodies? What is the correct answer!? Having read Custer's book, My Life On The Plains, I find it astonishing at how little he thought of his troops in the 7th. He remarks about how many of them had poor horse riding skills, and how many of them had very questionable marksmanship skills. He even gives some astonishing examples. So obviously he wasn't that jacked at commanding these inept troops. But it was the only command that he could get.
You know your in trouble when the speaker’s know less than the audience.
@biomedsci1 You are right.
😉 absolutely
Eight years on and June 25th. 2023. All the arguments still remain but some details need correcting.
If we assume that GAC was mortally wounded at the river ford as stated by Pretty Shield then command would devolve to the two battalion commanders Captains Yates , Companies C, E and F and Keogh I and L.
Tom Custer was subordinate to both.
George Custer’s body was mutilated the extent covered to protect his widow Elizabeth.
Tom Custer’s body was so badly mutilated he could only be identified by a tattoo on one of his limbs.
Can you imagine that the 150th. Anniversary is only three years away and the battle is still in focus after crossing two centuries.
That "valley" was called The Thieves Road.
Custer underestimated the effectiveness of the indian threat mostly by not believing the tribes could unite and function together.
Threat?...if you'd have left them alone on the land you ceded to them...there would have been no "threat"...They still won't accept the money for the black hills will they??...it shows you the type of people the Lakota Sioux are compared to you lot...
Custer underestimated everything that day in 1876. His scouts told him there were as many Indians in the village as there were grains of sand. That didn't deter him one bit. He split his forces into three groups (the only thing that saved any of his men that day) and the rest is history. Had he kept them all together, the results would have been the same for his entire command. He had no effective defensive position and there were thousands of Indians attacking. Truly A sad day for the 7th Cavalry and the Indians. It was the beginning of the end for the plains Indians in that entire area.
Also,not accepting money for land which was never theirs,will never be theirs is just stupid
@@step4024 Little Bighorn was (is?) on the Crow reservation, who the Sioux and Cheyenne attacked regardless of treaties. Same with many other plains tribes. That being said, the Black hills War/Great Sioux War was made on illegal grounds by the US Govt.
@@geirholte1222 yes...theft and genocide for starters.
I think you also failed to mention that while he may have lost, on a percentage basis, more calvary troops than other officers, he ALWAYS led the fighting. He was NOT one of those officers who say safely behind the lines and ordered men to their deaths. While he was not certainly killed as were some of his men, he easily could have, and while easy to throw around the term “narcissist,” there was no indication he was suicidal. Would he press an advantage IF he felt he could exploit it, all indications say yes. Would he take risks to win a battle, sure, but educated risks. He was a successful civil war calvary officer, he was educated at West Point, which is better than most of his peers. I think IF you believe Custer was all about “glory and fame,” you can’t have either of you are dead. Custer had a wife he adored. He had no death wish. He was in red outnumbered and faced new tactics. You can also argue with no resolution that Reno was a drunk who panicked. His drinking and panic probably saved those who ended up surviving the battle.
Reno's drinking and "charge to the rear" could also be the main reason Custer ended up surrounded, because the camp diverted its attention over to Custer and his men after Reno ran away.
Keep in mind new issues, ideas, artifacts, interpretation, and re-interpretation will go on and on, just as any historical event should.
The guy on the right can't have a 2-way conversation; he needs to dominate
Try living on that ground he died for... Like Sarpy Creek... What used to be called, the Julian B. Mastin Ranch, back in the 1950s.
Hard, hard living... Among Sage Brush, alkaline water, Wild Fires, and Rattle Snakes!
Custer & Wife Was An Advocate Of Showing Humanity Toward The Indians Treaties.
What???? Lol
you can't judge a man 150 years ago by today's standards
Yea ya can.
@@user_mac0153 No ya can't.
Custer was an egomaniac this straight from his great niece
@@rayjohnson4741 I am wondering how she knows this? She most likely was born years after his death. Just because she is blood relative it does not make her an expert, it is still speculation.
However I do tend to agree with her as well as the people who claim he was only following orders.
Custer was an ego maniac who got his men slaughtered
I have been watching a series of videos, about 4-9 minutes, on the ApolloCuster channel. He espouses a completely different view. He says that Custer did NOT want a fight. He was looking to capture all of the non-combatants, women, children & old people, in order to force the warriors to capitulate. Part of the problem was that the non-combatants moved out of the village, to the north I believe, which meant that his chances of capturing them became nonexistent. When Crazy Horse recognized that Custer was headed toward the village, he led the charge that would led to the annihilation of Custer.
You mentioned another megalomaniac, MacArthur. How many died in the Philippines, on both sides, because he had said he would return. There was no necessity to take P.I. They could have been bypassed, which is what the Navy wanted to do. But, MacArthur, because he was a good friend of Roosevelt, was able to get permission to retake P.I. This was not the only place where we suffered huge losses because of MacArthur. The Battle of Savo Island, in the Solomon Islands, was another. It was because of the split areas of responsibility that the messages from the scout planes were delayed many hours.
Also then just like now you have a liberal east coast and woke city type talking down to people who are living right next to danger. Its easy to say ...let the wolf live ! ...as long as it isn't your children playing in the back yard in that area. So judge Custer or settlers by what they faced at their time , not by your time and in your easy safe area.
