The battle of the little bighorn?

Question

what were the actions of:
Custer, Reno and Benteen, Terry and Sherman and the Sioux on the battle field... PLEASE HELP IN SIMPLE POINTS

ok now what did terry and sherman do on the battle field, also the sioux

Answer 1

Custer split his command into three wings, one under his command and two others under Reno and Benteen. Reno was ordered to attack the south end of a large camp of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho "hostiles" near the Little Bighorn River while Custer's detachment attacked from the other end of the camp simultaneously. Benteen's detachment was to cover the route to the west and prevent any Indian retreat in that direction.

As it happened, Reno mishandled his part of the operation and was driven back to a hill across the river from the Sioux camp where, he and his men spent the next couple of days pinned down. Not knowing this, Custer sent orders to Benteen to come back across the river and reinforce Custer's detachment. Benteen eventually made his way to Reno's Hill, and chose to remain there instead of attempting to reinforce Custer as ordered. For his part, Custer found himself facing the middle of the village rather than the far end and was attacked by upwards of 1500 Lakota and Cheyenne warriors under the commands of Chief Gall and Crazy Horse. It appears that the 7th Cavalry was both outmanned and outgunned that day, and that the Indians were able to break up any formations that may have been attempted by the soldiers and to surround and anihillate them. It took maybe another half hour to 45 minutes for the Sioux warriors to drive Custer and his men back away from the villiage and onto the hills to the east where they were massacred. It now appears that many of the Indians had repeating rilfes, such as the Henry, while the soldiers were still using single shot Sharps carbines. The indians would have had the edge in terms of firepower. The terrain would have been covered with tall grass, which the Indians would have been able to use for cover until they were close enough to charge. It appears the the soldiers at first may have attempted to form skirmish lines, but that these formations broke down and the battle quickly became a route, as the soldiers strung themselves out over about a quarter mile distance, attempting to either take a position on higher ground or flee the field entirely.

Now, as to Terry, one has to look at this in the macro. The army that was hunting the Indian "hostiles" was divided into three columns, one each under Generals Crook, Gibbon and Terry. Terry's column, which contained Custer's regiment, was moving westward from Ft. Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory.

Crook ended up being defeated by the Indians at rosebud Creek and was delayed for quite some time. Gibbon and Terry pressed on and joined up at the Rosebud River.

Between the two of them, Gibbon and Terry cooked up a plan under which Custer was to proceed along the rosebud while the rest of the force followed the bighorn and Little bighorn Rivers, hoping to trap the Indians between the two columns. As it was, Custer separated from the main force following the discovery of a huge Indian trail. When the Indian camp was discovered, custer refused to wait for Terry and Gibbon to catch up, hoping to grab the glory for himself. The Terry/Gibbon column was marching toward the Little bighorn when the battle took place and neither Gibbon nor Terry took any part in it.

Sherman wasn't there at all, but the ultimate responsibility for the operation as a whole would have been his because Sherman was in overall command of the US Army in the West at this time. The role he played began much earlier and has more to do with why the Lakota and Cheyenne were fighting in the first place. Sherman was largely responsible for the Laramie Treaty which had ended Red Cloud's War. This treaty was intended to protect the Black Hills area from white encroachment. But then gold was found there, and protecting the Black Hills became an impossible task. The response by the US government was the Allison Commission, an inept diplomatic attempt to purchase the Black Hills. When the Indians refused to sell the Hills, the US simply chose to ignore the treaty and ordered all Sioux and Cheyenne onto reservations. These circumstances led directly to the massacre of Custer's men at the Little Bighorn.

Anyway, Custer seems to have made four basic mistakes. First: his plan of battle assumed that the Indians would run rather than fight, Second: Custer's men were tired from a long march and the Indians were fresh, Third: Custer divided his forces not once but twice, and Fourth: Custer was arrogant enough to attack by himself what was probably the largest group of Native Americans ever assembled on the North American continent.

*Later*

Ok, so it's a trick question.

What did the Sioux do on the battlefield?
They mutilated most of the bodies.

What did Terry do on the battlefield?
He identified and buried the bodies.

What did Sherman do?
With a big assist from Sheridan, he got the funding to move the bodies of Custer and his officers and bring 'em home for reburial.

Answer 2

Custer greatly underestimated the size and capabilities of the Sioux forces. He did not wait for reinforcements and made it worse by separating his forces sending Reno and Benteen elsewhere. The Sioux sort of ganged up on Custer's smaller force and overwhelmed him. The Sioux were better armed as well. The US Calvary had single shot .50 caliber Sharp rifles. They were real great at long distances, but not suitable for close fighting. The Calvary also had 6 shot repeating pistols. These were cap and ball revolvers which did not allow easy and quick reloading. The Sioux had lever action repeaters - Winchester and Henry rifles. The terrain was rolling hills and tall grasses. The Sioux would move thru the grasses behind hills and pop up taking 5-7 shots at the Calvary from close range where as the soldiers may be lucky to get one shot. To say this was a massacre is putting it nicely.

The US Government did not feel it necessary to arm their soldiers with more modern weapons. This has been the case thru out the US history. Many soldiers have lost their lives due to Government Bureaucracy. In some ways, this hasn't changed.

Answer 3

Sherman was the general in charge of the west, he assigned troops but did not lead them himself.
Terry was the overall commander of the operation, he was a few days west on the Yellowstone when Custer found the Indians.
Custer was told by his Indian scouts that there was a very large village on the Big Horn. He decided to attack, even knowing he was out numbered 5 to 10 to one.
First he sent Benteen to his left to make sure the Indians could not escape that way, up river. Benteen went a couple of miles over hilly terrain, then turned to follow Custer, since there were no Indians in that direction. Another group had the pack train in the rear.
Custer took the rest of the reg't to the Big Horn, and divided his men into two groups. One under Reno was to attack directly into the village, while Custer went to the right downstream to attack somewhere from that area. He promised he would support Reno.
Reno attacked and was soon being outflanked. He fell back into some woods along the river, where he was almost surrounded. He seems to have panicked and had his men flee across the river to high ground.
In the meantime Custer moved on the other side of the river downstream, going to the other end of the village, well back from the river. He stopped here, maybe to await Benteen, who he had sent a rider for, telling him to "come quick, big village, bring packs. ps bring pacs".
While he was waiting, the Indians began to infiltrate near his position, and began to put Calhouns men under fire. When enough Indians with repeating rifles got in position, they started a heavy fire, and Calhouns troop fell apart in shock and retreated to Keogh's position.
Keogh's men soon also fell apart and retreated to Custer's position. By now Custer was surrounded and under heavy attack, and was soon overwhelmed.
Reno in the mean time had gotten on top of a hill along the river, and in some heavy fighting, repulsed the first attempt of the Indians. Many of the Indians then moved after Custer. At this point along came Benteen, who had to halt at Reno's point to help him.

Answer 4

This is easy:

1. Custer thought he was the man
2. The Sioux ambushed him and his men
3. Custer was killed along with his men
4. Custer got what he deserved
5. End of story