They didn’t pick last stand hill for a defensive site, they were forced there and made the stand.
Custer, on the other hand, had already made his mark in History and would not have been remembered as he is today, but he still would have been remembered, as he was one of the greatest Civil War heroes and that is why there was such shock at his demise by a bunch of savages.
Custer’s leadership throughout the Civil War, was unmatched and very aggressive. He was always at the front of the charge and although his casualties were high, the Civil War was known for that and again, he gets blamed for his bravado, while at Gettysburg there were 10’s of thousands of casualties and little is discussed in regards to that. Yet, on the backside of Gettysburg, Custer and his Michigan Wolverines, took on Jeb Stuart and turned him back with odds on Stuart’s side.
A very interesting person, Custer, and a very misunderstood figure that people hate and revere, yet he was one man that lived one life…
I've been there several time & it's a very very interesting part of history.
While all you say above in true, it's hard to come to a conclusion that at LBH, Custer, for whatever reasons we'll never really know, fu^cked up.
150 years later, hindsight is surely 20-20 by a bunch of armchair quarerbacks though.
Obviously, splitting his command as he did left him vulnerable...............but when he made that decision, he also, obviously, didn't know the magnitude of what he was facing. Had he known, maybe he would have acted differently.
But that's the mystery & we'll never really know now, will we?
It's a fascinating piece of history though.
JMHO,
MM
