What did Custer do?

Answer 1

Custer lost for several reasons.

Tribes set aside their differences and joined together amassing numbers in the thousands to include Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho and others.

Custer, ignored orders and gave orders to attack, not realizing the lands he would have to cover to attack and not understanding the sheer number of Indians.

He was outnumbered, outfought, out thought and arrogant in his beliefs that he could easily kill "the savages". If he had lived, he most likely would have been courtmartialed for disobeying direct orders.

Alternate version

Custer split his command in 3- sending Benteen's detachment South ( with the ammunition pack train) to ensure the native Americans did not escape up-river,

Reno's detachment was to Ford the river, and set up a skirmish line outside the Village to its South... this was intended to draw the warriors out to set up a defensive line South of the Village.Custer rode North on the near side of the river to lead a charge from the north end of the camp, once most of the warriors had already moved south to engage Reno.

This tactic had worked well in the past... as it forced the irregualr Indians to form a defensive line to cover their women and children, and allowed Custer to attack their rear and take possesson of their camp, which was essentially everything they had.

Reno was beat down to a defensive position back across the river where Benteen eventually reinforced him and they held out for three days.

Custer's detachment was killed to a man.

In the days after Custer's defeat an army column led by General Terry arrived and went over the evidence on the scene.

They found that Custer had ridden North across the river from the encampment until he got about half way, and then he had made for the river.

The tracks left by his column showed that the column entered the river, but never made it to the other side. Rather, the tracks showed them entering the river in good order, but leaving in disarray, ultimately ending up at the site of the massacre.

That portion of the Village was the Cheyenne encampment.The Cheyenne oral tradition tells the story of the four warriors. When the women saw the cavalry column coming down the far embankment of the river, they raised the alarm, but most of the warriors had already ridden South toward the sound of Reno's detachment hotly engaged.

There were only 4 warriors within earshot to defend the center of the camp against Custer's 200 men.As the cavalry was in mid river, the four Cheyenne charged and got off only a single volley.

ONE man fell from his saddle into the river, and the Cheyenne report was that the column stopped dead, picked up the fallen man, and retreated.

Given Custer's tactical plan, his understanding of the disposition of his troops, his last communication, and the evidence on the ground and of native American witneses, it is possible to reconstruct the most likely chain of events.

At the time Custer split his forces he had not seen the village he meant to attack.

He rightly assumed that no Indian village could be all that large because their pony herd would strip the grass to the roots within days requiring the camp to move every few days.But this was probably the largest encampment of hostile tribes ever assembled.

Custer knew he had to attack within 10 or 15 minutes of Reno engaging to have maximum effect and to support Reno's position.

But he did not factor a village that stretched for 3 miles along the river.Once he actually saw the villiage, he realized he could not possibly make it to the north end and begin his attack in time.His first action was to send a dispatch to Benteen, who was upriver well past Reno, telling him to come quick and bring the ammunition packs.

He knew full well that in coming down river Benteen would come upon Reno hotly engaged. Custer was ording Benteen to re-inforce Reno. ( this probably saved Reno and Benteen's detachments)

Then Custer rode North as fast as he could until he heard the sound of Renos rifles.

He immediately cut down toward the river to attack the encampment where he met the four cheyenne warriors midstream.

At this point, there is only one person who could have been hit that would have caused Custer's column to retreat, and that would be Custer himself.

Custer would not have stopped an attack for any casualty. But without Custer, his men would not have been sure how to proceed. and the thought of Custer drowning in the river was probably too much for them.

Custer's body was found with a bullet wound in the chest and in the temple.

His body was not mutilated nor was he scalped.Sioux and Cheyenne did not scalp men they did not kill, and only mutilated brave opponents to cripple them in the afterlife so they could not seek revenge.

The evidence strongly suggests that Custer was critically wounded in the first volley, and his men retreated to re-group.Whether he ever regained his senses enough to command is impossible to determine but seems unlikely given the haphazard disposition of the bodies, but he almost certainly was killed either by his own hand, or shot in the head by a comrade who did not want him to fall into the enemies hands alive.

Answer 2

Because he was trespasing on their teritory with a view to masacring them as the US military had been doing all over the country. The Indians felt it was amatter of kill or be killed.

Answer 3

because he was shot at the battle of the little big horn

Answer 4

he needed it Custer went there to kill them, most likely for glory, and to get back the general's star he lost. Apparently, the Sioux were unwilling to be used like that.

Answer 5

he was a general of the American army and got killed