Books on the Battle of the Little Bighorn/Custer/Pictures of the Battlefield?

teej89 · May 25, 2018

Just finished "A Terrible Glory" by James Donovan, I barely knew anything about the battle or the Sioux War, it was lost in translation in my early years of schooling and sad I didn't remember much more of it. An interest sparked when I drove past the Monument last year on our elk trip and decided to read it this spring. Man what a rough life those guys had, the tales of their marches and the battle, absolutely astonishing.

The biggest shock to me was the realization of the country they fought in, in my mind while reading it I was picturing rolling hills and timber but it was basically open prairie. I googled some images and man I can't believe the lack of cover they had for the battle.

All in all a great book that I'd highly recommend. It paints a great picture of Custer and how he goes from almost a drop out in military school to one of the toughest Indian fighting generals.

Anyone visit the Monument? I'd love to see some more pictures!

jabber · May 25, 2018

I visited it in 2016. Got there just shortly before they closed for the day and didn't get to spend the time there that it deserves. Very emotional place when you start looking at all of the markers and thinking about what happened there. I don't have any pictures with me, but I took a bunch and will see if I can get a few posted up later. If you ever get the chance, definitely stop in. I am planning on going back someday and spending a little more time there.

PrairieHunter · May 25, 2018

Western history is very interesting, as well as saddening.

Hard to imagine what it must have been like with so many bufalo, elk, and griz, out on the prairie.

Brad NSW · May 26, 2018

Great place to spend a full day. We used to take out leadership courses there for a battlefield tour. Even though it was another era, lots of tactical and leadership lessons still apply today!

Man were those men tough...another age!

SFC B · May 26, 2018

When I PCS'd to Ft Lewis in 2001 the family and I drove through and made the stop. It was in the later afternoon and you could see a huge storm rolling in from the west. We passed the memorial first and then got to the high point. As mentioned above, the amount of markers and the realization of the unnecessary loss of life in that situation was incredibly sobering. I ended up in a Cav unit at Lewis and it is pretty disappointing to me that Custer is still lauded in many circles. While his civil war record was VERY successful, this, his final battle was an embodiment of his personal, and our national at the time, arrogance and utter brutality. His personal bravado outweighed taking care of his troops.

ovis2 · May 26, 2018

Being a Montanan (though displaced over the years), I've always been fascinated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn since my first visit when I was a wee lad. Over the years, I've read several books on the battle and its participants, most recently The Last Stand by Philbrick and Crazy Horse and Custer by Ambrose. I suppose that because not only was the battle such a dramatic and unexpected result (at least by 19th century thinking), but also the uncertainty in much of the story that keeps it of so much interest to so many people. Recent archeology only serve to deepen the fascination.

Regardless, on a late afternoon on a hot summer day, when the crowds have faded, and the rhythmic waving of the browned prairie grass pulls you into the history, it is not much of an imaginary leap to feel the power of the battlefield.

jabber · May 27, 2018

Here are a few pictures that I took of the area.

Pagosa · May 27, 2018

I read a couple books about the battle, one was mostly based on Captain Batteen. It could have been triple the casualty rate if the Indians would not have withdrew after 2-3 days of fighting with Reno and Batteen forces further to the southeast. Or the other way, if cannons/Gatlin guns would have be used. A lot of the soldiers were 1st generation immigrants, and the military was one of the few employment prospects some of the soldiers had. They were incredibly brave, tough bunch of soldiers that had no quitting sense.

Blacktailbc · May 27, 2018

If you ever get within 500 miles of the battlefield site , it is worth the detour to visit.

Deleted member 20812 · May 27, 2018

It’s worth visiting the Rosebud Battlefield as well.

teej89 · May 31, 2018

Awesome thanks for the responses guys! Sorry it's been a busy week, I plan on checking out those books that were recommended. One day I'm going to get there, I told the GF it's a must...

JLS - I'll have to check that out!

teej89 · May 31, 2018

jabber said:
Here are a few pictures that I took of the area.

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Thanks so much for the pics! Better than anything I've seen on google, man that last picture... I'm assuming that's the graves "as they lay"

Did you get to see the timber that Reno retreated from? After seeing these pics and seeing how open the battlefield really is I wonder what this "timber" actually looked like.