Custer was a national figure before he ever set foot west of the Mississiisippi[...]
Could Custer have formed Square and fired volleys instead of independent fire.
Did that one panel fellow call Custer a ‘jerk,’ excuse me. And the other opine Crook was a ‘more interesting’ character than Custer? Really? Crook went hunting after his disastrous battle of the Rosebud. He was supposed to be supporting Custer. He never lived that shame down.
I disagree with their assessment ofmacauther and Patton. I admit I probably wouldn't have liked them if I had served under them. Macauther and Patton would tell it like it is no matter who it offended. Many men that served under them are proud that they served under such tough leaders.
You first have to see that spent cartridges seized in the troops rifles!
We only did to the Sioux what the Sioux were doing to others. Ancestral lands? They weren’t in the black hills that long.
The Native Americans had been PUSHED out of any land where they tried to live by the US Government. The Black Hills were given to them by the Treaty of 1868, but once GOLD was discovered on that land, the Greedy US Government broke that Treasty too.
36:50 "There were a lot of unlikable people in the army. "Still are."
And lawyers, teachers and.... you name it.
So true.
that guy on the right is odd as far as I'm concerned....for some inconceivable reason he didn't want to show the pictures??!? then he says the death of Custer eases our "guilt" and our "complex" about what was done to the Indians....
I have no "guilt" about it nor do I have a "complex"
most Americans don't
its a ridiculous way to view history
Most Americans don't even know what the Constitution is let alone anything else.
No dought in my mind ,Custer would have been President of the United Stif he would have been successful in his Campaign against the Siuex
His either.
@@gottadomor7438 lol good one!
follow the money
Custer was not well liked by his subordinate officers and men. He was a strict and at times petty disciplinarian. He underestimated his opponent and his arrogance got his command and himself killed.
the winchester 27 shot rifles appears in the last year of the civil war not 1866 there was a general who supplied is company from his own pocket the war office reject them because they said it would cost too much on ammunition
Thats the Henry rifle. Youve got to remember the army was perfectly willing to experiment with small batches of rifles for cavalry, Burnside, Spencer,Wesson, Sharps, Joslyns and everything else. The US didnt have the industrial capacity to arm its troops so they were buying Enfield and Lorenz rifles from europe, states were buying their own weapons if they could get them.
Ammunition, weapons and spares supply was a nightmare already. Many of these experimental rifles were proving to be problematic. Once the war ended America was bankrupt, they had to reconsolidate and that meant finding a weapon that would use up existing stocks of ammunition as far as possible, use existing machine tooling and parts and would be easy to maintain for a trooper living off a horse four weeks hard ride away from an armourer.
The lever rifles and carbines were just too hard to maintain, too slow to load, too expensive and took odd ammunition compared to warehouses of war surplus stock.
First off, there WAS never a “27 shot” rifle during the civil war. There WERE a few units with 13 round henery rifles.
@@voiceofraisin3778 I don’t think Winchester rifles were difficult to maintain. They, the Henry, the 1866 and 1873 were simple and rugged. If the US army couldn’t maintain a Winchester in the field, then native Americans could even less so. But the Indians had up to 250 seemingly working Winchesters at the LBH used to great effect. The 7th Cav were undergunned when the Indians were able to creep up and broke range in the landscape of the LBH. I think Custer may have been running out ammunition too.
to call the Washita a "battle" is an insult to battles
and various military s around the world have been color coding their cavalry regiments from the dawn of time
What was the massacre called between Shelby and Fort Benton Montana by the U.S. army of first peoples?
You found Custer's body
General Custer's widow, Elizabeth survived into the 1930s. When asked about the battle she replied that the Lakota were right in the war
I don't think that's correct.
there were many different tribes... custer was a coward and "last stand" was actually a multi front sweep to the north against like 4 - 5 other tribes. the aramaic Cherokee "dog" (mountain lion spirit horsemen|lion spirit warriors of Judah) were warned by the "thunder beings'/angels that custer was gonna attack and instructed if they let custer attack first, they would win. the dog men swept through and slayed custers cowards... the main battle was over as the the braves from the other tribes finally mounted... they were also instructed NOT TO TAKE ANY ITEMS FROM THE DEAD COWARDS, but other tribes did and so their tribes was cursed. custer loved capturing women and children to use as leverage to "win" so they didnt have to face death... "custers last stand" ... he hid in that battle out of uniform so he couldnt be tied to it, they thought they were winners... and custer had got a haircut... wasnt it misty that morning? loool
@@yourangelinfleshorsackclot1523 he was a lot of things but a coward was not one and it was hot AF that time of year.
@@timjespersen3605 the only question mark to my reveal was about confirmation of a mist commie sheople... his fuckin wife witnessed he was a pussy in original researched witness comment and you didnt present a fact to my only question and just irrelevant shit only relevant to your shallow mind gang stalking fallen angel muppet. how is it hot at "dawn"/sun break... so yea as sun broke the mist appeared cause the "thunder beings" wanted a piece of the coward who imprisoned innocent unarmed women and children as a "strategy" to "control" the warriors so custer and his bitches actually had a chance of surviving... the fact that custer attacked the natives of the americas he lived in is proof he was a pale face bitch... you can approach me with questions or confirmation too my my 1 question mark gang stalking sheople... stop humping my leg attempting a posture with your petty ass opinion.... "dur it was hot af that day"... fuckin custers pussy ass was dead before the heat of the day wasnt he and there was a mist that mornin wasnt there? theres 2 question marks for you to research 😂
@@yourangelinfleshorsackclot1523 Awwww. The Meth makes you feel smart, that is adorable. Enjoy your high sir. The only blown mind in this conversation for lack of a better word... Is yours. Dumdum ....dumdum...(Jaws music) get it? Its Jaws music.
