Little Big Horn

[Sectionhand]

 25 June ... On this day in 1876 , Sitting Bull gave LTC George A. Custer an "Arrow Shirt" .

[Libertas]

Also, start of the Korean War, which technically is not yet over.

[Glock32]

Custer should've towed those Gatlings.  Could've made the difference.

[Sectionhand]

That's often mentioned but the ground was too broken for the gatlings to keep up .

[Libertas]

Could have used more men, but that would have meant Custer needed to be patient.

[Sectionhand]

Could have used more men, but that would have meant Custer needed to be patient.

And more circumspect ... Not one of his over-arching qualities .

[Libertas]

Could have used more men, but that would have meant Custer needed to be patient.

And more circumspect ... Not one of his over-arching qualities .

Yeah, the whole affair was a fustercluck from the get-go.  It made sense to turn down the gattlings, calvary should be mobile not plodding, but turning down the offer of another battalion was a mistake.  Thieir arms were a mistake too.  You would think that people who survived the Civil War would have known the value of repeating arms.  And underestimating Indian strength was made all along the way.  He should have kept his men together and picked better ground.  Once seeing what he was really up against he should have high-tailed it out of there.  You have to think there was a good dose of fatalistic "blaze-of-glory" immortality coursing through Custer that fateful day.

[AmericanPatriot]

I remember Custer's last words. "Look at all those freaking Indians!"
 

His arrogance and sense of invincibility were his downfall.

Splitting his forces and being suckered by decoys wasn't real smart.
Too many press clippings.

As a kid, when I'd get home from school, there was an afternoon movie on my favorite (of 3 total) TV station. One of the regular movies was They Died With Their Boots On with Errol Flynn

[Sectionhand]

I remember Custer's last words. "Look at all those freaking Indians!"
 

His arrogance and sense of invincibility were his downfall.

Splitting his forces and being suckered by decoys wasn't real smart.
Too many press clippings.

As a kid, when I'd get home from school, there was an afternoon movie on my favorite (of 3 total) TV station. One of the regular movies was They Died With Their Boots On with Errol Flynn

I've seen that one easily 150 times ( have it on tape ) . It stretches the hell out of history but it's still one of my all-time favorites !

[AmericanPatriot]

Garry Owen

[Alphabet Soup]

I always got a kick out of the treatment of Custer's Last Stand that was given in "Little Big Man".  Here is Custer, the epitome of "arrogance and sense of invincibility" driven to distraction by the lunatic antics of the drunken muleskinner (played by Dustin Hoffman) to the point where he declares that he is inclined to "Do the exact opposite of what the muleskinner says" and consequently riding to his doom when the muleskinner says, "Whatever you do, don't go into that valley!"