XIX0008 – The General Custer at Little Big Horn

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, 25 June 1876

On a hot Sunday afternoon in southern Montana, five companies of the 7th US Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer were surrounded and destroyed by Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors. It was the most complete Native American victory of the Plains wars, and it has been argued over ever since — usually from the side of the men who lost.

Why the Army Was There

The Fort Laramie treaty of 1868 had guaranteed the Black Hills to the Lakota in perpetuity. In 1874 an expedition led by Custer himself confirmed gold in those hills, prospectors poured in, and the government moved to buy the land. When the Lakota refused, Washington ordered all bands onto reservations by the end of January 1876 — a deadline impossible to meet in a Plains winter — and treated non-compliance as grounds for war. The campaign that followed was the enforcement of that order.

The Village on the Greasy Grass

The encampment on the river the Lakota called the Greasy Grass was among the largest ever assembled on the northern Plains, drawn together by Sitting Bull’s political authority after his Sun Dance vision. Estimates run to several thousand people and perhaps fifteen hundred to two thousand fighting men. Custer’s scouts told him the village was too big. He attacked anyway, and divided his regiment into three parts before doing so.

The Collapse

Reno’s battalion attacked the southern end, was checked, and was driven back across the river to a bluff where it was pinned down with Benteen’s command. Custer’s five companies moved north along the ridges and were engaged by warriors under Crazy Horse and Gall coming from several directions at once. The fighting on Custer’s part of the field probably lasted well under an hour. All 210 men with him were killed. Archaeological survey of cartridge-case distribution in the 1980s indicated a collapsing running fight rather than an organised last stand.

Victory and Consequence

The victory accelerated the defeat it seemed to reverse. Public reaction in the east — the news reached the papers during the centennial celebrations — produced reinforcement, relentless winter campaigning, the surrender of Crazy Horse in 1877 and the flight of Sitting Bull to Canada. Within five years the free life of the northern Plains had ended. The Black Hills were taken; in 1980 the US Supreme Court ruled the seizure unlawful, and the compensation has never been accepted.

Giuseppe Rava’s Original Work

Giuseppe Rava reconstructs the engagement from the material record: the 1873 Springfield carbine and Colt revolver of the cavalry, the mixed armament of the warriors including repeating rifles, the campaign dress of a regiment on the march rather than parade uniform. Custer, contrary to popular imagery, had cut his hair short before the campaign.

This is a limited edition fine art print, hand-signed by the artist, produced in SRA3 format on fine art paper. Ships worldwide.