TABLE OF CONTENTS Illustrations .................................................................................................. vi Foreword ...................................................................................................... vii Preface............................................................................................................ ix Dedication................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 Washita: The Seeds of Disaster ................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 The Grand Plan ............................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 3 Sheridan Knew How Many Indians Had Massed ................................. 13 CHAPTER 4 Why The Army Plan Failed ...................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 5 Orders, Suggestions, or Carte Blanche .................................................... 27 CHAPTER 6 Custer’s Plan ................................................................................................ 41 CHAPTER 7 Manpower Problems of the 7th Cavalry .................................................. 49 CHAPTER 8 Charging While Intoxicated ...................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 9 Village Location ........................................................................................... 67 CHAPTER 10 Village Head Count ..................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 11 Was The Village Surprised? ...................................................................... 87 CHAPTER 12 Did Custer Order A Feint Or Die Early? ............................................... 95 CHAPTER 13 Army Views of Custer’s Attempts to Ford ............................................ 107 CHAPTER 14 The Indians Tell How Custer Repulsed ................................................ 113 CHAPTER 15 The Fiasco At Medicine Tail Ford ......................................................... 119 Illustrations ................................................................................................ 131 CHAPTER 16 There Weren’t Any Survivors? ................................................................ 145 CHAPTER 17 The Missing, Mutilated and Dead .......................................................... 161 CHAPTER 18 The “Ammunition Enigma”.................................................................... 175 CHAPTER 19 Custer’s Performance ............................................................................... 179 CHAPTER 20 Benteen’s Performance ............................................................................. 191 CHAPTER 21 Reno’s Performance .................................................................................. 201 Epilogue ...................................................................................................... 219 Addendum — The Lt. W. Philo Clark Report....................................... 225 Exhibits & Maps........................................................................................ 237 Bibliography............................................................................................... 273 Index............................................................................................................ 281 ILLUSTRATIONS George Armstrong Custer ....................................................................131 Copy condolence telegram sent to Mrs. Annie Yates ......................132 Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer .......................................................................133 Thomas Ward Custer ..............................................................................133 Sleigh Ride ................................................................................................133 Lt. Henry M. Harrington.......................................................................133 1st Lt. James Calhoun .............................................................................134 Lieut. William Winer Cooke..................................................................134 Sleigh Ride ................................................................................................134 2nd Lt. Charles Roe ..................................................................................134 2nd Lieut. Charles A. Varnum ...............................................................135 2nd Lieut. Charles A. Varnum ...............................................................135 Capt. Algernon E. Smith .......................................................................135 Boston Custer...........................................................................................135 Comanche and Sergeant Gustav Korn ..................................................136 Seventh Cavalry Officers ...................................................................... 136 Original montage of the “Custer Men” ...............................................137 A parlor scene at the Custer Home .......................................................138 2nd Lieut. Edward S. Godfrey ............................................................. 138 Capt. Myles Keogh .................................................................................. 138 Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry .................................................................... 139 A unique tintype ...................................................................................... 139 Capt. George Yates................................................................................... 139 1st Lieut. Charles De Rudio ................................................................... 140 1st Lieut. Edward Maguire .................................................................... 140 1st Lieut. Donald McIntosh .................................................................... 140 Bloody Knife ............................................................................................. 141 Curly........................................................................................................... 141 Uncpapa Chief Gall ................................................................................. 141 Uncpapa Chief Rain-in-the-Face, ....................................................................... 141 Cheyenne Chief Two Moons .................................................................. 142 Five Sioux Chiefs .................................................................................... 142 Sitting Bull and his favorite wife ......................................................... 142 Chief Spotted Tail.................................................................................... 143 Sioux Chief Standing Soldier ................................................................ 143 Sioux Chief White Bull ........................................................................... 143 Uncpapa Chief Rain-in-the-Face ......................................................... 143 Webley Bulldogs ....................................................................................... 144 R.I.C. model ...............................................................................................144 “Frontier Bulldog” ...................................................................................144 EXHIBITS & MAPS Exhibit 1 - Telegram ............................................................................. 239 Exhibit 2 - Letter .................................................................................. 240 Exhibit 3 - Telegram ............................................................................. 242 Exhibit 4 - Letter .................................................................................. 243 Exhibit 5 - Telegram ............................................................................. 248 Exhibit 6 - Telegram ............................................................................. 249 Exhibit 7 - Telegram ............................................................................. 250 Exhibit 8 - Telegram ............................................................................. 251 Exhibit 9 - Telegram ............................................................................. 252 Exhibit 10 - Telegrams ......................................................................... 253 Exhibit 11 - Seventh Cavalry Roster Reconciliation ................. 256 Exhibit 12 - Original Maguire Map .................................................. 258 Exhibit 13 - Original W. Philo Clark Map ...................................... 260 Exhibit 14 - Map of Custer Battlefield ........................................... 261 Exhibit 15 - Custer Battlefield .......................................................... 262 Exhibit 16 - Treaty of 1868 ................................................................. 263 Exhibit 17 - Custer Battlefield Maps ............................................. 266