HSi-ESi · May 31, 2018

I worked there 4 summers. Lots of memories in those pictures, thanks for posting them. Every spring (right around now in fact), we'd be doing training in preparation for the summer. One of the best parts of the training were the field days. We got to walk through different closed areas of the battlefield and some other sites in the area, like the Crow's Nest and Deer Medicine Rocks. I got a terrible sunburn the day we went from Weir's Point and down Cedar Coulee to Medicine Tail.

The books mentioned above are all good. The archaeological books done by Richard Fox are good as well, but terribly dry reading.

It always amazed me how a) folks from all over the world are fascinated by the battle and b) how polarizing this battle still is.

HSi-ESi · May 31, 2018

teej89 said:
Did you get to see the timber that Reno retreated from? After seeing these pics and seeing how open the battlefield really is I wonder what this "timber" actually looked like.

Reno retreated from the valley floor and had to cross the Little Horn, work up the bluffs to the top of the ridge. The "timber" is really Cottonwood tree's and Russian Olives. You can see some of the ground in the second to last picture.

The second picture (all the markers on Last Stand Hill) looks out onto the valley floor. That's where the Indian encampment was. Reno attacked on the south end (to the left in that picture) and was repelled early on in the battle.

glass eye · May 31, 2018

I went there in 2006 and what I got from it was that Custer committed murder/suicide. There's no way that he was caught off guard by the number of Indians. From where he stood he had a commanding view. Maybe he was misinformed about the numbers prior to setting out, but no way he couldn't see what he was getting into like the movies like to portray the battle.

teej89 · May 31, 2018

HSi-ESi said:
Reno retreated from the valley floor and had to cross the Little Horn, work up the bluffs to the top of the ridge. The "timber" is really Cottonwood tree's and Russian Olives. You can see some of the ground in the second to last picture.

The second picture (all the markers on Last Stand Hill) looks out onto the valley floor. That's where the Indian encampment was. Reno attacked on the south end (to the left in that picture) and was repelled early on in the battle.

Man that would have been awesome to work there! I'm extremely fascinated with this battle, I can't wait to read more about it.

From what I comprehend is that Reno had the best position of the fight and his premature retreat was a huge impact in the outcome of the battle. In addition to Benteen not charging in and helping out when he received the message from Custer to come quick. I didn't realize the second picture was from the last stand... man i pictured some monumental hill with high bluffs/more cover. Those were some brave men.

How far away was benteen from custer during the last stand, benteen was saying they couldn't hear the shots being fired or if they did they were intermittent, from the topography man i can't see how you couldn't hear a shot for miles.

antlerradar · May 31, 2018

[QUOTE=HSi-ESi;27176 The "timber" is really Cottonwood tree's and Russian Olives. You can see some of the ground in the second to last picture.

There would not have been any Russian Olives at the time of the battle.

HSi-ESi · May 31, 2018

antlerradar said:
There would not have been any Russian Olives at the time of the battle.

Correct, just using it for present day references.

No grand-stands down at Medicine Tail either

406LIFE · May 31, 2018

I've been there half a dozen times or so. I try to stop on my way to Eastern MT. I'll have to dig up some pics. Some thoughts:

-Custer isn't buried here, he is somewhere back in West Point. The marker is best guess on where he fell.
-The openess of the country is deceptive, there's lots of pockets to hide. There could have been very tall sage in there as well.
- the first hand native accounts are the best to read.
- The pure hubris of Custer's actions is astounding and inexcusable.
- About 30 years ago there was a fire that revealed numerous artifacts including remains that were unknown.
- I once saw a video that used the spent casings, matched them to each gun, and then showed where that gun went in the battle. I can't remember where it was, but by far the most intersting thing I ever saw on the site.
- The cemetery is full, so no new burials for vets.

jabber · May 31, 2018

Did anybody pickup on the deer in the second to last picture?

They have a visitor's center and have a video that gives information about the battle, I only got to watch a few minutes of it as we got there late in the day.

Books on the Battle of the Little Bighorn/Custer/Pictures of the Battlefield?

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