Little Big Horn, A Study of a Cavalry Regiment in the Indian Wars

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So why the hooplaa over a battle that took place on June 25-26, 1876? After all,the root cause was a insane, glory hound named George Armstring Custer, at least that's what numerous Hollywood movies, various TV miniseries and scores of authors have told us every since that hot, summer day on a Montana Territory hillside. But when studying history, what is unearthed is many times, not what popular history says it is.

The Battle of the Little Big Horn cost the US Army 268 men killed, or just over 1% of its total authorized strength of 26,312 men. Compared to the battles of the Civil War, LBH is at most, a minor skirmish. But to the regular army of the 1870s, 1 percent of its strength was a staggering loss. During the period of the Indian Wars (1866-1891) the US Army lost 1,128 men in the trans-Mississippi West. LBH accounts for one quarter of all the men killed during this period. This makes LBH a staggering defeat when viewed in the context of the small numbers of casualties that would normally be expected in an fight with Indians.

When the Civil War ended in 1865, it brought about a reorganization of the army. The army had two roles, the first of policing the reconstruction effort in the South and the second of restoring order on the frontier. During the war, the frontier was guarded by over-stretched regular regiments or by various state militia units. The Indians took advantage of this and committed a series of depredations against white settlers, particularly in the Great Plains.

The army, following the reorganization of 1866 consisted of twenty-five regiments of infantry (two colored), ten regiments of cavalry (two colored) and five regiments of artillery. The U.S. Seventh Cavalry was a brand new regiment created as part of the 1866 reorganization. In July, 1866, George Custer, brevet major general of volunteers and permament rank of captain in the regular army, was appointed as lieutenant colonel of the new regiment. Custer joined his new regiment at its permanent station at Fort Riley, Kansas.