Custers Last Fight, Battle of The Little Big Horn: c.1877

Contemporary Hand-Drawn Map of The Historic Battle of The Little Big Horn

Showing the Exact Location of Custer’s Last Stand

Manuscript map of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's last stand, in black, brown and red ink on thin card, c. 1877.  Shows the positions of Custer’s regiment of the 7th U.S. Cavalry with their Crow, and Arikara scouts, and their opponents, a combined force of Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors. 

The map is a historian’s delight, with some of the most detailed movements of Custer and his troops this author has seen. 

Numerous annotations indicate Custer’s troop dispositions and locations at precise times leading up to the battles.  Custer led the full regiment on a forced overnight march south up Rosebud Creek, wheeling his entire column west along “Davis Creek” in the early hours of June 25, 1876.  He called "HALT" twice during the march west, the last from 10:07 am to 11:45 am.  Custer crossed the “divide” between “Davis Creek” and “Sundance Creek” at 12:25 pm. 

It was shortly after this Custer discovered the Indian encampment along the Little Big Horn.  Custer split his command into three battalion sized elements and ordered an immediate attack.  The map clearly indicates with great precision the location of Custer when he split his command, and the movements of the three elements.  The elements were led by senior officer Major Marcus Reno (“3 Troops”), Captain Frederick William Benteen (“3 Troops”), and Custer himself with the largest element (“5 Troops”).  This decision would have fatal implications for many of the 7th U.S. Cavalry troopers that day. 

The map indicates Custer arrived at the site of his last battle at 3:45 pm. The inscription in the upper left corner identifies Custer's position just fifteen minutes later, …Custers Last fight, at 4p.m. June 25th, 1876, fell at point marked with x between attacks of Crazy Horse and Gall the latter in chief command [sic] of Indians was war chief of Ogalala [sic] Sioux. The note is signed with the initials N.L.. Interestingly, modern scholarship supports the contemporary account here of Gall's enlarged tactical role during the battle.

At lower right, the annotation gives an account of the earlier Battle of the Rosebud, Tho. not generally known 8 days previous to Custer's encounter on June 17, 1876, Gen. Crook encountered same Indians at on head of Rose Bud a few miles south of x marked x on this map. Crook was compelled to retire to his base on Goose Creek near Old Ft. Phil Kearny [sic] - tho having 1049 men in his command... L. The mark can be found at the lower left, immediately below the annotation.

Maj. Gen. George Crook, commander of the Department of the Platte, in command of elements of the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry and 4th and 9th Infantry moved north from Fort Fetterman (Wyoming) in late May 1876 with about 1,000 men.  Custer was unaware of Crook's withdrawal when he faced the Sioux at the Little Big Horn.  Crook’s base was approximately 30 miles east of the Bighorn Mountains and about 65 miles south of the Montana border. The camp was established on June 17, 1876, and served as Crook's base of operations during the Great Sioux War of 1876.

The Battle

The U.S. Army Center for Military History records the events surrounding the battle succinctly:

Maj. Gen. George Crook, commander of the Department of the Platte, moved north from Fort Fetterman (Wyoming) in late May 1876 with about 1,000 men (elements of the 2d and 3d Cavalry and 4th and 9th Infantry). At the same time two columns marched south up the Yellowstone under Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry, commander of the Department of Dakota. One column of more than 1,000 men (7th Cavalry and elements or the 6th, 17th, and 20th Infantry), under Terry's direct command, moved from Fort Abraham Lincoln (North Dakota) to the mouth of Powder River. The second of Terry's columns, numbering about 450 men (elements of the 2d Cavalry and 7th Infantry) under Col. John Gibbon, moved from Fort Ellis (Montana) to the mouth of the Big Born.

On 17 June 1876 Crook's troops fought an indecisive engagement with a large band of Sioux and Cheyenne under Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and other chiefs on the Rosebud and then moved back to the Tongue River to wait for reinforcements. Meanwhile, General Terry had discovered the trail of the same Indian band and sent Lt. Col. George A. Custer with the 7th Cavalry up the Rosebud to locate the war party and move south of it. Terry, with the rest of his command, continued up the Yellowstone to meet Gibbon and close on the Indians from the north.

