Today is the 126th anniversary of battle of the Little Big Horn. It was probably the most one-sided defeat in the history of the U.S. Army, and it was well deserved, at least for the leader, if not for his troops.

Custer has to be the most incompetent dickhead that ever disgraced a U.S. Army uniform. And yet there are people who still refer to him as "General Custer" and sing his praises.

Oh, I'm not sure he's the most incompetent (Ben Butler comes to mind), he just screwed up the most spectacularly. Throughout his career he had only one tactic, and that was to charge straight in.

Dumb, especially for a cavalry officer, whose branch of service was intended for reconnaisance, screening, scouting and skirmishing. Cavalry are supposed to keep their cool, maintain enough distance to gather intel, move fast, keep the bad guys from doing the same to their own side. All Custer wanted to do was get a quick easy kill and be a hero again. Unfortunately, almost three hundred of his regiment paid for his impetuous disregard of sound tactics, not to mention his orders.

Back in 1994 I went to Little Big Horn and spent almost a full day tramping around the battlefield. For the first time I could actually understand exactly what happened and why. I could not only appreciate Custer's foolishness, but also the tactical acumen of the Sioux. When the Indians fought like soldiers instead of warriors they were formidable (although they were hard enough to deal with when they just settled for the riding in fast whooping and shooting and counting coup).

As appalling as Custer's disaster was, it's equally inspiring to examine Reno and Benteen's defense. They kept their heads, maintained fire discipline, and saved their command, over half the regiment. A further travesty was that Custer was semi-mythologized, yet Major Reno was ever after under a cloud, suspected of cowardice.

Yes, which makes it all the more regrettable that his more-recent namesake Janet has brought further disrepute on the name...

Stephen, I'm not familiar enough with Butler, but agreed on the rest (especially Reno and Benteen), though I would describe Custer's tactic as more "whatever he thought would bring him personal glory". At Little Bighorn, he was definitely thinking of future political office. And now I have a hankerin' to go review (been a while) and learn more about Butler.

BTW, I contributed some significant change to the Reno coffers a few weeks ago. Mostly at the El Dorado.

I would modify the claim that Custer's tactic was to charge straight in. Often his tactic was to send his junior officers charging straight in. Shelby Foote recounts a side battle, at Gettysburg, I think, in which Custer actually egged one of his men into leading his unit into a suicidal charge. Foote reports that during the course of the war Custer had the highest casualties of any Union cavalry command. He wanted fame, and I guess he got it.

Interesting. Thanks, Tony.

BTW, I have not been able to find it (mostly because of limited searching time - my bad) but does anyone have a reference for the incident in which Custer was made Brevet Major General? I am interested in the circumstances.

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