The Battle of the Little Bighorn

1. The Battle of the Little Bighorn “A good day to die”

2. The Battle of Little Bighorn • Lesson Objectives • To understand the underlying tensions which led to the Battle of Little Bighorn • To investigate the events of the Battle and the mistakes made by the American Army

3. The Battle of Little Bighorn • On 25th June 1879 a US army regiment of 600 men was defeated by a combined 2000 strong force of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors. • It was the worst defeat of the US army by Indians.

4. Jack Gladstone: Valley of the Little Bighorn When watching this video and listening to the lyrics, think about. • What do you think the message of this song is? • What image of the battle does this video depict?

5. Characters Lt. Col George Custer Crazy Horse AMERICAN ARMY SIOUX Captain Benteen Major Reno Sitting Bull

6. Why did a battle occur? • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations

7. The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations • These were special areas • They would receive annual cash payments from the government and would be taught to be self-sufficient farmers. • Life was particularly hard fro the Santee Sioux in southern Minnesota

8. Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to accept the peace in 1868 Why did a battle occur?

9. Peace was not kept in 1868 • The government agreed to withdraw from the forts. • Under Terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty the Great Sioux Reservation was created. • No non-Indian settlers were to be allowed ever to enter this land. • This marked the end for Red Cloud but many other Sioux who were more militant started to follow Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse. • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations • These were special areas • They would receive annual cash payments from the government and would be taught to be self-sufficient farmers. • Life was particularly hard fro the Santee Sioux in southern Minnesota

10. Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to accept the peace in 1868 • Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 Why did a battle occur? • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations

11. Peace was not kept in 1868 • The government agreed to withdraw from the forts. • Under Terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty the Great Sioux Reservation was created. • No non-Indian settlers were to be allowed ever to enter this land. • This marked the end for Red Cloud but many other Sioux who were more militant started to follow Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse. • The discovery of Gold • 1874 Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills of Dakota. • He reported that he discovered gold in the area. • Custer's story attracted gold hunters and in April 1876 the mining town of Deadwood was established in the area • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations • These were special areas • They would receive annual cash payments from the government and would be taught to be self-sufficient farmers. • Life was particularly hard fro the Santee Sioux in southern Minnesota

12. Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to accept the peace in 1868 Why did a battle occur? The Sioux refused to sell their land in the Black Hills. • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations

13. Peace was not kept in 1868 • The government agreed to withdraw from the forts. • Under Terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty the Great Sioux Reservation was created. • No non-Indian settlers were to be allowed ever to enter this land. • This marked the end for Red Cloud but many other Sioux who were more militant started to follow Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse. • The discovery of Gold • 1874 Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills of Dakota. • He reported that he discovered gold in the area. • Custer's story attracted gold hunters and in April 1876 the mining town of Deadwood was established in the area • The Sioux refused to sell their land • The following year the United States government attempted to buy the Black Hills for six million dollars. • The area was considered sacred by the Sioux and they refused to sell. • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations • These were special areas • They would receive annual cash payments from the government and would be taught to be self-sufficient farmers. • Life was particularly hard fro the Santee Sioux in southern Minnesota

14. ALL CAUSED INCREASED TENSIONS BETWEEN THE SIOUX AND THE AMERICAN ARMY Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to accept the peace in 1868 • Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 Why did a battle occur? The Sioux refused to sell their land in the Black Hills. • The government ordered the Sioux into small reservations

15. Tensions begin to rise • 17th May Sioux warriors killed and scalped five settlers in the Black Hills • Over the next couple of days there were seven more cases of men being murdered by Sioux

16. Battle of Rosebud Creek • General George Crook and about 1,000 troops, supported by 300 Crow and Shoshone, fought against 1,500 members of the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. • It was over 15 miles away and Custer was unable to discover the number of warriors the camp contained. • The battle at Rosebud Creek lasted for over six hours • This was the first time that Native Americans had united together to fight in such large numbers. • Crook was defeated: he retreated south.

18. Victorious Crazy Horse • The Victorious Crazy Horse took his forces to join sitting Bull on the Little Big Horn, creating a combined force of over 2000 warriors. • The remaining two columns led by Terry and Gibbon met at the Yellowstone river.

19. Terry and Gibbon meet

20. General Crook, Gibbon and Terry • Terry correctly guessed that the Sioux were camped in the Big Horn Valley and wanted a two-pronged attack to trap the Sioux in their camp • He needed one army to attack from the north and one from the south

21. The ‘Two Pronged Attack’

22. The forces split again • After the forces had met, General Terry again divided his forces • Custer who was attacking the Sioux from the south disobeyed orders • Instead of going around the mountains he went through them. • He arrived a day early and his men and horses were exhausted as they had travelled day and night.

23. The Battle of the Little Bighorn • Custer decided to attack despite warnings of his men • Custer then split his forces further • This was a successful tactic he had used previously in his career Captain Benteen was sent to the south with 125 men. Major Reno with 125 men to attack Southern camp Captain McDougall took charge of the pack train Custer took 260 men further north to attack the camp

24. So what happened to them…? • Captain Reno and Benteen • Major Reno was the first to charge the village. • When he discovered that the camp was far larger than was expected he retreated to the other side of the Little Big Horn River. • He was later joined by Captain Benteen and, although they suffered heavy casualties, they were able to fight off the attack. • Stopped by the Sioux • They did not follow Custer’s orders as they were under attack

25. So what happened to them…? • Custer • The Sioux and Cheyenne saw Custer's men and swarmed out of the village. • Custer was forced to retreat into the bluffs to the east where he was attacked by about 4,000 warriors. • It is not clear as there were no survivors • At the battle of the Little Bighorn Custer and all his 231 men were killed. • This included his two brothers, Tom and Boston, his brother-in-law, James Calhoun, and his nephew, Autie Reed. • Archaeological excavations and oral accounts indicate that he was unable to cross the river • His force was totally outnumbered

26. Task • To create a story board of the Battle of the Little Bighorn • 6 stages to outline the chronology of events

27. 6 possible stages • 1) Battle of Rosebud Creek • 2) General Crook’s plan • 3) Forces split to attack the camp from the North and the South • 4) Custers actions- ignoring orders • 5) Result of Reno and Benteen’s battle • 6) Result of Custers actions

28. Homework Due: Tuesday 21st November Task: To complete the grid using the information from your story board and the photocopied pages from the text book. This will prepare you for next weeks lesson where we will look at who was to Blame.

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