Custers concerns about the Indians getting away, let's move in now, was based on how he dealt with the "indian problem".He didn't want the women/ children to get away before he rode them down.The men and boys of fighting age at such large numbers were not what Custer expected.Listen to his scouts was what he should have done.
Custer was killed before he crossed the river. He was killed at the beginning of the battle. I'm a Crow Indian and part Sioux Indian
Indeed he was, but people don't want to believe that ... doesn't fit the narrative.
How do you know?
I have read these accounts that Custer was badly wounded down deep in the Medicine Tail Coulee near the river bank. It would explain why Tom Custer left his company and was Last Stand Hill with his brother. Tom Custer probably assumed command after his brother was badly wounded.
Probably mortally wounded at the river crossing by a Northern Cheyenne with a repeating rifle. There were 2-3 dozen Northern Cheyenne warriors behind cover with Henry and Winchester repeating rifles who shot up the narrow column as it approached the river. Lt. Sturgis definitely was killed there, as part of his body was found on the other side of the river as well as some of his clothes.
George Armstrong Custer was more than likely leading the column and was hit during the first or second Cheyenne volley, and may or might not have fallen off his horse. Sturgis definitely was shot off his horse. I agree that Tom took over tactical command, and reversed what was left of the column back up Medicine Tail Coulee, deployed Calhoun, continued north along the ridge, deployed Keough, and continued north to Last Stand Hill. Tom Custer might have been one of the last left on Last Stand Hill, and probably killed a few warriors, as they really did a number on his body after he was rubbed out. Tom might have shot his older brother in the temple on Last Stand Hill, so he wouldn't have to face the pain of torture by a Lakota or Northern Cheyenne warrior or a vengeful non-combatant from the village looking to make sure that any 7th Calvary person would be without a limb or two or a head or his manhood in the afterlife.
exactly correct and Chief John Grass not only witnessed it but could have fired the shot but did not want it known. He was among the hardest battlers that did the most killing but only the big names like Crazy horse and sitting bull got all the credit. I uploaded a great video on it a couple years ago. Chief John Grass has in effect been "striken from history" for several reasons including bias. He reported they were drinking heavily and throwing the bottles something history would want not to be known. He also fought up to last stand hill and identified Custer since he had met with him at the black hills. So he demanded he be mutilated less proving he was standing right there at the scene. Afterwards it was Grass hat became the top leader of the sioux nation. But he is stricken from history because it does not match the dozens of movies showing Custer one of the last standing.
custer divided his command without knowing for sure the size of the village. at the same time, the number one Indian scout in the army, a guy named mitch bouyer, who had never worked with custer before, tried to tell him that morning, "none of us has ever seen this many native americans in one place ."
Mitch bouyer told the Arikara scouts, " this man will not quit until we are in the Lakota village, we have no chance...go, save yourselves." custer's favorite scout, Bloody Knife, told him, "Old friend, today you and I go home by a road we do not know." that meant he, also, thought they were going to be killed. Custer ignored the input of actual experts on Native American behavior and, instead, rode into total disaster. it's a weird and sad story. ,
if only Custer took Gatling guns or Canons.
According to some, it may have saved the 7th if artillery had been taken. The column’s progress would have been slowed enough that Gibbon and Custer may have converged on the Indians at the same time and any battle would have been very different.
He had both, or that is the 7th Cav did. Custer left them behind at the beginning of the campaign because he felt that they slowed him down too much. He wasn't actually wrong. The cavalry's job was to find the enemy. The 7th was going to find much of anyone dragging large field pieces and Gatling guns behind them. But as they say, be careful what you wish for...you might just get it. Custer wanted to find a large native encampment intact, he found same, and then attacked same. Hindsight says he should have waited for more backup or brought his artillery.
Flash forward to 1890. There's signs and rumors of another possible native insurrection. The 7th this time brings their artillery, in the form of more modern, smaller, but rapid firing breech loading field pieces that can keep up with the troopers. The artillery figures prominently at Wounded Knee and it turns into a massacre of the native tribespeople.
It would have slowed Custer and the 7th enough for Custer to communicate with Gibbon and Terry to coordinate a combination approach on June 27th or later.
Excuse me, sir - truly not being rude, but Crazy Horse was an O-GLA-LA. NOT “O-ga-la-la”. Thank you for all your knowledge and a nice presentation. 💜🔆📿💕🙏✝️✡️🙋♀️
pathetic puny point
you cant judge him by the standards of the 21 century the charge of the light brigade in 1854 was for a long time always looked on with awe but we know now it was a foolish folly by the arrogant British officer class and continued to make the same mistakes in the ww1
i agree on this with you
These guys lost me when they spoke of United States colonial activity in Vietnam. I don't think they truly left the 70s behind.
The weapons at the wagon box by the troops, who were sent to protect the woodcutters more mechanically no difference than the calvary carbines (45/55 not 45/70). They in fact had Allan conversion Springfields an early trap door design.
The scout's name, was bloody knife. Not bloody nose.
Cavalry regiments did not organize their horses by color to look good on parade. It was a functional device allowed the commander determine the position of his units at distance in the field. The 7th stationed together in one place and it's entire existence until shortly before its deployment on Custer's last Ride. Hence the need to" color" the troops.
There is much to know about this event in our history. It is probably not good for us to try to judge a man in his times from ours.
The cavalry carbine was in fact 45-70. The load was reduced to 55 grains as the recoil was too severe for the carbine. But it could in a pinch use the standard rifle 45-70 rounds.
Fair points OP
@@normanbraslow7902 Depending on which source you follow. It was also referred to as the .45 cal. round. The .45-70 cartridge referred to in those days was not the same as the one we have today. I have a Marlin 1895 .45-70 rifle, and it will set you back if you are not used to shooting large rifles. Custer's troopers had copper shells for their carbines. Those rifles were accurate only in the hands of experienced shooters. Custer had none of those.
The lecturers are snowflakes utterly ashamed of what Custer did and openly said how glad they are that he was killed. Custer was a man of his time , it’s so easy to judge with hindsight. And one of the “lecturers” points about Custers demise in a “romantic battle”, if you could go back in a time machine and watch the closing stages of the massacre (it wasn’t a battle) you would see butchery inflicted on the dead and dying that would make you peuk your guts up. Hardly romantic …
@@bougeac
Do you mean murdering women childern and old folks?
You guys referred to Custer's shameful fight at the Washita. The Chief had a white flag of peace flying above his teepee. What Custer did was charge his men into that sleeping Indian camp, and committed slaughter. No one could call that heroic. And, Custer DID know what size the camp was. He stood on top of one hill and observed the entire camp. So, he shouldn't have been surprised at the size of the force of the Indian braves at the Little Big Horn.
Custer and his troopers would probably have been heavily defeated right after the massacre at Washita, if they hadn't captured a group of women and children and used them as shields. There were many Dog Soliders close by ready to attack. Custer deliberately used this human shield tactics to succeed, and this was also his plan in June 1876.
Don’t forget the killing /slaughtering of the pony herd at the Washita.
Destroy the enemies moral..
and just before The Little Big Horn Crooke’s defeat on the Rosebud where a great deal of ammunition was captured.
High moral against Custer.
People fought one another all through Human History! Why is one group so darn self-righteous when it had feuds and wars with others besides the "Whites?" How many murders of Women and Children did they have part in? Isn't it true that many Indian Tribes slaughtered "White Women and children?
If you look at Chicago history, there was the Fort Dearborn MASSACRE where those self-righteous Potawatomie's and Chippewa's took part in the slaughter of many Women and Children who were fleeing the fort to somewhere in Michigan, where they would avoid a fight!! Where was this old American Indian Principle that said in a close paraphrase: "The LAND does not belong to anyone?" Yet they Believed that all land in America was theirs! How disingenuous is that? For the Most part, 99.9 % of the land was unoccupied and open to settlements whether he Indians liked it or not! How many times did one Indian group trespass on the others' so-called territory and reversely as well? How much hatred was there among MANY tribes? Innocence is not warranted for those groups, Caucasians included!
Speaking through a hole that is obviously not your mouth!
Look this is all I,m going to say about this topic , are Government broke the treaty we had with the Indians that are native to this land just because they wanted what was in the ground or what they could harvest from the land & in my eyes that’s wrong in so many different ways , back when I was in my 20s I had the privilege to sit & talk to a American Indian for the Cherokee nation me & my dad sat down just to talk to him he must have been in his mid 30s dude was way to cool & well rounded & all the wile dude was making a bone choker with conch , sinew & deer skin that later after about a hour he gave to me with no questions asked or given , so out of respect for him I reached into my pocket & gave dude $75.00 bucks for he told me that he didn’t want it because he felt like it was to much to give him & that just me & my dads time was enough to pay for it that’s all , my dad standing behind me said ( the craftsmanship is remarkable it’s worth the money take the money kid ) he did & wished us safe travels , I never seen that guy again or the choker after 8 years I gave it to my step daughter & she has it to this day.
This entire "lecture" is pointless. The first half is about the image, mystic and impact of the man and not about the battle. Second problem is that none of the discussion participants are military combat veterans and are restating common knowledge information that has little impact on the battle. I'm thinking that all of these people think GAC was still alive at the end of the battle and was only killed at its very end. There is no proof of exactly when or exactly where GAC was killed other than hi body was found on last stand hill not far from Tom Custer's.
