Post by griffin on Jun 15, 2013 21:06:14 GMT -5
For any veteran or for those who follow military matters, this is a must see. There is an information building where a tourist guide gives a rundown on the battle, and you buy other items in their store. I bought a cassette tape, (this was more than 10-years ago), which gave an audio tour as you drive through the battle fields. The scene of the battle is not one, but several locations spread over several square miles.
There are wooden walkways that tourists can travel on, but are warned, especially during the summer months, to watch out for rattlesnakes and not to leave the walkways. There are a number of key points in the driving tour that show:
- where Custer and his men died,
- where Major Keogh put up a valiant fight. However, after Custer and his men were killed, more Indians led by Crazy Horse joined the fight and wiped out Keogh's command.
- Then there is the location where Major Reno initially attacked and his retreat back to the wagons where he established a fighting position. Had it not been for the movement of more troops to the Little Big Horn area, Reno and his surviving troops would have also been wiped out.
Hollywood didn't get the battle right, whether that was the Errol Flynn movie, 'They Died With Boots On', or the equally fanciful 'Little Big Man' movie, etc.
Custer was a fighter to be sure and was victorious time and again during the Civil War. Phil Sheridan and him made quite a good team. However, even then Custer took too many risks and also got himself killed a numbrer of times, with General Gregg and others having to save him from his over aggressiveness.
There were a number of serious command errors made by Custer at the Little Big Horn.
These included:
- Separating his command before he fully understood what he was up against.
- He had Reno attack initially and should have seen how that turned out before committing the other two columns to a course of action that would have them fully committed. Instead he split his troops into four commands. Reno, Keogh, Custer and the last being his base where the wagons, etc. were left. This is where Reno and his survivors retreated.
- Custer lost total control of the battle field by being out of visual touch with his various columns. The last dispatch rider that got back to the base camp had a note from Custer emphasizing the need for ammunition and to be quick about it. More on this in a following point.
- By breaking his force down into these columns he reduced each columns firepower. He was trying to use a tactic of securing the Indian encampment and using the women and children as hostages, which the US Army had successfully used before. Unfortunately for Custer and his men, he never got close enough and ran headlong into Indians that numerically dwarfed his column.
- His scouts had advised Custer that the Indians were in the thousands, but he chose to ignore this.
- Knowing a large encampment was ahead of him, with numerous tribes including Cheyenne and Sioux in the thousands, Custer should have provided a far larger amount of ammunition to be carried by his troopers in case things 'went south'.
- Before charging headlong into disaster, Custer should have kept some soldiers up the hill observing from a safe distance, thereby being able to convey messages on what they were observing to all the columns. The sad fact is that he had Reno charge with his column and didn't bother to wait to see what the outcome was, or at a minimum, keep one column in reserve. Had he done the latter things would still have been bad, but better than how things turned out.
Just a few points that had me wondering what the hell Custer was thinking of. This former recon soldier was amazed at the foolish nature of Custer in this matter and sadly his men and his troopers paid the price.
Paul
There are wooden walkways that tourists can travel on, but are warned, especially during the summer months, to watch out for rattlesnakes and not to leave the walkways. There are a number of key points in the driving tour that show:
- where Custer and his men died,
- where Major Keogh put up a valiant fight. However, after Custer and his men were killed, more Indians led by Crazy Horse joined the fight and wiped out Keogh's command.
- Then there is the location where Major Reno initially attacked and his retreat back to the wagons where he established a fighting position. Had it not been for the movement of more troops to the Little Big Horn area, Reno and his surviving troops would have also been wiped out.
Hollywood didn't get the battle right, whether that was the Errol Flynn movie, 'They Died With Boots On', or the equally fanciful 'Little Big Man' movie, etc.
Custer was a fighter to be sure and was victorious time and again during the Civil War. Phil Sheridan and him made quite a good team. However, even then Custer took too many risks and also got himself killed a numbrer of times, with General Gregg and others having to save him from his over aggressiveness.
There were a number of serious command errors made by Custer at the Little Big Horn.
These included:
- Separating his command before he fully understood what he was up against.
- He had Reno attack initially and should have seen how that turned out before committing the other two columns to a course of action that would have them fully committed. Instead he split his troops into four commands. Reno, Keogh, Custer and the last being his base where the wagons, etc. were left. This is where Reno and his survivors retreated.
- Custer lost total control of the battle field by being out of visual touch with his various columns. The last dispatch rider that got back to the base camp had a note from Custer emphasizing the need for ammunition and to be quick about it. More on this in a following point.
- By breaking his force down into these columns he reduced each columns firepower. He was trying to use a tactic of securing the Indian encampment and using the women and children as hostages, which the US Army had successfully used before. Unfortunately for Custer and his men, he never got close enough and ran headlong into Indians that numerically dwarfed his column.
- His scouts had advised Custer that the Indians were in the thousands, but he chose to ignore this.
- Knowing a large encampment was ahead of him, with numerous tribes including Cheyenne and Sioux in the thousands, Custer should have provided a far larger amount of ammunition to be carried by his troopers in case things 'went south'.
- Before charging headlong into disaster, Custer should have kept some soldiers up the hill observing from a safe distance, thereby being able to convey messages on what they were observing to all the columns. The sad fact is that he had Reno charge with his column and didn't bother to wait to see what the outcome was, or at a minimum, keep one column in reserve. Had he done the latter things would still have been bad, but better than how things turned out.
Just a few points that had me wondering what the hell Custer was thinking of. This former recon soldier was amazed at the foolish nature of Custer in this matter and sadly his men and his troopers paid the price.
Paul