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Battle of the Little Bighorn
June 25–26, 1876· Battle· Americas
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors destroyed five companies of the US 7th Cavalry under George Custer in Montana Territory.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Gold in the Black Hills, promised to the Lakota by an 1868 treaty, set off the Great Sioux War of 1876. On June 25, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer attacked a huge camp on the Little Bighorn River, splitting his roughly 650 men into three groups. Warriors led by Crazy Horse, Gall and others, inspired by Sitting Bull, drove back Major Marcus Reno's attack and wiped out Custer's own five companies, about 210 men. In all, 268 soldiers, scouts and civilians died.
Why it matters
It was the Plains peoples' greatest victory, but it hardened US resolve: within a year most Lakota and Cheyenne had surrendered, and the Black Hills were taken.
How we know
Army reports and the 1879 Reno Court of Inquiry; Native testimony and pictographs, such as Red Horse's drawings; and archaeology after a 1983 grass fire, which mapped cartridges and showed warriors had many repeating rifles.
Still debated
Exactly how Custer's battalion collapsed is debated; the heroic 'Last Stand' of the paintings is largely myth. Native deaths are estimated at roughly 30 to 100; estimates vary.
Connections (3)
▸Battle of the Little Bighorn was the most famous Native victory in American Indian WarsWell documented
The connection
The Great Sioux War of 1876–77 was among the last major wars on the Plains. Little Bighorn was its high point for the Lakota and Cheyenne, but the Army answered with winter campaigns that forced most bands onto reservations by 1877. Congress then took the Black Hills, a seizure for which the Supreme Court ordered compensation in 1980.
When and how
Little Bighorn River, Montana Territory, June 1876; campaigns across Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas through 1877; Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse against Generals Crook and Terry and Colonel Nelson Miles.
How we know
Army reports, treaty texts, Native testimony, and court records, including the 1980 Supreme Court case United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians.
Debates and open questions
'Most famous' is not 'biggest': St. Clair's Defeat in 1791 killed more US soldiers. The Sioux have refused the court's award, now worth over $1 billion, seeking the land instead.
▸Ulysses S. Grant as president backed the campaign that led to Battle of the Little BighornMostly agreed
The connection
Grant's 'Peace Policy' aimed to settle Native nations on reservations. After Custer's 1874 expedition found gold in the Black Hills, Lakota leaders refused to sell. In November 1875 Grant and his generals quietly stopped keeping miners out; in December free-roaming bands were ordered onto reservations by January 31, 1876. The Army's campaign that spring led to Little Bighorn.
When and how
White House meeting, November 3, 1875, with Generals Sheridan and Crook; 1876 campaign under Terry and Crook. That spring Grant briefly removed Custer, who had testified about corruption in Grant's administration.
How sure are we?
General Sheridan's confidential letter of November 9, 1875, to General Terry records the decision; Interior Department orders and Army files show the deadline and the campaign.
Debates and open questions
How much Grant personally drove the war, versus Sheridan and the Interior Department, is debated, as is how sincere the Peace Policy was.
▸Battle of the Little Bighorn was echoed in 1879 by Battle of IsandlwanaMostly agreed
The connection
The two battles are a matched pair, not cause and effect. In both, a confident industrial army split its forces, underestimated a large Native army, and lost a whole detachment armed with single-shot rifles. Both shocked the public, became national myths, and were followed within a year by crushing retaliation and conquest.
When and how
Montana Territory, June 25–26, 1876 (Custer's 7th Cavalry); Zululand, January 22, 1879 (Chelmsford's column and the 24th Regiment), about two and a half years apart.
How sure are we?
Historians often compare them, but there is no evidence either side knew of the other battle. The link is a parallel drawn by later writers.
Debates and open questions
How far the comparison holds is debated: Isandlwana was far bigger, with over 1,300 dead on the British side against 268 on the American.