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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Today in History: Custer's Last Stand |
| 2008-06-25 |
 "Orderly!""Yes, General Custer?" "Go back to the fort and tell the Judge Advocate General to gather up his staff and legal briefs and ride here with all deliberate speed!" "Yes, sir. Ah, sir . . . begging the General's pardon, sir, there's an awful lot of Indians over there, sir. I mean, I can understand sending for reinforcements, but why send for lawyers?" "Because, my boy, we're about to be Siouxed!" |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #12 Custer's job was to find the Indians and he did - iff he took the slower GATLINGS he likely would had indeed won the Bighorn fight only under the presumption that the massive Indian encampment stayed together even after the Rosebud fight. THE ARMY's PLANNED OPERATION WAS OF LIMITED/FIXED DURATION DUE TO SCARCE RESOURCES, AND WAS DESIGNED/SCHEMED TO IDEALLY ENGAGE THE INDIANS IN "DECISIVE BATTLE" - IT WOULD HAD FAILED ANYWAY IFF NO INDIANS WERE FOUND "EN MASSE" = IN LARGE TRIBAL OR COMBINED MASSES-FORMATIONS TO FIGHT SAID BATTLE. What more the retreat of Crook's forces after the Rosebud fight [unknown to Custer], and the period delays of the incoming Terry-Gibbons column [mostly Infantry]? IMO, Custer divided his battalion again POST-RENO/BENTEEN to cover any Indian retreat + "hold the high ground" above the Indian Camp. BWTN RENO AND BENTEEN, IMO THE GREATER DEFECT WAS BENTEEN'S FAILURE TO BREAK FROM THE AMMO PACK MULES AND PROCEED INDEPENDENTLY AHEAD TO JOIN UP WID CUSTER. Benteen's men could had carried extra ammo pouches on their horses and still arrived in time to help Custer. IMO again, the interim volley firings heard by Reno-Benteen's forces atop Reno Hill were likely attempts by Custer's remaining soldiers to conserve the last of their ammo ["Making it count"] + signal of distress. POSSIBLE SCENARIO > Indians were executing COMPANY "I"? survivors en masse some time after Custer's force absolutely rab out of ammo ["I" = "LOST COMPANY"]. I personally would like for archaeological field and records investigations to affirm or not iff CROOK ever sent any of his armed Cavalry Units ahead to find and join Custer andor Terry-Gibbon after the Rosebud while Crook's infantry and wagon returned home, AS PER STRONG ORAL + PHYSICAL DISCREPANCIES IN INDIAN DESCRIPTIONS AND ART DEPICTIONS OF CUSTER'S SOLDIERS e.g. "SWORDS GLISTENING IN THE SUN" + Cavalry soldiers drawn wearing Brevet Caps/fighting with swords. Custer's soldiers at the BigHorn did NOT wear Brevet Caps, and suppos also did not have swords -CROOK'S COLUMN DID, and so also may had POTENS LOCAL UNIFORMED CIVILIAN MILITIA CAVALRY UNITS USED IN SUPPORT OF THE REGULARS??? E.g. IIRC CHIEF TWO MOONS > counted 400 or 600 dead US soldiers above the Indian Camp on Custer Hill-Ridge??? "THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-06-25 22:54 |
| #11 Custer was defeated by the same battle field technique that the US Cavalry used against the Mexican Cavalry in the Mexican/American war. As Custer's Cavalry raced towards the center of the injun camp, his objective, injuns started thining his column down from each side where they were in the thickets. Custer turned and headed back to take a stand and the injuns gave chase, cutting his column down from behind. Finished of the US Cav when they took a stand. In Naval terms, they crossed the 'T'. |
| Posted by: one eyed wolf 2008-06-25 22:03 |
| #10 Gatling guns break, and you are still screwed against 2000+ P.O.ed indians |
| Posted by: Texhooey 2008-06-25 21:17 |
| #9 In retrospect it seems pretty stupid that the Army Dept was issuing single shot rifles in the 1870's when there were 100,000 left over Spencer repeating rifles from the Civil War, not to mention 15 shot Winchesters were already in use. But in their infinite wisdom it was better to have a low rate of fire and conserve ammo than it was to be able to get a shot off every 2 seconds. Cheap bastards. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-06-25 21:13 |
| #8 Custer died because of two major screw-ups on his part : 1) he split his forces, and 2) he left his Gatling Guns behind. If the combined 7th Cavalry had been fighting together with the Gatling Guns supporting them, the battle would be known today as the Sioux's Last Stand. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2008-06-25 20:47 |
| #7 Note well the number of Crow scouts. All the 'evil white man' crowd sort of ignore that the Crow were working with the Army because of the generations of deprivations visited upon them by the 'victim' classed Sioux. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-06-25 15:33 |
| #6 Rats! I forgot the caption. The previous is "Custer's Last View". |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-06-25 11:43 |
#5 Courtesy of Gary Larson. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-06-25 11:42 |
| #4 I don't mean to be pedantic but Custer was not a General. He was a Colonel. He was Breveted a General in the Civil War but when the war ended he was reduced to the permanent rank of Colonel. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-06-25 11:25 |
#3 Baghdad Bob was there. |
| Posted by: Korora 2008-06-25 11:19 |
| #2 Custer sent a scout over the hill to check on the Indian attack and their strength. When the scout came back Custer asked, "So, what is our situation?" The scout replied, "Well, I have some good news and bad news." Custer said, "Give me the bad news first." "There are a lot of Indians coming our way and they look like they are out for blood. I don't see us being able to fight our way out of this." "Damn," Custer said. "Well, what is the good news?" "We will never have to see Fort Rylie again." Heard this one while I was training there. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-06-25 09:38 |
| #1 The curator of an art gallery asked an artist for a painting depicting General Custer's last thoughts. Two weeks later, the artist unveiled the painting, an enormous canvas with a lovely blue lake painted in its center, with a fish leaping from the water with a shining halo around its head. On the shores of the lake were the most detailed pictures of Indians fornicating. After gaping at the painting for some time, the enraged curator demanded to know what the theme was supposed to be. The artist said, "You asked for a painting of Custer's last thoughts," he explained. "That's it. Custer was thinking, 'Holy mackerel, where did all those f*cking Indians come from?' |
| Posted by: penguin 2008-06-25 09:03 |