The Little Big Horn Battlefield, National Monument.

This area marks the spots where hundreds of U.S. Cavalry Troops fought and died being repulsed by the warriors under Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Chief Gall, and others.  General Custer died surrounded by his men which included his brother Captain Tom Custer, his younger brother Boston Custer, his nephew (sister’s son) Autie Reed, his brother in law (Custer’s other sister Maggie) James Calhoun, as well as many other family friends in the ranks of his officer corps fighting to the bitter end.

Although some of the grave markers may indicate the general location where a 7th Cavalry Soldier or Officer fell on June 25th 1876, in most cases, if not all, these men were re-interred elsewhere or at the top of the hill in a mass grave.

View of Last Stand Hill from the North West/Visitors Center.

Last Stand Hill, a view of the hundred or so grave markers from the general vicinity of the Visitors Center.

Last Stand Hill Close Up at the top is the official 7th Cavalry Monument underneath which is the mass grave of dead soldiers that could not be identified.

The grave marker of Boston Custer, General George Armstrong Custer’s little brother who joined the expedition as a foraging expert.  To me this is telling, Custer’s letting his little brother partake in an operation that he most likely had no expectation to lose let alone let his relatives, civilians be in any danger.

Deep Ravine, arguably the site of the “real” last stand on June 25th, 1876.  After all soldiers were killed or stopped putting up a fight on Last Stand Hill where General Custer died, a breakout of 40 soldiers made their way a few hundred yards to this dry ravine where Sioux and other warriors chased them down into and blocked any escape from; they were fired upon from both sides and Company E, the Grey Horse Troop, made their last stand.  The tremendous volley of rifles was heard nearly 4 miles to the South by Reno and Benteen’s troops.

Last Stand Hill, General Custer’s grave marker flanked by those of his men.  In the background you can see the path which the Grey Horse Troop made their breakout toward Deep Ravine and a handful were cut down along the way creating a trail of grave markers in the distance.

The top of Last Stand Hill, the official monument for the 7th Cavalry honoring all identifiable soldiers, officers, the civilians that accompanied them, and Arikara and Crow scouts that lost their lives in the attack.  Most of the enlistedmen that died on June 25th 1876 were buried in a mass grave beneath this monument.

General George A Custer’s Grave Marker, Close up.

Two US SOLDIERS, 7TH CAVALRY FELL HERE JUNE 25th 1876.

One of the many grave markers of an anonymous 7TH Cavalry Soldier.

Two US SOLDIERS, 7TH CAVALRY FELL HERE JUNE 25th 1876.

Two more grave markers at the Little Big Horn Battlefield.

Lt. Sam Sturgis of E Company, perhaps the last officer to remain alive, leading a charge of E Company, aka, The Grey Horse Troop, down to Deep Ravine where the warriors finished them off.  Lt Sam Sturgis’ father was a Colonel in the 7th that did not take the field, but for the rest of his days blamed Custer for his son’s death.

Finally, the Little Big Horn River as it flows today.  The Timber in the foreground is the general area in which Major Reno led his retreat back up the bluffs and made his final stand through the next two days until rescued by General Terry and Colonel Gibbon.  Beyond the timber is where the Sioux, Cheyenne, Minneconjou, Sansarc, Blackfeet, and other tribes made camp known as the “Indian Encampment” that General Custer attempted to attack on June 25 1876.  Whatever his intentions were, I personally believe that the General was not a buffoon or rash or anything less than too ambitious on June 25 1876, so much so that his plan which was most likely formulated on the fly, was doomed to fail, not because of his own fault but because many things worked against him, including Benteen’s unwillingness to reach him as soon as he was ordered to and Reno’s failure to charge the village which would have forced the occupants to deal with Reno and/or flee altogether.  Later interviews with Sitting Bull and Gall attest to the fact that they were indeed frightened by Reno (who himself was frightened by them) and were ready to strike up the village and flee before seeing him halt his charge which in their own words gave them time to formulate a defense.  This organized defensive posture then was able to shift two miles to the North when Custer made his own charge with the 5 remaining Companies of the 7th Cavalry.  If Reno had followed orders Custer would have rode into the village from the East uncontested and against a number of warriors that were unorganized if at all able to shift their focus away from Reno’s 3 companies to the South.  Instead, after routing Reno, the warriors were in high spirits, ready for attacks in any direction, were alerted to Custer’s presence and quickly surrounded the General who to the very end had faith in Benteen coming to his aid; Benteen, for whatever reason opted to stay where Reno had retreated to and saw to the defenses there, successfully and gallantly for the next day and a half until Terry and Gibbon arrived.  Although the exact nature of Custer’s demise is a mystery, enough evidence, both eyewitness testimony and archaeological evidence exists to reinforce the ideas I have presented to you in this article.  The entire battle could be explained in many many pages, but that is my own paraphrased version based on the numerous sources I have talked to and read from.

Beautiful statue of Aphrodite in the rose garden of Rosecliff Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

I thought this was an interesting shot, this is the side of Rosecliff Mansion in Newport Rhode Island, and there was a dead tree on the next property casting a shadow on the facade.

Statue of Hannibal, the Mule, West Point Military Academy Mascot.

This is one of the more interesting Black and White Photos I took during my latest trip to Gettysburg, PA.