Comments Posted By Dick Weart
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THE BATTLE OF GREASY GRASS CREEK
The most interesting debate I have found concerning the Battle of Greasey Grass Creek is from some various Indian accounts. Oral history accounts sometimes embellish various parts of the 'story', however in this case there is some strong evidence. Many Indian accounts state quite eloquently that as the battle intensified, the Great Spirit caused a hude invisible war shield to decend around the soldiers on the hill. As the soldiers fired their weapons, the bullits hit the shield and bounced back to hit the soldiers. Since suicide was a little known or rare occurance among the Native Americans, this is how they explained what was happening. Many of the soldiers had not fought against the Indians before. They had been told that their adversaries were disorganized and poor fighters. The soldiers thought they were out for a walk in the part. Custer even left his gattling guns behind--because he wanted to travel fast, get it over, and return the hero. Also, many soldiers had been told, to "save the last round for yourself" in case of capture because the 'savages' were experts at all sorts of barbaric torture. The combination of underestimating an enemy, inexperience in Indian fighting, and poor tactics based on arrogance caused the disaster for the 7th cavalry on that hot summer day in 1876.
Comment Posted By Dick Weart On 16.11.2005 @ 18:09