Robert Lee what a beautiful memory thank you for sharing that...and it's the best comment IV read on here. Thank you💕💕💕
Mr. Lee the Lakota bands came rampaging out of the woodlands and lakes of Minnesota, which is their ACTUAL ancestral lands. They massacred without mercy the Oto, Pawnee, Shoshone, Kiowa, Crow and other plains tribes that claimed the plains as their ancestral lands. The Lakota lusted for their game and their rich lands. They drove these tribes from their lands and claimed the modern days states of Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, South and North Dakota as their private hunting preserve. Any trespasses or interlopers were savagely murdered. The seven sub tribes of the Lakota patrolled their newly stolen hunting grounds with great vigilance, deploying scouting, hunting and war parties over this vast 500,000 square mile area. This is a remarkable 1/6th of the present day contiguous U.S. Mr. Lee did your Cherokee friend speak of this unimaginable greed? The plains tribes were conquered for no less noble a cause. What say you to this fact? The greedy Lakota bands cloaked their claim to this staggering amount of land in the vagueness of spirituality. The Lakota claimed this land, including the Black Hills, were gifted to them by the great spirit. ??? What of the spiritual claims of the westward bound pioneers? The Mormons also claim that this land was gifted to them by THEIR GOD! Who's claim is valid? Some? None? All? The first to arrive? The strongest? The ones able to violently defend and retain their claim? What say you to this Mr. Lee? Did your Cherokee friend speak of the Cherokee alliance with the Confederate States of America? The rebel Southern states that enslaved the negro! The Cherokee nation during their removal held as many as 15,000 negro slaves. Did your Cherokee friend not also speak of the brutal savage and violent nature of the warrior culture of the plains Indians? NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MAN HAS SO MUCH BEEN HELD AND LOST BY SO FEW!!! WHAT OF THE NATIVE TRIBES LUST AND GREED FOR SO MUCH FOR SO FEW? What say to this Mr. Lee? I would like to know.
@@richardlytle2914 Thank you Richard.I happen to agree with the warriors that Custer 'fell' at the Ford.
@@richardlytle2914,I agree! This lecture is a waste of time! Most of the time the two guys on the podium have nothing new to say. It's just pointless banter!
As to the question when Custer actually died: as far as I know this can be roughly determined by the location where his body has been found. Custer couldn't have ended up there if he would've been killed soon after the battle started.
“Crazy Horse”
Hello you have no idea what Custer have in his killing head. The good guys have a beautiful Victory. saludos
The risks they talk about fail to consider he was bringing along with him the lives of other men. Custer himself failed to consider those men. Seems historians and most people fail to consider the unfortunate grunts that serve in battle. For me, a great leader and great historians are those people, though few they are, that do consider the men that make it happen, But then Im just one of the shadows.
We can never know everything Custer knew before going into the battle in June of 1776 but there is evidence that his scouts told him that it was the largest gathering of Indians they had ever seen and that the could be as many as 1,500 warriors.
1876 June 25
You forgot to mention Sitting Bull premonition after he, himself, had his body painted yellow in celebration of "Sun Down Ceremony" and during this ceremony he cut the full length of his arms causing much blood, then he danced around the camp and singing and after exhausted went into a trance and when he awoken he told all that were present that he was told by the spirits to go forth and fight the white man with united Indians tribes and they would win against the White men and he went forward to acquire full cooperation of all the Indians Tribe to be United and there was no way for Custer to anticipate what he was up against and if he would of he would have been allowed more soldiers. He did not know the Indians almost doubled him in numbers till the moment his Indian Scout rode to him with the news that there were many Indians and for some reason he chose knowing that not to back down. I think he was getting much pressure from President Grant, lets not forget President Grant had just had Custer thrown into jail for testifying against Grants brother. That and because of the gold needed from the Black Hills and many miners were in Indian territory and the Indians weren't interested in selling the Black Hills land and feared the White man would take over by force and Custer knew timing was everything and when would there be another opportunity to know where they were camped out., so much pressure from President Grant. After following the scout to assess the situation learning there were many horses and many tents but all Custer saw were children and women outside the tents but no men so he came to the conclusion that the men were out hunting buffalo when in fact they had a late night and were catching up on their sleep inside their tents. The Indian warriors were aroused by Reno's men coming into their camp and the fight began. Our troops were out numbered. So I would have to refer back to the premonitions of Sitting Bulls connection to the spirit world. Sitting Bull did warn his people that they were absolutely not allowed to take one thing from from those that were killed. The Indian Warriors did not listen to Sitting Bull and the demands of their Spirit World, so they will pave out their own misfortune but this day the White Man will suffer. Custer was not there to kill the Indians he was there to take them to the reservation, he wanted to use the women and children for a shield because he knew there would be much less fighting/killings in order to protect the Indian's warrior cherished tribal woman and children. It had worked before but would not work out that way this time.
Custer was going to fight. He wanted to prove himself again (mostly to himself) and also gain more credit going into the upcoming Democratic Convention in attempt to gain a bid to run for President. What is left out of most history, that General Terry carries more responsibility for this battle then those in attendance let alone the weaknesses and conflicting personalities of Benteen, Reno, Terry and Custer.
Good analysis! I couldn’t agree more. The spirit world is, in fact, real and Custer may have collided with it
Custer was there to kill Indians. You can rationalize it any way you want. He was a killer his batallion commanders were killers too.
Linda, well said. I agree with your detail analysis. A few points I might add: 1. It is thought in some circles that Custer was trying to get to the Indian women and children so he could do the hostage trick like he did in the Washita battle some years earlier, but he couldn't find a ford across the river. As he did no intelligence gathering of any kind, he was just charging around all over the place until ending up at Last Stand Hill. 2. He was not the leader of that campaign. BGen. Alfred Terry was the Commanding Officer. Custer had orders to meet up with him the next day. That is why Custer rode his men to exhaustion where he could be there first and reap the glory. 3. The Indian women also took part in mutilating the slain troopers against Sitting Bull's warnings. This act started the beginning of the end for the Plains Indians. When this news reached the settlements, all Indians were tarred by this brush. Very sad indeed!
