Battle of the Little Big Horn...?

Question

I've done all but 2 of the questions that I'm suppose to answer re: the Little Big Horn battle, but the article they gave me as a resource jumps all over the place...Anyway, I'm super confused and would be grateful for any help you can give.

Here they are:

What did Custer do with his troops, in an attempt to beat the larger
force?

Which group had better guns?

Answer 1

Lieutenant-colonel George A. Custer divided his 7th US Cavalry into four groups before the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He ordered Major Marcus Reno to attack south of the Indian encampment, while he planned to attack by swinging in from the north. Captain Frederick Benteen's column was placed in reserve. The fourth column was placed with the supply column,

Custer lost contact with Reno's column, which was forced back by Crazy Horse. Custer realized (too late) that the Indian encampment was too large to handle, so he sent trumpeter George Martin (Giovanni Martini) to Captain Benteen with orders to bring his column up with supply packs.
Martin would be the last cavalryman to see Custer alive and live to tell about it.

Custer rashly continued his assault, but was stopped at the river above the encampment. As Indians peeled away from Reno's retreating column and turned on Custer's, Custer's column was forced into flight. The cavalrymen tried to reach the heights above the Little Big Horn River, but the Indians got there first. Trapped in the draws and ravines, Custer's column was fragmented and wiped out.

Much has been written about Native American superiority in firearms. Though several Indians had Winchester repeaters, most lacked repeating rifles. The might have been instances of Indians using older muzzle-loaders and many braves had no firearms at all, relying on bows and spears. The Army Springfield rifle was better at long range than the Winchester, despite being single-shot. However, as the battle disintegrated on Custer, the long range advantage came to nothing as the vast numbers of Indians overwhelmed the cavalymen.

By the time Custer's column was annihilated, Reno's men were fighting to prevent the same fate. Reno retreated from the wooded area he had withdrawn to earlier and held a defensive position atop an elevated hill. Instead of joining Custer as ordered, and avoiding the same fate, Benteen moved up to join Reno. Despite harrassment from Indians, Reno and Benteen held throughout the day, being relieved by General Alfred Terry's column the next day. By that time the encampment packed up and left the area.

Answer 2

Custer broke up his force into (if I remember right) one main and two smaller flanking groups, hoping that superior firepower would allow him to hold off and defeat the Sioux groups. It wasn't a very smart decision, even if the Sioux warriors had not actually had more and better guns than the US cavalry. The cavalry were armed with the standard single-shot rifles that the military used at that time (they appear to have scrapped the repeating carbines that they'd used just a few years earlier during the Civil War to such devastating effect). The Sioux, on the other hand, had good numbers of the new repeating rifles, presumably sold to them by gun-runners, and plenty of ammunition. This was determined, by the way, a few years back when there was an archeological dig over the site, where they were able to locate the various positions of the troops involved using metal detectors. The cavalry guns had better range and were more accurate, but there were a lot more Sioux warriors, and they were putting out a lot more bullets. That, by the way, is why armies now use automatic weapons for most front-line troops - the more bullets you put out there, the better the chance you'll hit something. Custer and his group were done for as soon as they were cut off from retreat.

Answer 3

Custer being totally unaware of the size of the force he was attacking split his command into three columns, the 286 troops he took direct command of in the attack, a 2nd column under Reno and a 3rd column under Bentine.

Colonel Custer assumed that he was attacking an inferior force consisting of mostly older men, young boys, women and children despite being warned by Indian Scouts that it was a very large emcampment at the Little Big Horn.

Custer's concept of the battle was to attack head on and have Reno or Bentine block any escapes on the flanks. Some accounts indicate that there may have been as many of 5,000 Braves in the war party they encountered that day. Both Reno and Bentine saw the action unfolding from their blocking positions, however refrained from committing their columns to aid Custer. It is highly unlikely they could have done anything to effect the outcome of the battle.

Despite it being July, 1876, the average Trooper in the U.S. 7th Calvary was equipped with a Sharp's 'drop block' lever action single shot carbine, caliber .45-70. A powerful short range weapon with a slow cyclic rate of fire. The standard issued pistol was still the model 1851 Colt in caliber .36, the same type pistol Custer had carried since the Civil War. It is possible one or two of the Troopers might have been armed with a newer, better weapon, however considering how poorly paid these troopers were it is very unlikely.

Nobody is quite sure of how many of the 5,000 Braves used native weaponary such as bows and arrows, spears and tomahawks, but those who were armed with rifles we armed with leaver action repeating rifles such as the Henry model 1866 or the Winchester model 1873 which having been refused for federal service by the Army's Ordnance Corps were surplused, sold and in some cases given to the plains Indians so they could hunt. These rifles permitted the Indian to mass superior suppressive fire on the Calvarymen of the 7th, their superior numbers merely adding insult to injury as this clearly should not be considered a battle of any sorts.

Answer 4

I always assumed he did not know he was up against a larger force. He ignored his scouts and went full steam ahead. He did have the higher ground if that helps you any. Obviously it didn't do him much good as he was overwhelmed.Didn't the army still have single shot Springfield rifles? The Indians on the other hand had Spencer repeaters and Winchesters. Hard to believe the Army was out gunned.

Answer 5

His first big mistake was to turn down the offer to take the new gatling gun with him on his campaign.

His next mistake was to divide his forces in the face of supierior enemy forces.

With regards weapons if the Indian's had only single shot rifles, with bows and arrows, Custer was out-numbered once his ammo ran out he was a goner.

Answer 6

The indians were better armed. Army had the single shot springfield. Indians had a variety but included several wichester repeaters.

Answer 7

Split 'em up. Overall the 7th.

Answer 8

He had his troops pray. The Indians had wmds