150 years ago today

[Timothy]

Custer was an azzhole as a person, but he was actually a very good Calvary officer.
His tactics at Little Bighorn were a classic example of exactly what Calvary were intended to do, the "lightning strike" utilizing surprise, speed, and fire power to sow confusion and create the illusion of a much larger force .
What killed Custer was that he lost the element of surprise and the Indians, who numbered about 3X what he thought, reacted much faster than he expected .

He was up against a force protecting their own back yard!  The Lakota, Cheyenne and other tribes used the same tactics didn't they?  Hit fast, hit hard, and know when to retreat but they were better horsemen and better armed!  From what I've read and seen (granted it was produced by a Native American) on the HC, Custer screwed the pooch...  Killed half his damn family, didn't he?  His mind was set on annihilation and the reverse happened...arrogance!

Not arguing, just curios because I can't stand non-fiction...reminds me of reading GE specifications...

[blackwolfe]

Custer was outgunned as far as repeating arms go.  The Calvary was equipped with .45 Colt 1873 revolvers and 1873 Springfield 45-70 carbines.  Both good weapons, but the Indians were thought to have quite a few repeating rifles such as Henrys, Spencers, and Winchesters.

[tombogan03884]

Custer was outgunned as far as repeating arms go.  The Calvary was equipped with .45 Colt 1873 revolvers and 1873 Springfield 45-70 carbines.  Both good weapons, but the Indians were thought to have quite a few repeating rifles such as Henrys, Spencers, and Winchesters.

Kind of funny really.
Winchester used the slogan "The gun that won the West", but since the army was using Trapdoor Springfield's it was actually the gun that LOST the West .
While it is true that a large portion of the civilian population owned and used Winchester's, they were focused on self defense and not militarily significant.

He was up against a force protecting their own back yard!  The Lakota, Cheyenne and other tribes used the same tactics didn't they? ........................snip.........................................
Not arguing, just curios because I can't stand non-fiction...reminds me of reading GE specifications...

You just aren't reading the right authors .
There is also a lot of very accurate "Historical fiction" that may have a fictional story with an incredibly accurate background.
One example that leaps to mind is the Shaara series of 4 books
1 "Gone for Soldiers" covers the Mexican war introducing young men like  Capt R. L.Lee , Lt Thomas Jackson, and Lt. U.S. "SamGrant,
2"Gods and Generals" covers the period up till June 30th 1863
3 " The Killer Angel's" is about the battle of Gettysburg
4 "The Last Full Measure" covers the rest of the war .
But to answer your question, yes, the plains Indians, Lakota, Cheyenne, and Kiowa were considered by many international military experts to be the finest light Calvary in the world.

[PegLeg45]

If you ever get the chance, go to Gettysburg and visit the battle site.......The movies and TV shows do not do justice to the scope of it.

Back in June we were preparring to cancel a vacation we had planned (to visit some relatives of the wife's in Philladelphia) due to our oldest going through chemo, but he had two off weeks and told us if we didn't go, we might not get the chance later (we had already rescheduled four times in a year).
On the way home, we decided to use a different route and swung over through Gettysburg.

It was the highlight of my trip.....