Cover up at the little Big Horn

I, for a long time had a facination with Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. I have , over the years read as much as i could from as many sources as i could about the battle its causes and its aftermath and how the greatest victory the American Indians acheived over the Federal Army resulted in the ultimate defeat of the Native American peoples.
Altough Custer in himself is an interesting figure from American history, my main interest is in the figures at the perifery of the story of that fateful warm Summers day of June 25th 1876.

Let me introduce you to the main charecters of our story, as Custer and his exploits are well known i will assume most peole know as much as they need to about this most complex of Soldiers.


Major Marcus Reno. After fighting With the Army of the Potomac Reno ended the War with rank of Captain. Much maligned for his precieved failings at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, roumers circulated after the Battle that Reno had " lacked the ability to make decisions under fire." Others critisied the fact that he did not go to Custers aid as Custer and his Command fought for their lives.
Despite this Reno still took over Command of the 7th after the Massacre. After a checkered career after the Battle, including being found guilty of Conduct unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman for making improper advances towards another Officers Wife and for striking a junior Officer whilst drunk on Duty for which he was dismissed. Later a relative of Reno's sucsesfuly cleared Reno's name of the charges against him in the 1960's and he was returned to his full rank and re buried at the Custer Battlefield National Cemetary in 1967.

Captain Frederik Benteen.A dependable and capable Officer, Benteen ended the Civil War as a Colonel of the 138th Infantry and was also a Brigadeer General of the Missouri Militia. In July 1866 he accepted a Commision as a Captain in the 7th Cavalry ( Custer at this time was a super star of his day, so taking a drop in rank to serve under him isnt as strange as it may first seem.) From the very beggining Custer and Benteen clashed often, at one point he accused Custer of deserting a group of Soldiers to their deaths at the hands of an Indian War party even going as far as to send a letter to the St Louis Democrat Newspaper regarding the incident.

There are other interesting Characters in our story like Captain Keogh whose war Horse, Commanche, was the only living thing to Survive the Battle at Custers Hill, Tom Custer, one of only 4 double winners of the congressional Medal of Honour, not to mention the Indian Leaders Like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. But this is about what appears to have been a coverup, a cover up to hide the truth from the American people at the time about the full horrors of the massacre and a coverup by two Officers to hide what really happened at the Little Big Horn. This post is not designed to take anything away from the Indians who won the Battle nor is it an attempt to justify or bolster the arguments for and against the Indian Wars. The reason i am posting it here is because i respect the posters who contribute here and also that there are people who post here on ATS who are Native American or of Native American decent and would like to here their take on the story that Benteen and Reno may have altered the facts to blame Custer for the defeat at the Little Big Horn.
Beside i thought it may be fun to take a break from current affairs and take a look at a Battle from history and a potenial coverup that may have happened at the time.


Ok, so here is the Article i came across suggesting that there may have been a cover up at the time.

Cover up at the Little Big Horn

Disclaimer: I did not know where this post belonged, it didnt seem to fit into any particular area, if a Mod see's this and thinks it needs to be moved then by all means do. It may belong in BTS for all i know

It's not impossible that there was a coverup. This was at the end of the Civil War, and military leaders often were people of wealth and privelege, who "bought" their way into command. The Civil War was rife with problems where one commander decided he didn't like the way another commander ordered him around and would be "...unavoidably late" for an engagement.

Several battles were lost this way.

There's a classic 3 volume study of all this (called LEE'S LIEUTENANTS) that is just fascinating reading.

In any case, Custer was not always a perfect gentleman and a considerate and kindly human being. Going by some of the reports I've read of the man, it would not be surprising if he tried some sort of stupid stunt for "glory" or if he got rather high-handed with others who ended up conveniently being "just a bit late" to help.

Oh yes... the horse, Comanche, was the only U.S. CAVALRY member who survived there. I should point out that hundreds of my distant relatives survived the encounter.

Originally posted by Byrd
Oh yes... the horse, Comanche, was the only U.S. CAVALRY member who survived there. I should point out that hundreds of my distant relatives survived the encounter.

There are also reports that an Indian Scout named Curley survied as well. But these claims are unsubstatiated. I should have said that Comanche was the only Cavalry survivor, sorry i didnt make that clear. And you are right there were plenty of Indians who survived of course.
The part i find most interesting is that Custer may have made it into the Village itself and been driven back to Custer Hill. If Benteen or Reno were witness to that then they would have good reason to cover it up as they may have had a chance to save Custer's command.

Originally posted by Byrd
It's not impossible that there was a coverup. This was at the end of the Civil War, and military leaders often were people of wealth and privelege, who "bought" their way into command. The Civil War was rife with problems where one commander decided he didn't like the way another commander ordered him around and would be "...unavoidably late" for an engagement.

Several battles were lost this way.

There's a classic 3 volume study of all this (called LEE'S LIEUTENANTS) that is just fascinating reading.

In any case, Custer was not always a perfect gentleman and a considerate and kindly human being. Going by some of the reports I've read of the man, it would not be surprising if he tried some sort of stupid stunt for "glory" or if he got rather high-handed with others who ended up conveniently being "just a bit late" to help.

I agree that Custer was a ruthless egotist who was, shall we say unconcerned with how many lives he expended in his drive for Glory.
But he was really not much different to any other General of his time. You only have to look at the Battles Like Gettysberg and the Wilderness to see that.
He has been quoted as saying that if he won at the Little Big Horn then he would be the next "Great Father". Perhaps that is why he did not wait for the rienforcements that would have carried the day and decided to go it alone.
I do believe that he had a real love for the west and did respect the Native Americans for their determination to preserve their way of life. But he was not above useing them to further his own ambitions, by bloodshed if need be.


[edit on 17-9-2004 by Janus]

I don't want to sound skeptic, but I didn't see any sources on which the author based his stories on.

For all we know it could be a well written story of fiction.

There very well could have been a conspiracy. But in the end, it doesn't matter much to me, as Custer and the U.S. Army that dispatched him should have stayed the hell away from both the Sioux and the Cheyenne. At this point they had been beaten to the point of fight or flight and obviously had not chosen flight. The entire history is disgusting.

However many Cavalry fell here was obviously not enough...too few, too late.

Originally posted by Valhall
There very well could have been a conspiracy. But in the end, it doesn't matter much to me, as Custer and the U.S. Army that dispatched him should have stayed the hell away from both the Sioux and the Cheyenne. At this point they had been beaten to the point of fight or flight and obviously had not chosen flight. The entire history is disgusting.

However many Cavalry fell here was obviously not enough...too few, too late.

I understand your disgust at the way the Native Americans were treated during the Indian Wars, but that is for the Political Mudpit. I think we can all agree that the way they were exploited beyond belief. Perhaps i was mistaken posting this as i know that feeling can run high regarding that particular time in American history. My interest was in the potential cover up, a cover up that was even suspected at the time of Little Big Horn.
It was not my intention to drag up old arguments regarding that time.
Maybe it would be a good idea to let the thread die.