The Battle of Little Big Horn - Essay Example

 The Battle of Little Big Horn took place between the northern tribe Indians and the U.S Calvary referred to as Anglo. The main cause for the war was the tribal lands in the Black Hills; the U.S. Calvary wanted the Indians to move back to their reservationsi. In relation to this, one can affirm that the role of the Anglo was to drive the Indians to their reservations in order to create space for the English speaking peopleii. The role of the Indian on the other hand was to protect the tribal lands from the U.S. Calvary.

It was as a result of this variation in interest that the two groups ended up in a massacre war. The Battle of Little Big Horn is characterized as a massacre war because of not only the processes of the war, but also the end result of that war. A massacre war is associated with mass killing of unarmed people. In tandem with this assertion, it is evidenced by Everett that the U.S. Calvary under the leadership of Lt. General George Custer was trapped by Indian forces and spread with arrows and bullets which killed them in less than an hour despite their use of horses’ bodies as a barricadeiii.

From the description of the war, it is apparent that Custer and his men did not fight back; they were killed mercilessly. In the information provided by Derudio also supports the claim the Battle of Little Big Horn was a massacre war. According to Derudio, Custer divided the armies into three groups ignored the orders to wait, and decided to attack the Indians without realizing the number of Indian warriors numbered three times his armyiv. The Cheyenne, Hunkpapa Sioux and Oglala Sioux enveloped Custer and his men then poured them with gunfire and arrows.

The shooting horses and using their carcasses to form a wall provided insignificant protection against the bullets and arrows. Custer and his men were killed in what was referred in this account as “the worst American military disaster ever.” After the war, Derudio Charles asserts that the Indians not only stripped the bodies, but also mutilated all the uniformed soldiers. This is in relation to what she saw two Indian women doing on a soldierv. According to Campbell, the lady together with her father and other Indians attacked the Custer because of the people (women, children and men) the U.S. Calvary had killed.

According to her, the Indian armies surrounded the Custer and killed every army. She also confirmed that some bodies of the soldiers were mutilated by the Indian armies after the warvi. From the article “Battle of Little Bighorn” and the two eyewitness accounts; “Witness to Custer’s Last Stand” and “She Walks with Her Shawl”, it is apparent that the battle occurred because of the control of tribal land. The U.S. Calvary aimed at driving the Indians back to their reservation and take control of the entire land.

The Indians on the other hand fought back to avenge their loved ones as well as to protect their tribal land from being controlled by the U.S. Calvary. It is also arguable that the battle took place because of lack of information on the Custer’s side. He attacked without knowing the exact number of the Indian warriors as well the land terrain. BibliographyCampbell, Walter. She Walks with Her Shawl. 1931. Derudio Charles. Witness to Custer’s Last Stand. Everett, John. One Bull (Minneconjou Lakota). Volume 2. 1920s.

HistoryNet. Battle of Little Bighorn. Accessed Sep. 2 2015. http://www.historynet.com/battle-of- little-bighorn