Archaeology, History, and Custer’s Last Battle: The Little Big Horn Re-examined

On the afternoon of June 25, 1867, an overwhelming force of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians quickly mounted a savage onslaught against General George Armstrong Custer’s battalion, driving the doomed troopers of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry to a small hill overlooking the Little Bighorn River, where Custer and his men bravely erected their heroic last stand. So goes the myth of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a myth perpetuated and reinforced for over 100 years. In truth, however, "Custer’s Last Stand" was neither the last of the fighting nor a stand. Using innovative and standard archaeological techniques, combined with historical documents and Indian eyewitness accounts, Richard Allan Fox, Jr. vividly replays this battle in astonishing detail. Through bullets, spent cartridges, and other material data, Fox identifies combat positions and tracks soldiers and Indians across the Battlefield. Guided by the history beneath our feet, and listening to the previously ignored Indian testimonies, Fox reveals scenes of panic and collapse and, ultimately, a story of the Custer battle quite different from the fatalistic versions of history. According to the author, the five companies of the Seventh Cavalry entered the fray in good order, following planned strategies and displaying tactical stability. It was the sudden disintegration of this cohesion that caused the troopers’ defeat. The end came quickly, unexpectedly, and largely amid terror and disarray. Archaeological evidences show that there was no determined fighting and little firearm resistance. The last soldiers to be killed had rushed from Custer Hill. On the afternoon of June 25, 1867, an overwhelming force of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians quickly mounted a savage onslaught against General George Armstrong Custer's battalion, driving the doomed troopers of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry to a small hill overlooking the Little Bighorn River, where Custer and his men bravely erected their heroic last stand. So goes the myth of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In truth, however, "Custer's Last Stand" was neither the last of the fighting nor a stand. Using both innovative and standard archaeological techniques, combined with historical documents and Indian eyewitness accounts, Richard Allan Fox, Jr. replays this battle in astonishing detail. Through bullets, spent cartridges, and other material data, Fox identifies combat positions and tracks soldiers and Indians across the battlefield. Guided by the history beneath our feet, and listening to the previously ignored Indian testimonies, Fox reveals scenes of panic and collapse and, ultimately, a story of the Custer battle quite different from the fatalistic versions of history. According to the author, the five companies of the Seventh Cavalry entered the fray in good order, following planned strategies and displaying tactical stability. It was the sudden disintegration of this cohesion that caused the troopers' defeat. The end came quickly, unexpectedly, and largely amid terror and disarray. Archaeological evidences show that there was no determined fighting and little firearm resistance. The last soldiers to be killed had rushed from Custer Hill The myth of Custer's last stand at the Battle of the Little Big Horn is shattered by Richard Allan Fox, Jr., who demonstrates that the troopers' end came amid terror and disarray, with no determined fighting and little firearm resistance. Using innovative and standard archaeological analyses of bullets, spent cartridges, and other material data, combined with numerous Indian eye-witness accounts and additional primary sources, Fox vividly replays this battle in astonishing detail, identifying combat positions and tracking soldiers and Indians across the battlefield. By revealing patterns found in artifacts unearthed and adding Indian accounts, Fox shows how Custer's last battle was fought. The new findings stand in bold contrast to conventional views about the battle. Custer, as Fox shows, maintained his offensive until late in the fight. Then the end came -- suddenly, unexpectedly, and without the gallant last stand myth. The DVD complements and updates Fox's landmark book, Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle Using innovative and standard archaeological analyses of bullets and cartridges, eyewitness accounts and other primary sources, the battle at Little Big Horn is reappraised. The author argues the end came amid terror and disarray with no determined fighting and little firearm resistance.