That attitude towards indigenous peoples not only here in the continental US, but in Southeast Asia, South America and elsewhere has largely been ignored by the public education system and our elected representatives
I asked this very question just yesterday about the new Supreme Court justice. She can’t even define what a woman is let alone what an indigenous person is. Agree with you 💯%
The same arrogant attitude of Politicians in the Washington DC Government exists today. All those low life insects that hold office in that corrupt city are concerned about is having a cushy high paying government job with LAVISH benefits in order to get rich. A lot of them, like Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Pocahontas, get rich by routinely using Insider Trading (Which is against the LAW) To buy multiple million dollar mansions while they laugh at us all the way to the Bank.
@@leza6288 Inquiring little minds
found the tiniest minority on the planet to demonize, because....love for indigenous people, *of course* 😅
Some interesting aspects indeed, but basically not much new. Some in the audience have more knowledge than those two on stage. Also, not everything is accurate, like the first talker says when given the microphone, and Larry Skogen even has to brag about that, perhaps ironically but not funny rather tasteless. For one, Clay Jenkinson claims that Sitting Bull was "in his 50's" in 1876. The Hunkpapa holy man was most likely born in 1831, so he was in his mid 40's. It's also claimed that Crazy Horse was 31, when he was at least 36 years old at the time of the battle. It's appropriate to question these two experts' credibility when they not even can get the age of most pivotal persons right. For the record, Custer was 36, and it's perhaps easy to think of this as young, but the average expected age in the 1870's was no more than 39-40.
Cùster did understand Intelligence, at one battle in the Civil War, he had had himself winched up in a balloon
to 600 ft so as to get a proper view of the battlefield!
Apparently, the 45/70 cartridges were copper and more prone to tearing! That was the War Department!
Custer should have had Winchester 50/95 with brass cartridges for those who were good marksmen, and single shot for those who were not? That way he would have had better firepower than the indians?
With trapdoor Springfield you can fire 20 shots per minute. Deadly up to 1000 yards.
At Winchester do not forget: a) reloading b) only up to 200 yards distance
" Battle" of Wachita...?????
You want to rename history completely ? Ok. The THX1135 of Washita.
@@dks13827 yes...a spelling error. Witchita...anyway...an outrage...a war crime....murder...savagery against those you dare call savage. Always weird isn't it...no one ever makes a movie of things like that?. Ironic one of those brave lads raising your flag at Iwo Jima....was....a Cheyenne.
Reno's assault drew the warriors south, from the village, to attack him. To me it is likely, Custer assumed this would happen, and was using it to take the women and children hostage at the north end of the village. His most recent engagements on the plains suggest this. It is less likely but possible that Reno knew this and was therefore not terribly interested in keeping up the fight or coming to Custer's aid, later in the day. If Custer waved his hat at Reno to say he would support him, perhaps that was because Custer knew Reno was suspicious of Custer's plan.
Absolutely, Reno had about 130 men and there's no way Custer would have thought such a number could have defeated the village so yes Reno's attack was a distraction to get the Indian's attention riveted on the south. This is especially obvious as Custer had another 210 troops with him to lead off around the side of the village at the same time. With the warriors focused on Reno Custer could ride across the river into the village from the side and grab women and children as hostages. This would win him the battle as he could demand the warriors surrender if they wanted their families back.
It was a simple plan and the Indians fell for it. But Custer messed up by not crossing the river. He tried once about a mile north of Reno but was driven off by just four warriors. He then headed further north to the other end of the village but the warriors knew where he was now and abandoned the bait... Reno, and went charging after the real threat... Custer. They caught him at the north end of the village as he descended to the river again and drove him back up the slopes and killed him on last stand hill.
His plan would have worked if he'd forced a charge againt the four warriors and pushed into the village. He could have grabbed hostages and ended it.
@@ingurlund9657 Good account!
His entire plan rested on that capturing the women and children as he had done at the Washita battle. When that didn’t work, he had no contingency plan and it became a rout.
@@ingurlund9657 Custer faced between two and three dozen Northern Cheyenne warriors behind cover armed with Henry and Winchester repeating rifles at the narrow river crossing at the bottom of the Medicine Tail Coulee. That is where Lt. Sturgis was killed and possibly George Armstrong Custer took a rifle shot to the chest above his heart. This is according to Northern Cheyenne testimony. Tactical command may have transitioned to Tom Custer at that time if George was close to being mortally wounded. The basic problem was that 210 men wasn't nearly enough to traverse a narrow passage, cross the river and capture the fleeing Lakota and Northern Cheyenne women, children and older men. Where they blew it was turning left and deploying a company under Calhoun and further north along the narrow ridge deploying a company under Keough, and the advancing the remaining companies along the narrow ridge to Last Stand Hill. Had they turned right and retreated back south to the more advantageous bowl defensive position that Reno, Benteen and the pack train ended up in, it's possible that the 7th would have been able to hold off the warriors for two days until Terry arrived on the afternoon of June 27th with only about 50-100 casualties. This argument has been debated about by Little Big Horn scholars and aficionados for years.
