Little Big Horn 1876

Little Big Horn was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Disobeying orders, George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment followed a trail to a large encampment of Indians. Without determining the numbers he faced, Custer split his command into three groups and attacked. The resulting chaos has passed into legend as the most infamous battle of the Indian Wars as Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed. The death of George Armstrong Custer, and over half of his 7th Cavalry Regiment in the valley of the Little Big Horn on 25 July 1876, has become the most celebrated battle of the Indian wars. It was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Planned as a combined operation by three different columns of troops commanded by Generals Crook and Terry and Colonel John Gibbon, the campaign went wrong almost from the start. Crook's column was stopped almost immediately and after a severe mauling fell back to its supply base. Custer then disobeyed orders and followed a trail left by a large number of ponies towards the Little Big Horn. He found a large encampment of Indians on the morning of 25 July and without determining the numbers he faced split his command into three groups and attacked. In the resulting chaos Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed. Custer's luck had finally run out. Peter Panzeri details the whole of the 1876 campaign against the Indians under Sitting Bull, including Gibbon's encounters and Terry's advance, before recounting in detail the last stand of one of history's most controversial figures.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and full-color maps, this absorbing study investigates the origins, fighting techniques, and battlefield performance of the combatants fighting on both sides during the Black Hills War of 1876–77. Following the discovery of gold deposits, in December 1875 the US Government ordered the indigenous population of the Black Hills in what is now South Dakota and Wyoming, the Sioux, to return to the Great Sioux Reservation. When the Sioux refused, US Army sent forces into the area, sparking a conflict that would make Lieutenant Colonel George Custer, Chief Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and others household names around the world. Examining a series of engagements in the Black Hills War, including Rosebud, Little Bighorn and Slim Buttes, this fully illustrated study assesses the forces fighting on both sides in this momentous campaign, casting light on the origins, tactics, armament, and battlefield performance of the US Cavalry and their Sioux opponents at the height of the Indian Wars.

In spring 1876 a physician named James Madison DeWolf accepted the assignment of contract surgeon for the Seventh Cavalry, becoming one of three surgeons who accompanied Custer’s battalion at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Killed in the early stages of the battle, he might easily have become a mere footnote in the many chronicles of this epic campaign—but he left behind an eyewitness account in his diary and correspondence. A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn is the first annotated edition of these rare accounts since 1958, and the most complete treatment to date. While researchers have known of DeWolf’s diary for many years, few details have surfaced about the man himself. In A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn, Todd E. Harburn bridges this gap, providing a detailed biography of DeWolf as well as extensive editorial insight into his writings. As one of the most highly educated men who traveled with Custer, the surgeon was well equipped to compose articulate descriptions of the 1876 campaign against the Indians, a fateful journey that began for him at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory, and ended on the battlefield in eastern Montana Territory. In letters to his beloved wife, Fannie, and in diary entries—reproduced in this volume exactly as he wrote them—DeWolf describes the terrain, weather conditions, and medical needs that he and his companions encountered along the way. After DeWolf’s death, his colleague Dr. Henry Porter, who survived the conflict, retrieved his diary and sent it to DeWolf’s widow. Later, the DeWolf family donated it to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Now available in this accessible and fully annotated format, the diary, along with the DeWolf’s personal correspondence, serves as a unique primary resource for information about the Little Big Horn campaign and medical practices on the western frontier.

A ledger book of drawings by Lakota Sioux warriors found in 1876 on the Little Bighorn battlefield offers a rare first-person Native American record of events that likely occurred in 1866–1868 during Red Cloud’s War. This color facsimile edition uncovers the origins, ownership, and cultural and historical significance of this unique artifact.

"Little Big Horn was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Disobeying orders, George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment followed a trail to a large encampment of Indians. Without determining the numbers he faced, Custer split his command into three groups and attacked. The resulting chaos has passed into legend as the most infamous battle of the Indian Wars as Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed"--Page 4 of cover.

'Easily the most significant book yet published on the Battle of the Little Bighorn."--Paul L. Hedren, Western Historical Quarterly "[Gray] has applied rigorous analysis as no previous historian has done to these oft-analyzed events. His detailed time-motion study of the movements of the various participants frankly boggles the mind of this reviewer. No one will be able to write of this battle again without reckoning with Gray"--Thomas W. Dunlay, Journal of American History "Gray challenges many time~honored beliefs about the battle. Perhaps most significantly, he brings in as much as possible the testimony of the Indian witnesses, especially that of the young scout Curley, which generations of historians have dismissed for contradictions that Gray convincingly demonstrates were caused not by Curley but by the assumptions made by his questioners . . . The contrasts in [this] book. . . restate the basic components of what still attracts the imagination to the Little Bighorn."--Los Angeles Times Book Review "Gray's analysis, by and large, is impressively drawn; it is an immensely logical reconstruction that should stand the test of time. As a contribution to Custer and Indian wars literature, it is indeed masterful."--Jerome A. Greene, New Mexico Historical Review John S. Gray was a distinguished historian whose books included the acclaimed Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876. Custer's Last Campaign is the winner of the Western Writers of American Spur award and the Little Bighorn Associates John M. Carroll Literary Award.

With the Great Sioux War as background and context, and drawing on many new materials, Thomas Powers establishes what really happened in the dramatic final months and days of Crazy Horse’s life. He was the greatest Indian warrior of the nineteenth century, whose victory over General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was the worst defeat ever inflicted on the frontier army. But after surrendering to federal troops, Crazy Horse was killed in custody for reasons which have been fiercely debated for more than a century. The Killing of Crazy Horse pieces together the story behind this official killing.

Reproduced here-- in chronological order-- are issues of the weekly paper of the Army and navy journal during the period of the Battle of Little Bighorn. Generally each issue of the journal would therein contain a list of all the regiments, cavalry, artillery, and infantry that made up the line of the Regular army. This book is a time saver to researchers and is a valuable source of information.

On June 25, 1876, the United States Army suffered the worst defeat of all its battles with Native Americans. Allied Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors successfully turned back a surprise attack on their village near the Little Bighorn River in Montana. Killed in the battle were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, the colorful and controversial commanding officer of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and 267 men under his command. Little Bighorn traces the events that led to this historic confrontation, which, though a great tactical victory for the Native American warriors and the families they fought to protect, also set in motion a series of negative events for the Sioux and their allies.