Battle of Trevilian Station – Inside
George Armstrong Custer’s Other ‘Last Stand’
MilitaryHistoryNow,
by
Jim Stempel
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
10/11/2020 10:29:01 AM
WE’VE ALL HEARD of Custer’s Last Stand. It was June 25, 1876 when the flamboyant U.S. Army cavalry commander foolishly attacked a large Indian village along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory.
Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors quickly gained the upper hand and drove Custer and his troopers up the slopes of what is now called Last Stand Hill, there to eventually surround and slaughter 270 men of 7th Cavalry, including the general himself.
But Little Big Horn wasn’t the only time Custer found himself with enemies on all sides and fighting for his very life. It also happened more than a decade earlier
Reply 1 - Posted by:
MDConservative 10/11/2020 10:41:47 AM (No. 569132)
My great-grandfather was involved in this battle with the 1st Connecticut Cavalry.
One interesting theory that grows out of the indian LBH battle account is that, while "leading from the front" Custer was actually badly wounded as his column attempted to ford the river...and that a breakdown of command ensued that led to the eventual outcome.
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Reply 2 - Posted by:
Kate318 10/11/2020 12:06:34 PM (No. 569215)
Fascinating article, OP. We visited the Little Big Horn Monument this summer. It was haunting experience, eerily dreadful as you walked along envisioning all who died and what the final outcome eventually was. Not being a military person, trying to comprehend all the ins and outs of these campaigns is sometimes right at the edge of my grasp. One thing that struck me was the tremendous amount of distance that some of these battles—what with troop movement, supply chains, encampments—covered. Long after we left the monument, miles and miles later, we were still seeing key locations that had been involved, at some point. The other thing that impressed me was that Little Big Horn was a perfect landscape for the final outcome, with lots of deep rolling hills, behind which troops and scouts could hide, and attacks could be sprung. What I did not realize was that the Indian attack was only some tribes, not all tribes in the area. Custer had quite good relations with some of the tribes, and even employed many of their members as scouts. All in all, an amazing story, and IIRC, the Last Stand was actually a very good strategy that should’ve worked, but didn’t.
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Reply 3 - Posted by:
DVC 10/11/2020 1:39:29 PM (No. 569311)
I used to live a few miles from this battle site, and not 20 to Chancellorsville and The Wilderness. That area of Virginia was heavily fought over many times. The trench lines in The Wilderness are still clearly visible in many places today.
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Reply 4 - Posted by:
DVC 10/11/2020 2:07:36 PM (No. 569338)
#2, Custer's men carried a typical ammo load of 20 rounds in a cartridge box for their carbines, and a pouch with around 18-24 cartridges for their pistols. Cartridge belts were issued which could hold 36 to 40 rounds for the rifles/carbines depending on belt size, but were not universally used. Likely each soldier had about 40-50 shots total with carbine before being totally out of ammunition that he carried on his person. Extra ammo was on the pack mules.
The surviving note from Custer's command to Benteen, with the pack train, said "Come on. Big village. Bring packs. P.S. Bring packs." The repeating of the 'Bring packs" was certainly because they realized that they would be out of ammunition quickly without their extra ammunition on the slower pack train. They were desperate.
The soldiers had single shot rifles, and most of the Indians, amazingly enough were armed with the latest lever action Winchester repeating rifles, with at least ten, and some up to fifteen shots, quickly available by working the lever. This has been verified by a careful survey of the battlefield with metal detectors, mapping the exact type of cartridge cases and where they were found, and what model gun fired them.
Not only was Custer very short on ammo, he was fighting against an enemy with the very latest (only on the market for 3 years!) rapid firing rifles and carbines from Winchester. I was surprised to learn that these very new rifles had been so quickly obtained by the Indians, but the empty casings tell the tale. An Indian could fire 3 or 4 shots for every one fired by the soldiers, aside from the ammo shortage issue.
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Reply 5 - Posted by:
GO3 10/11/2020 3:00:11 PM (No. 569408)
First, stop with the Boy General nonsense. Custer was a Brevet Major General in the Civil War because they needed the leadership in the major war environment. It's sort of like a theater promotion to general today. After the war, Custer reverted to his permanent rank of Lt. Col. and he wasn't even the official commander of the regiment. The Col. who was the commander conveniently placed himself on detached duty to DC. The Col. not being a frontier type I guess, left Custer as the de facto commander in the field. And by all accounts they were trained well.
Second, he didn't "foolishly" attack the tribes. Army intel had told him he would face about 1000 warriors when he encountered about 5000. Also, splitting his forces was the preferred tactic to counter the hit and run type of fighting the 7th had encountered many times before. The lack of understanding of the increased enemy force, and an adherence to a set of unsuitable tactics on that day is not unique to Lt. Col. Custer. It happens in every war and will continue to happen.
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The real take away here is none of the ever so smart protesters and rioters have a clue about American History. Our education system has failed.
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