Little Bighorn, Battle of the

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

Engagement on a tributary of the Bighorn River in Montana, USA, on 25 June 1876, in which Lt-Col George Custer suffered a crushing defeat by Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians, under chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Gall. The battle was the greatest defeat inflicted on the US Army in the Plains Wars.

Custer had been sent with the US 7th Cavalry to quell a Sioux uprising that had broken out in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Following the discovery of gold in 1874, white miners had been allowed to encroach on this area, which was sacred to the Sioux and had been granted to them in perpetuity by the US government as a homeland in 1868. Custer attacked a Sioux camp, ignoring scouting reports of an overwhelming Plains Indian force, and led a detachment of the 7th Cavalry into a ravine where thousands of Indian warriors lay in wait. In the battle, which lasted for just one hour, Custer and everyone under his immediate command, an estimated 225 soldiers, were killed.

The bright blue field stands for the Pacific Ocean. The shield is taken from the coat of arms. Effective date: 10 October 1970. >>