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Analysis Of George Armstrong Custer

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In June of 1876, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) George Armstrong Custer led the United States (US) 7th Cavalry Regiment into battle against a major Native American force. The US 7th Cavalry Regiment suffered a major defeat near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory (Wagner III, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to examine the prominent elements of the battle and to provide an alternate outcome. In theory, LTC Custer could have gained a decisive victory at Little Bighorn by utilizing surveillance and additional intelligence assets available at the time. On June 22nd, 1876, LTC Custer received orders from Brigadier General (BG) Alfred H. Terry to pursue roaming Native Americans in the eastern Montana Territory (Wagner III, …show more content…

Little did they know, this would soon lead to their demise. LTC Custer and his staff erroneously assumed the Native American tribes would observe the approaching soldiers and disperse. A subordinate officer, Major Reno, reported the Native American warriors were moving to meet his column in force (Wagner III, 2014). This column maneuvered through a forested area and towards the Little Bighorn where Major Reno commenced to form a skirmish line. The Native American forces quickly maneuvered to surround the line and Major Reno’s column retreated from the valley into the forested area (Harper, 2014). This denotes the beginning of the ensuing events of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the catastrophic defeat of the US 7th …show more content…

Human intelligence collectors recruit and task sources to identify elements, intentions, composition, strength, dispositions, tactics, equipment, and capabilities of the opposition (ADPR 2-0, 2012). Surveillance operations is the act of continuously viewing the enemy and collecting relevant information. Surveillance enables the commander, in this case LTC Custer, to make decisions based on reportable intelligence. Surveillance is also essential in enabling the commander to allocate assets to counter the adversary’s military deception (JP 2-01,

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Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer executed poor mission command during the Battle of Little Bighorn by failing to create a shared understanding of the operational environment and exercise disciplined initiative. Custer was the commander of a battalion in the Battle of Little Bighorn during the Indian Wars1. Little Bighorn was the location of a nomadic village of Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes2. Custer approached the unified Indian village with his force of nearly 650 men from the east and south to act as a hammer. Following Custer’s advance, additional infantry and cavalry approached from the north to act as a blocking force or anvil in support of Custer's movements2.

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Scribbles on Scrap: A Mission Command Analysis of the Battle of the Little Bighorn The massacre at the Little Bighorn in 1876 was one of the most recognizable battles in American history. The defeat of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and the slaughter of 268 Soldiers by the Sioux serves as an enduring subject of study for contemporary military professionals. The basic modus operandi for command principles in the times of the Indian Wars loosely mirrors the mission command philosophy of today; however, if we still lay credence to the efficacy of the mission command philosophy, how was it that a conventional force under the direction of a battle proven leader was defeated by an irregular enemy? In the end, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s complacent

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George Armstrong Custer is noted for being at the bottom of his West Point cadet class, but his standing was not due to lacking intelligence. Instead, Custer seemed to be more interested in entertainment and playing pranks on his classmates. Although he was very popular, some of his classmates and instructors did not

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One of the most significant conflicts little known in history is the Battle of San Jacinto and is considered the most critical dispute of the Texas Revolution (Williams, 2014). On April 21, 1836, General Sam Houston launched a surprise attack against the Mexican army. The event took place near present day Houston, Texas and only lasted a total of eighteen minutes. The Mexican army was led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Texans thoroughly routed the superior Mexican force at the Battle of San Jacinto and captured hundreds of Mexican soldiers including Santa Anna.

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The plan seemed to be a simple one that required the three units to converge on the Lakota Indians and deal them a definite defeat. Custer and his Seventh Calvary arrived ahead of Gibbon’s unit and little did he know that Crook’s unit was turned back by Crazy Horse and his warriors. Upon Custer’s first initial evaluation, he believed that it was just a small Indian village. Custer split his unit into three divisions and carried out the attack. He was met with thousands of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors that dealt a devastating defeat to George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry.

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In the book Sleuthing the Alamo, by historian James E. Crisp we are faced with some surprising truths about the Texas Revolution as he draws attention to many facilities that have been said to be truths over the years. These facts are often covered by tales of racism and political correctness. Over the course of this engrossing interpretation of the Texas Revolution this historian works like a detective to bring light to the more difficult truths behind all the tales that many believe. I believe James E. Crisp’s thesis to be fairly straightforward. This historian wishes to bring truth to the light.

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IV Both Lee and Custer were defeated. Why were the consequences of defeat so different? Both General Lee and Custer had been defeated. Therefore, it could be argued that both men could be considered as failures.

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Battle of Little Big Horn Have you ever wondered what the cause of the Battle of the Little Big Horn was? Or when it took place? What about the after effects of the battle? Here is some more in-depth research on the Battle of Little Big Horn. It was late 1875, when Sioux and Cheyenne Indian tribes left their reservations.

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The Native Americans many times did not understand what the soldiers were doing, from this the Sioux became scared and fled. Furthermore, Reno’s battalion had coverage from the landscape which cause mass confusion, among both groups. From the eyes of George Henderson, the Native Americans truly never faltered; however, as it was mentioned they could not truly see the battalion. The one statement made from both sides was the Native Americans fled. Though no party considered the other weak, they both felt fear, both the battalion and the Native Americans became confused during this battle.

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The dominant interpretation of the Battle of Little Bighorn prior to the 1950’s was looking at this monument as the perspective of the orthodox patriot. “When I first went to work at what was then Custer battlefield in 1947 at the age of seventeen. . . The Indians were cardboard cutouts, impersonal foils for celebrating the heroism of Custer and his troopers.” (Utley 72). The orthodox patriot honored General George Armstrong Custer, not because of racism, but because the orthodox patriot views American history on a positive note in comparison to the Native Americans who know about the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

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While Cluster was walking along the little bighorn river the Terry/Gibbon column was marching toward the mouth of the little bighorn. Custer planned a surprise attack but he get spotted before he was able to do it. So he decided to attack without anymore waiting. His scouts warned him that the village is very big but he didn 't hear on them. And so he ran into his crushing defeat.

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In Life Among the Piutes, sarah winnemucca hopkins describes what happens when soldiers came to their reservation based off what white settlers tell the government. The most shocking instance of this happened when Winnemucca encountered a group of soldier who told her the white settlers accused the natives of stealing cattle, “the soldiers rode up to their [meaning the Piute’s] encampment and fired into it, and killed almost all the people that were there… after the soldiers had killed but all bur some little children and babies… the soldiers took them too… and set the camp on fire and threw them into the flames to see them burned alive”(78). This is an abhorrent act that is unthinkable in a functioning society. The natives had done nothing but want to hold some shred of land from the settlers who had taken everything from them and are exterminated like vermin. This was something that stayed hidden from many white settlers because of its barbarism and by exposing it Winnemucca truly educates the reader, past and present, on how natives are

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