Little Big Horn 1876 - Research Paper Example

Little Big Horn 1876 Introduction The battle of Little Bighorn is also known as the last stand of Custer. This particular battle was an armed engagement between the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment and the combined forces of Arapho, Northern Cheyennie and Lakota tribes. The battle of Little Bighorn took place at eastern Montana Territory on 25th June, 1876. This battle has been considered as one of the great prominent actions of the Sioux War, 1876. Research Objective The objective of the research is to analyze each and every aspect of this battle and find out the legacy of this battle. Analysis and Discussion Combined forces of Arapho, Northern Cheyennie and Lakota tribes won the battle of Little Bighorn. This combines force was led by several major and popular war leaders, such as Chief Gall and Crazy Horse. These two leaders were impressed and inspired by the thoughts and visions of Sitting Bull. On the other hand, the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment was led by another major leader named George Armstrong Custer. This particular force of the army of the United States of America included 700 battalions. However, despite the unique warfare tactics, the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment including the battalion of Custor lost the battle to the opponent combined force. Custer was killed during the battle. Total 268 US battalions were dead during this battle (Greene, 2008). On the other hand, 55 US battalions were injured during this battle of the Little Bighorn. Developing tension between the Great Plains’ native inhabitants and the intruding settlers caused a series of critical conflicts. This particular conflict caused the war that is recognized as popular as the Sioux Wars. Despite the developed tensions, several inhabitants agreed to relocate to the ever-shrivelling reservations. On the other hand, some inhabitants were resisted. In the year 1875, Sitting Bull established an alliance between the Cheyenne, huge number of agency Indians and the Lakota tribes based on the developed conflicts and tensions in this area. However, this agreement inspired these inhabitants in the year 1876 to fight against the in-justice approaches and activities led by the army of the United States of America. At this point of time, the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment along with the military officials of the United States of America were organizing a summer campaign in order to force the Cheyenne and Lakota tribes back to their developed reservations, utilizing cavalry and infantry in a three-spine approach. However, the Lakota and Cheyenne tribes understood the significance of unity and announced war against the military officials of the United States of America. The military officials had decided that United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment will fought against the combined forces of Arapho, Northern Cheyennie and Lakota tribes in this battle that occurred on 25th June, 1876. The 7th Cavalry was developed right after the American Civil War. Several men were the veterans of this American Civil War. Most of the leading officers were included in this particular battalion of the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment. The military officials organized effective and hardcore training and development programmes for the battalions including the veteran leading officers in order to fight against the combined forces of Arapho, Northern Cheyennie and Lakota tribes in this battle (Lock & Molyneaux, 2007). Near about 700 battalions were selected in this regiment to fight against the combined force. Immigrants from Germany, England and Ireland were recruited in this regiment. It is true that the that United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment has several modern and automotive arms and war equipments, but the troopers in this regiment were in poor physical condition. The combined forces of Lakota, Arapho and Cheyenne took the advantage of the poor and inadequate physical stamina and ability of the troopers. However, Indian agents played an important role in the strategy development part for the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment. On the other hand, government of the United States of America provided full support to these Indian Agents to develop a strategy. According to the strategy of the Indian Agents, Custer thought that he will be succeeded to cover the village with few armed battalions, but inadequate strategy development process, strong unity of the opponents and collaboration of three different motivated combined forces made it difficult for the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment to win the battle. Major Reno’s group was the first group that attacked after receiving the orders from the leader of United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment; Custer. But, it was not the example of intelligence and effective warfare strategy implementation process. It has been discussed earlier that Custer got wrong information from the Indian agents and developed the strategies based on those wrong information (Stevenson, 2012). However, inadequate perception about the size of village, number of opponent forces and strength of the opponent forces made it difficult for United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment to capture the village. Despite the existence of modern arms and equipments, poor physical ability of the soldiers in United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment, wrong strategy development and implementation, and heroics of the combined forces caused the death of Custer. In terms of the legacy of this battle of Little Bighorn, several new officers were assigned and reconstruction of the 7th cavalry started from the month of July in the year 1876. In Addition to this, the particular regiment reorganized and categorized into eight different companies. Now, this regiment is based in Big Horn that was reinforced by the column of Gibson. Conclusion It is clear from above discussion and analysis that the battle of little Big Horn can be recognized as one of the popular and famous battle in modern history. United States Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment fought with the combined forces of Arapho, Northern Cheyennie and Lakota tribes in this battle. The combined force was trying to secure their values, respects and rights by winning this battle. However, lose and death of Custer due to inadequate strategy development and heroics of the opponent forces caused big loss for the US army. After this battle, 7th cavalry was reconstructed and the regiment was categorized into eight different companies. References Greene, J. (2008). Stricken Field: The Little Bighorn Since 1876. New York: University of Oklahoma Press. Lock, G., & Molyneaux, B. (2007). Confronting Scale in Archaeology. New York: Springer. Stevenson, J. (2012). Deliverance from the Little Big Horn. New York: University of Oklahoma Press. Read More