What do you think? Could Custer, Benteen, Reno and the pack train have held out until Terry arrived? If George Armstrong Custer took a rifle shot to the chest above his heart at the bottom of the Medicine Tail Coulee, he probably wouldn't have survived the night of the 25th.
Custer had no idea of the terrain & did not have a clear cut # of how many warriors he was up against, him & his men where not prepared for this battle.
Custer was concerned that the Indians would run away. Not this time. They fought back and routed the 7th Calvary.
Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn was an example of how not to be.
Wrong, wrong. Custer was a brilliant tactician. He was given very bad intelligence as to the numbers and location of the hostiles. He was, true, hash, judgmental, bold and a bit rash. But he was no fool.
@@normanbraslow7902 revise and improvise if given bad intel once you realize the intel is wrong. He was too arrogant to do that. Hardly any intel given to field generals and officers is ever absolute. He finished last in his class at OCS but in those days nobody kept track of that stuff
Fróm Wounded Knee 2 !...
Set Lenard P. free!
The NATIONAL ATTITUDE at the time called out for GENOCIDE,
and unfortunitly , is still the current attitude today . . .
Crazyhorse was a little bit older than 32 at the littlebighorn. He was closer to 36 or 37. Probably 36. Or maybe 35. Otherwise a very informative lecture
The Indians had better guns, bigger men, more men, and the element of surprise by having more men. Custer and his men had no chance.
they are talking as if the native americans had M-16 s.
They did
@Mactrip100 They had a few, they also had a lot of bows and arrows which had the advantage of being able to arc fire over cover.
The US army had rejected repeating rifles because they didn't offer any advantage in fire rate per minute, although with a magazine you could dump a dozen rounds into a target fast, you then had to spend a minute reloading it, but it had the disadvantage of mechanical complexity, reduced range and accuracy and before the era of smokeless powder a real problem with barrel fouling.
Their main problem was using bad skirmish line tactics against overwhelming numbers with a limited ammunition supply.
They had around two hundred Winchester repeaters and a buncha smooth bore flintlocks, on the other hand Custer divided his force so he never had much more than 200 men together at any point and they was all armed with breechloader single shot Springfield's. That would have sucked...
أحمد الصاعدي they had repeating rifle that were sold to them by unscrupulous gunrunners troopers had single shot breech loaders
Custer said there wasn't anything the 7th couldn't lick. He might have attacked anyway. Even if he knew how many people were camped there. i have a hard time beleiving custer would have turned around after seeing the camp. the hunk papa had a sundance they were probably resting.
32:52 Oops, time for Pepto-Bismol
All it boils down to is you euro people came and took what was not yours.to this day your still doing it.i think it's time GOD WE BRING THE REIGNS ON EVERYONE.WE HAVE ONLY JUST BEGUN...
I think we needed to give you more small pox blankets.
Here it is Quick and Easy to Understand : Custer Attacked a Peaceful Village and was Attacked back and Custer Died because Custer Lied. End Of Story !
Custer was AWOL to visit his wife which is understandable
No it wasn't. He had men shot, whipped and punished for desertions while he commanded . He was in fact arrested on a murder charge by civilian authorities on one occasion for the shooting dead a army deserter. He also faced Court Martial for ordering his brother Tom and Lt Cooke to go after a group of deserters and shoot them which they did killing one and wounding others. The army had banned the practice of shooting deserters but Custer as usual ignored it. Custer refused medical treatment for the wounded men. Custer took 30 men with him when he left his command to go to his wife and 2 of those men could not keep up and straggled and attacked by Indians. When Custer was told he refused to go back and those men died. He was not charged with AWOL he was charged with deserting his command, illegal use of US army equipment, mainly the horses he took. He was also charged with lying to his superior officer etc etc etc. He was dumped forfor 12 months without pay. He should have been thrown out.
@@abwm2365 his SCALP should be in the HALL OF FAME
I am a proud European-American and glad that we prevailed over the Indians. I'm tired of all the Indian sympathy, several of my relatives were brutally murdered by Comanche Indians in Central Texas, but my great great-grandfather extracted revenge on that Indian Chief near Blanco, Texas circa 1875, and our family kept that chiefs war bonnet and we proudly still live peaceable near Blanco to this day.
Fritz Vonhotzmeyer but they were in NATIVE TERRITORY. I dont feel bad
That headress you stole needs to be given back to the tribe!!! There is a federal law about that!!!
horzeshit that headdress was prize of war taken during battle piss off you bleeding heart liberal
Don't act without the facts of the matter. Don't jump to conclusions, Custer. It could cost you and it did. Pride comes before a fall. Never follow a foolish leader. So many lessons here.
If soldiers had the winchester repeaters the results would have been different. the indians had them. Now why?
He led them into a trap! A very poor tactition
At the time it was thought you could in no way have that many Indians in one place. Food for people, grass for horses. No latrines in place or garbage pickup.. Scouts saw the horse herd size. Custer when he got to the overlook to see herd there was haze in air so he could not see the horse herd. It gets even deeper if read few books.. The battle big horn, or say shoot out at ok coral. Events drugged thru courts with ton documentation??
