Custer's 7th Cavalry destroyed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn

Background. Tensions rose following Custer's 1874 Black Hills expedition, which announced gold discoveries. The Grant administration attempted to buy the region in 1875, but the government set a January 31, 1876, deadline for Lakota and Arapaho to report to reservations or be considered hostile. Sitting Bull, a political and spiritual leader, called together the largest gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, later moved to the Little Bighorn River, to discuss responses to white encroachment.

Campaign Context. The U.S. military conducted a summer campaign using a three-pronged approach to force Lakota and Cheyenne back to reservations. Custer departed Fort Abraham Lincoln on May 17, 1876. Army coordination began to go awry on June 17, 1876, when General Crook's column retreated after the Battle of the Rosebud, 30 miles southeast of the eventual Little Bighorn battlefield. Sitting Bull reportedly had a vision of soldiers falling into his camp like grasshoppers during a Sun Dance in early June.

The Engagement. On June 25, 1876, Custer's scouts discovered Sitting Bull's camp along the Little Bighorn River. Custer led the 7th Cavalry Regiment against a coalition of Western Native American tribes. He was killed along with every soldier of the five companies of his regiment that he led. The battle resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces. Native American casualties were estimated at 136 dead and 160 wounded.