The Battle of Little Bighorn ~ Custer's Last Stand

Monday, October 29, 2012

General George Armstrong Custer of the 7th Calvary

Frost, Lawrence A. The Custer Album: A Pictorial Biography of General George A. Custer. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964

By Delehaye (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux

Barry, D. (Photographer). (1885). Sitting Bull. [Image of photograph]. Library of Congress. Retrieved October 29, 2012, from http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/94506170/

The Campaign

Map of Cavalry Movement

National Park Service. (2004, January 26). Campaign Maps . In Little Bighorn Battlefield. Retrieved October 29, 2012, from http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/1b/hh1l1.htm

A hand drawn Army map from 1876 based on an interview of Kill Eagle

The Battle: June 25, 1876

Because of the resulting casualties of every soldier in the five companies Custer Commanded, the only depictions we have of the Battle are those of artists

Custer's Last Stand (1899)
Edgar Samuel Paxson

The Custer Fight (1903)
By Charles Marion Russell

The Survivor: Comanche

One of the survivors of the Battle was Comanche, a bay gelding horse ridden by Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry. Named Comanche because of his bravery, he was the second horse to be buried with full military honors.

Comanche in 1887

"Comanche" by Johnny Horton

The Aftermath

A telegram sent from a US Army General in Washington, D.C. to a US Army General in Chicago, asking of General Custer's fate (National Archives and Records Administration).

A letter from the Governor B.F. Potts of the Territory of Montana describing his fear of Native American action after Custer's demise (National Archives and Records Administration)

Rational

For my images project, I chose a topic close to my own history. Growing up in the Armstrong family, I heard about the brave and noble “Uncle Custer”. Although I am not a direct descendant, General George Armstrong Custer is a great, great, great uncle through my grandmother (Doris Armstrong). I felt proud of my heritage from all the stories of General Custer. Then I came to college and everything changed.

During my sophomore American History I course, I was greatly defeated after the lecture on General Custer. As my professor put it, “Custer was an arrogant drunk trying to build a legacy out of a life of failures”. Although my professor had no way of knowing my direct connection to Custer, his lack of sensitivity was hurtful. I took a piece of wisdom to use in my own teaching career from that lesson: you never know who is in your class and what their background is.

When given this assignment, I though it was a prime opportunity to explore my ancestor’s legacy. Pictures are a perfect medium to do this through as the oral history creates extreme bias (that I encountered both at home and in my college course). As I started to compile my images, I realized I was discovering my own history while creating an educational tool.

My images show a balanced perspective of the Battle of Little Bighorn rather than an entire Native American or European bias. I really wanted to focus on the history of the battle rather than the legacy. The two artist renditions of the battle I found did not target one side or the other, but showed the battle at face value. I also included two documents from after the battle. I thought these were important to show the effect of the battle including a strained relationship between the United States government and Native tribes.

I would use this in my future classroom in numerous applications. Each section of my blog could be further explored including the major player, what caused the battle, the historical interpretation of the battle, the survivors, and the consequences. I would not use this tool until fourth or fifth grade but it is an integral part of not only Montana but also American History.