Battle of the Little Bighorn

History -- Military History -- List of battles
Battle before: Battle of Rosebud
Battle after: Wounded Knee Massacre

Battle of the Little Bighorn
Conflict	Black Hills War (Indian Wars)
Date	June 25, 1876
Place	Near the Little Bighorn River, Montana, United States
Result	Decisive Native American victory
Combatants Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho United States Commanders Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer Strength 5,000 300 Casualties ?? entire force killed

The Battle of Little Big Horn, also called Custer's Last Stand, took place on June 25, 1876 as part of the Indian Wars and was a victory of a large force of Lakota and their allies including the Cheyenne over the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army which attacked their village. The part of the detachment personally commanded by General George Armstrong Custer was killed to the last man.

The American forces were sent to attack the natives based on Indian Inspector's E.C. Watkins report (issued on November 9, 1875) that stated that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were hostile to the United States.

The widow of Custer helped popularize this defeat in memory of her husband and the event as recreated in numerous films as a heroic American general fighting valiantly against savage forces. By the end of the 20th century, the general recognition of the mistreatment of the various Native American nations in the conquest of the American west, and Custer's role in it, has changed the image of the battle to one of a bloodthirsty conqueror meeting his match against courageous warriors defending their land and way of life.

On Memorial Day 1999 the first of five red granite markers denoting where warriors fell during the battle were placed on the battlefield for Cheyenne warriors, Lame White Man and Noisy Walking. The warrior markers dot the ravines and hillsides like the white marble markers representing where soldiers fell. Since then, markers have been added for the Sans Arc warrior, Long Road and the Minniconjou, Dog?s Back Bone. On June 25, 2003 an unknown warrior marker was placed on Wooden Leg Hill, east of Last Stand Hill to honor a warrior who was killed during the battle as witnessed by the Cheyenne warrior, Wooden Leg.

On June 25, 2003 the first Indian Memorial was dedicated. The bill that changed the name of the battlefield from Custer Battlefield National Monument to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument also called for an Indian Memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill. President George Bush signed the bill into law on December 10, 1991.

The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is located in southeastern Montana near Crow Agency, Montana and administered by the National Park Service. The NPS official website is http://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm.

For more information about the Battle of the Little Bighorn and updates from the battlefield, including the Indian Memorial dedication and warrior markers, please visit the Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, the only non-profit organization affiliated with the Little Bighorn Monument, at http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com.

Further reading

• Wind on the Buffalo Grass, The Indians' Own Account of the Battle at the Little Big Horn River, & the Death of their Life on the Plains, collected and edited by Leslie Tillett, Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, 1976, Illustrated hardback, 158 pages with many drawings by Native Americans, ISBN 0-690-01155-5.

• Custer: Cavalier in Buckskin, by Robert Utley, Univ of Oklahoma Pr; Revised edition (June 2001),176 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.73 x 13.28 x 10.20, ISBN 0-806-13347-3.

• Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn , by Douglas Scott, Univ of Oklahoma Pr; Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Trd); (September 2000) 328 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.00 x 9.93 x 6.86,ISBN 0-806-13292-2.