The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains
Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass and also commonly referred
to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined
forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the
7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which
resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action
of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It took place on June 25â€"26, 1876,
along the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in
southeastern Montana Territory.The fight was an overwhelming victory
for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by
several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, and
had been inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka
à yotake). The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, suffered a major
defeat while commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer
(formerly a brevetted major general during the American Civil War).
Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were annihilated and Custer
was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew and a
brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count included 268 dead and 55
severely wounded (six died later from their wounds),:244 including
four Crow Indian scouts and at least two Arikara Indian scouts.Public
response to the Great Sioux War varied in the immediate aftermath of
the battle. Libbie Custer, Custer's widow, soon worked to burnish her
husband's memory, and during the following decades Custer and his
troops came to be considered iconic, even heroic, figures in American
history. The battle, and Custer's actions in particular, have been
studied extensively by historians. Little Bighorn Battlefield National
Monument honors those who fought on both sides.In 1805, fur trader
François Antoine Larocque reported joining a Crow camp in the
Yellowstone area. On the way he noted that the Crow hunted buffalo on
the "Small Horn River". St. Louis-based fur trader Manuel Lisa built
Fort Raymond in 1807 for trade with the Crow. It was located near the
confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn River, about 40 miles
(64 km) north of the future battlefield. The area is first noted in
the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Battle of the Little Bighorn Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter