[robowombat]

Today is the 126th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Once this date was kept as al,ost sacred in the 7th Cav. Today with pc in full swing I have no idea if it is still memorialized in the unit calender. The two articles presented here give some coverage of the battle fas seen by survivors of Reno and Benteen's companies and Greg Michno presents a very compelling tactical analysis of what factors came together that morning so long ago to give one the US Army one of its most memorable moments.

[Lexington Green]

The GarryOwen Song by Lt. Rick Rescorla - An Khe '66

"SGT Flynn"

1. Garry Owen, Garry Owen, Garry Owen,

In the Valley of Montana all alone (Chorus)

There’ll be better days to be for the Seventh Cavalry

When we charge again for dear old Garry Owen.

2. Once the Seventh rode with Custer, Sergeant Flynn

Against Sioux braves they did muster, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, have got their bellies full

Of lead and steel from men of Garry Owen.

3. Though outnumbered and surrounded, Sergeant Flynn

Recall was not sounded, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

Men of Custer’s Cavalry, you wrote your history

By death without dishonor, Garry Owen.

4. Now their bones have turned to dust, Sergeant Flynn

But they’ve left a sacred trust, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

From the annals of the brave, comes a whisper from the grave...

You have not heard the last of Garry Owen.

5. Now many years have passed, Sergeant Flynn

And the time has come at last, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

To Vietnam we go, to fight a different foe,

And join the fight for freedom, Garry Owen.

6. Here we stand in Ia Drang Valley, Sergeant Flynn

Round our Guidons we must rally, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

Valiant men of history, now show your gallantry

For the men who died with Custer, Garry Owen.

7. Through the night I hear them moving, Sergeant Flynn

I can hear their bugles playing, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

We’re outnumbered I can see, but outfought we’ll never be

For we now bear the name of Garry Owen!

8. We are fighting at close quarters, Sergeant Flynn

Rifle, bayonet and mortars, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

We have given Victory, to the 7th Cavalry

Let us charge once more for dear old GarryOwen

9. Now we proudly march away, Sergeant Flynn

For the 7th won the day, Sergeant Flynn (Chorus)

Ghostly voices of the brave, pay a tribute from the grave

We salute you, fighting men of GarryOwen.

10. Garry Owen, Garry Owen, Garry Owen

In the Valley of Ia Drang all alone (Chorus)

Better days have come to be, for the Seventh Cavalry

And we’ve charged again for dear old Garry Owen.

[Ciexyz]

Cool article. Makes me want to re-watch that old movie, "They Died With Their Boots On".

[2banana]

After the battle, the Indians came through and stripped the bodies and mutilated all the uniformed soldiers

They also tortured and killed all their prisoners, maybe their descendants should sue for war crimes...

[Billthedrill]

I just finished a great treatment of this battle by John Keegan, in Warpaths (1995) - Custer's biggest problem was that he didn't realize how badly he was outnumbered until it was too late. When he broke over the ridge he discovered a "village" filling a four-mile-long valley, containing an estimated 3000+ warriors. The maximum size of a war party in that area at the time was around 500, for logistical reasons - you have to carry food, water, ammunition, and forage there. Of course, an established village has all of these things, as well as fresh horses. (This number was true for both Indian and cavalry, by the way, inasmuch as the Indians could carry less but needed less.)

What appears to have happened tactically is that Custer's perimeter was too extended for the Springfields, or, for that matter, even the Winchesters, to cover given the preponderance of numbers of the attackers; it was also thrown up on unadvantageous ground and without the time Reno had to dig in. The Indians could have stuck to their traditional Plains tribal weapons of spear, shield, and arrow, and still overwhelmed those numbers on that ground. Not that they did; they did, in fact have some repeaters, but it wouldn't have mattered much had they not.

Ironic in the thunder of the "Custer had it coming" Indian apologia (he did, IMHO) was that the Sioux probably did too - they had, after all, obtained much of their land from other tribes using the same techniques the white man was later to use on them, the Ogalala Sioux being rather notorious in this regard. This was one reason that Custer had so little trouble recruiting Indian scouts from other tribes - they had been dispossessed of their lands in living memory. That is also one reason the Plains Indians never formed a race-wide effort to eject the white man.