Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Captain Thomas Weir, 7th Cavalry

No matter how much evidence you post, there are still those that won’t read it or just ignore it. All of these points have been covered more than once, providing plenty of evidence to the contrary…

I didn't watch all the videos. But several years ago I saw a one hour program on tv, where there had been a fire at the Little Bighorn, and the ground was all cleared. A team of archaeologists went in with metal detectors. They didn't find many cartridge casings at Last Stand Hill, and so they declared that right there, Custer's men didn't put up much of a fight.

What the Phds overlooked, was one hundred years of souvenir hunting. When Terry's troops came in 3 days after the battle, and they saw the hill where Custer and Tom had been killed, you know some of those soldiers picked up cartridge casings for souvenirs.


There was another forum that I was on, a guy said that his dad and uncle went to Last Stand Hill, maybe in the twenties, and picked up a 5-gallon bucket of cartridge casings from Last Stand Hill and elsewhere on the battlefield.

These latter-day arechaeologists ignored a hundred years of souvenir hunting, therefore their conclusions are incorrect.

He won’t no hero in the civil war

😂

The Civil War is what made him a household name

But the fact is if he had all veterans they would have dispersed the Indians because Indians would not face a well regulated cavalry as was the fact in almost all previous battles. Was Custer arrogant, yes he was but he was no fool.

Speaking in generalities…..

Armies consist of expendable men who fight battles. Battles often include such things as charges into heavy fire to win the day. The only nations that can field armies were/are agricultural wherein some fraction of society can feed all the rest, including armies. While damaging, as long as losses were kept within reason their nations would survive.

Plains Indians were hunter/gatherers, there were no warehouses full of stored surplus grain we read of as long ago as Joseph’s Egypt. Most Plains Indian men had family members to support and the loss of warriors could result in actual starvation. This was reflected in their modes of warfare.

Agree, my point was that was one of the reasons Custer's command was wiped out. Indians usually did not fight as a unit but as individuals just like other primitive tribes. One of the best examples of military discipline was when Zulu's attacked the British at Rorke's Drift, and even though Zulus were a lot more disciplined army than American Indians they could not overcome trained and highly disciplined British.

Indians usually did not fight as a unit but as individuals just like other primitive tribes.

It sure is nice to be Monday morning quarterbacks, we did not live in the era, were not at the battle and have various and conflicting accounts of the battle by Injuns and whites. Custer had mostly inexperienced soldiers under his command who panicked, if he had Civil War veterans there would have been very different outcome. Their rifles also jammed and many pocket knives were found by the bodies of soldiers trying to pry spent brass out. There were a lot more Injuns than he anticipated even though they did see a large trail leading to the Little Big Horn. But the fact is if he had all veterans they would have dispersed the Indians because Indians would not face a well regulated cavalry as was the fact in almost all previous battles. Was Custer arrogant, yes he was but he was no fool.

The Indians had a reputation as being terrible shots with rifles unless at close range. So I've heard.

I believe I recall earlier in a similar thread on LBH that Sitting Bull later said that if Reno had pressed his attack and held giving Custer time to actually attack the encampment that Custer would have carried the day.

The Indians had a reputation as being terrible shots with rifles unless at close range. So I've heard.

and give them Zulus Martini-Henry’s rifles too and the outcome coulda been different 🙂

Reno didn't have command of 7 companies when he went dow on the Little Bighorn. He had 3 companies, Benteen had 3 companies with him and 1 company was left with the pack train. Custer had 5 companies with him. At the Reno/Benteen site, there would have been 7 companies combined at that point. Frank Finkle has been debunked. He and many others claimed escaping, but there is no proof.

In our research and discovery of previously unknown circumstances, we did find an account of a local kid that grew up on Reno Creek in the 1930's and claimed he had found the remains of 2 soldiers in a rock crevice 7 miles east of the battlefield. Our research is still incomplete, but we have discovered an eyewitness account from Custer's scouts that actually saw 2 Soldiers back near the Lone Teepee site and surrounded by 5 Sioux warriors. It is in the book by Walter Mason Camp "Custer 1876" This isn't rumor as so many stories are and many show up in discussions like this.

We have found indications of a possible skirmish 6 1/2 miles east of the battlefield that will support this as a real incident. Where and what we have done is well recorded and the hoops you have to jump through is more than a single person can take on. There is more information we have that doesn't permit recalling much of it here as there is so much and the people and technical equipment we have used there is beyond even what they used in the battlefield archaeology in the 1980's.

Outside resources have been studied extensively and most is 3rd, 4th and even 50th repeat of the same material with little real historical connection. Custer may be the most written about person in American History nest to Lincoln and finding real documented accounts are scarce. We have been able to weed them out, as we have been pursuing this for more than 40 years.

Here is the account by the Indian scout in "Custer 1876" by Walter Mason Camp. He interviewed every survivor of the battle that he could locate, both Indians and soldiers to find out the most he could on the battle. This supports our research into the possibility of the 2 soldiers seen in the rock crevice in the 1930's. My guess is this is the first time anyone here has even heard of such a finding...