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CUSTER
It was during the campaign of 1868 that
George Armstrong Custer distinguished himself as an Indian fighter at the
Battle of the Washita (Oklahoma). The formal order directing operations
to commence came in the shape of a brief letter of instructions from Department
headquarters. “…as nothing was known
positively as to the exact whereabouts of the Indian villages, the instructions
(had) to be general in terms. In
substance, I was to march my command in search of the winter hiding places of
the hostile Indians and wherever found to administer such punishment for past
depredations as my force was able.”
Major Joel Elliott located the Indian
trail. Custer writes, “We…at once set out
to join in the pursuit, a pursuit which could and would only end when we
overtook our enemies. And in order that
we should not be trammeled in our movements it was my intention then and there
to abandon our train of wagons, taking with us only such supplies as we could
carry on our persons and strapped to our saddles….” The battle of the Washita commenced with the
regimental band playing Gary Owen as,
“the bugle sounded the charge and the entire command dashed rapidly into the
village. The Indians were caught
napping….”
The actual
possession of the village and its lodges was achieved within a few moments, but
now on all sides Indians began gathering around Custer’s command. Custer writes, “Making dispositions to
overcome any resistance which might be offered to our advance by throwing out a
strong force of skirmishers, we set out down the valley in the direction where
the other villages had been reported and toward the hills on which were
collected the greatest number of Indians.”
By prominently displaying captive women and children hostages, Custer
was able to force the Indians to disengage.
“Whether the fact that they could not fire upon our advance without
endangering the lives of their own people, who were prisoners in our hands, or
some other reason prevailed with them, they never offered to fire a shot or
retard our movements in any manner, but instead assembled their outlying detachments as rapidly
as possible, and began a precipitate movement down the valley”
Understanding Custer’s state of mind and tactics at the Washita is essential
to understanding his later actions on the Little Bighorn: (1) the central
problem in this type of irregular warfare was catching the enemy, Indians would
scatter rather than fight, and (2) Indians would not endanger their women and
children (Custer wrote, “Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or
defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all
danger thereof.”) Clearly, based on his
earlier experiences Custer expected the Indians at the Little Bighorn to
run. In any event, he meant to bring
them to heel by taking women and children hostages. His swing to the north of the village was designed
to accomplish this one thing.
Battle of the Washita from "Little Big Man"
Views of Custer have changed over
succeeding generations. Custer has been portrayed as a callous egotist, a
bungling egomaniac, a genocidal war criminal, and the puppet of faceless
forces. For almost one hundred and fifty years, Custer has been a Rorschach
test of American social and personal values. Whatever else George Armstrong
Custer may or may not have been, even in the twenty-first century, he remains
the great lightning rod of American history. This book presents portraits of
Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn as they have appeared in print over
successive decades and in the process demonstrates the evolution of American
values and priorities.
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