Custer followed textbook US cavalry tactics and strategy. The plan at LBH was audacious, but he was always that. Custer never got past Medicine Tail Coulee ford. Two Moon, Crow King, One Bull, and many others saw to that.
Funny how this academic knocked the italian parliament as an example of uncivil poltical discourse. He only had to go as far as the leftists on his own campus who he of course is covering for.
You have to expect that from north dakota based yokels. They were absolutely correct in their opening statement.
Any half dozen folks have more knowledge on this subject than both of them put together.
Dont waste time on this video. Made in north dakota is synonymous with made in india.
correct the indians called him "iron ass" because they could not believe how long and hard and fast he could ride.
Custer flamboyance was not bad thing during war war two we had patton, field marshal Montgomery both flamboyant and primadonnas
How about Jeb Stuart, Douglas MacArthur or Erwin Rommel?
@@richardschaefer4807 Yes, he wanted his troops to be able to identify him.
Well thank God "flamboyant" freedom is restricted within the officer corps today...
Custer didn't perform in a breathtaking way in the Washita fight.... They outnumbered the indians and attacked a village at dawn. After killing the majority of braves they took hostages.... After they had secured the hostages the main force of indians arrived.... As they were Cheyanne indians the squaws were very important so Custer was able to bribe his way out by threatening to kill the squaws.
the village attacked was flying a white flag of truce and a US flag to show that they were peaceful but that was disregarded and Custer attacked anyway taking many hostages ,killing many women and children and some warriors and destroying everything that couldn't be carried off
And Custer abandoned Major Elliot. Elliot had run the 7th while Custer was suspended for deserting hos post. When he returned Custer treated him like dirt. He refused to look for his men, abandoned him, and only found their tortured remains when his superior insisted on a search. My Great great grandfather was in the 7th and had no respect for Custer
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What he killed...as usual was women and children and old men. There was other bands of Cheyennes, Arapaho and Lakota camped further along the river, who Custer did'nt know about. When the warriors rallied, Custer turned tail and ran...when he had to fight men...and was lucky to escape. He got exactly what he deserved at the greasy grass and what's awesome it's something you lot just can't come to terms with...Sitting bull's and Crazy horses ultimate revenge, for the disgusting way you treated all Indian tribes and just won't admit.
@@robertkoenig7660 nobody in their rite mind would like custard
Custer was betrayed
They cannot get basic facts correct,rubbish.
Custer had scouts. The Indian Nation had scouts. Custer had recon information. On his way there he inspired men in a forced march which he did as well as his men did. At that point he knew he was a pawn so Government could escalate the extermination of the Native American.
And the 7th Cav was going to be sent there anyway, and he wanted to be with them.
best thing on the subject I have ever seen two true brainiacs with more degrees than there are on a thermometer. However on the subject not much is new except when Custer was shot and by whom. It was mentioned there are rumors he was shot among the first as they came down medicine tail coulee and Custer always led from the front and was shot immediately among at least four other officers which was not only witnessed by Chief John Grass and its possible HE shot him. Him and others were already on the other side of the river on both sides and they knew quite well to shoot the top leaders. Yet he is stricken from history because as I uploaded because of bias. He and others used the name Custer in retrospect but they said "no way could they know it was Custer". But after the battle many indians used the name Custer because they THEN knew who it was. Yet only the top leaders took all the credit even though Chief John Grass was the "Audie Murphy" who did alot of the killing at the exact location where Custer was shot but also up the slopes where CHIEF JOHN GRASS identified Custer and asked that he not be mutilated very much. It was CHIEF JOHN GRASS who identified him and the women gored out his ears because of the meeting in the black hills where Grass met and smoked the pipe with him where Custer said "I will not kill another Cheyenne". None of the women had any idea who Custer was further proof that Chief John Grass was not only there on last stand but witnessed him shot as he approached the ford and he possibly was the shooter. as far as the maneuvers rushing up the slopes we have dozens of movies that demand that Custer fought to the end up on the hill even though he was drug up between two horses dying. HUGELY important information but Chief John Grass is in effect "stricken from history" because he saw the soldiers drinking whiskey and throwing the bottles knowing they were being overwhelmed. This is not something the US would want known. Nor would the movies want it known. The movies demanded Custer up on the hilltop last person killed fighting with a non existent saber otherwise the movies could not have been made. Those movie clips then pervaded history and are used to this day. Custer shot immediately approaching the ford? CANT HAVE IT. men drinking as Custer likely was? CANT HAVE IT--not acceptable.
so you have true history spoiled when an ultra important person Chief John Grass who witnessed if not shot Custer stricken from history because he cooperated with whites where the indians did not like him and you end up with a bunch of garbage like white cow woman killed by rushing up to his horse and killing him. In the next twenty years Chief John Grass will come to the fore. in the meeting on the hilltop next day who was there? Chief John Grass sitting bull and Crazy horse with indians ringed around them.
not to mention who was the leader of the Sioux nation after the battle? CHIEF JOHN GRASS look it up
It's so facinating, because America lost, in a big way. Custer, died at his "full moon". Shelby Foote who wrote the 1.5 millon word naritive history of the Civil War, said that the war was an obsession for the south, 'cause they lost; big time. The generals should lead the charge! That's the habit of a society, that's emotionaly well, properly laid out.