The 7th Cavalry, proceeding up the Rosebud, discovered an encampment of 4,000 to 5,000 Indians (an estimated 2,500 warriors) on the Little Big Horn on 25 June 1876. Custer immediately ordered an attack, dividing his forces so as to strike the camp from several directions. The surprised Indians quickly rallied and drove off Maj. Marcus A. Reno's detachment (Companies A, G, and M) which suffered severe losses. Reno was joined by Capt. Frederick W. Benteen's detachment (Companies D, H, and K) and the pack train (including Company B) and this combined force was able to withstand heavy attacks which were finally lifted when the Indians withdrew late the following day. Custer and a force of 211 men (Companies C, E, F, I, and L) were surrounded and completely destroyed. Terry and Gibbon did not reach the scene of Custer's last stand until the morning of 27 June. The 7th Cavalry's total losses in this action (including Custer's detachment) were: 12 officers, 247 enlisted men, 5 civilians, and 3 Indian scouts killed; 2 officers and 51 enlisted men wounded.

The Benteen Letter

Autograph Letter Signed ("W. Benteen"), written to George E. Albee, 2 pp recto and verso, 8vo, West Point, NY, August 26, 1881, in pencil.  Benteen writes to Albee to say he had caught a train to West Point, would stay about a week, and then go to Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

Frederick William Benteen (1834-1898) is best known for his role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. He commanded an element of the 7th Cavalry and received orders from Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer to bring up ammunition packs and join the attack. Benteen's actions during this battle, particularly his delay in following Custer's orders, remain controversial. While Custer's detachment was annihilated, Benteen's relief of Major Marcus Reno's element may have saved them from a similar fate.

George Emerson Albee

First Lieutenant (Infantry) George Emerson Albee (1845-1918) was an officer in the 41st U.S. Infantry who was decorated with the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism in action on the Brazos River in Texas on October 28, 1869. In that engagement, First Lieutenant Albee attacked with two men, a force of 11 Indians, drove them from the hills, and reconnoitered the country beyond. 

Albee was an early devotee of the History of the American West.  He assembled a collection of documents, letters, firearms and artefacts of the Indian Wars, and developed friendships with Little Big Horn survivor Benteen (as evidenced in this letter), as well as Frederic Remington, William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, and other iconic figures of the era.

George Armstrong Custer

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) - the 'Boy General' who graduated last in his West Point class but rose to become one of the most celebrated cavalry commanders in American history was a Union Army officer renowned for his audacious leadership and distinctive red cravat.  Custer distinguished himself in numerous Civil War battles, including Gettysburg, where he was just 23 years old.  While famous for his military exploits, he's also an intriguing personality - a man who was simultaneously brave and reckless, known for his flamboyant uniforms and willingness to lead attacks from the front lines. From his early days pulling pranks at West Point to his dramatic final stand at Little Bighorn, Custer's life was anything but ordinary.

Condition

Map with even browning, corners chipped, a few small stains, very fine.  Letter in an excellent, untouched state of preservation with old folds and mild age toning.

Provenance

David Karpeles Manuscript Collection.  David Karpeles (1936 – 2022) was an American mathematician, philanthropist, and collector, best known for founding the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums, which house the world’s largest private collection of original historic manuscripts and documents.

References

Norm Flayderman Collection of George E. Albee materials; accessed 1-15-2025, Princeton University Library on-line, https://findingaids.princeton.edu/catalog/C1558

Utley, Robert M., National Park Service Historical Handbook Series No. 1, Washington D.C., 1969 - on-line, publications/hh/1b/hh1l1.htm accessed 1-15-2025, (Last Modified: Mon, Jan 26, 2004, 10:00:00 pm PDT)

National Park Service Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana, on-line, accessed 1-16-2025; https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/battle-story.htm

U.S. Army Center for Military History on-line, accessed 1-16-2025; https://history.army.mil/Research/Reference-Topics/Army-Campaigns/Brief-Summaries/Indian-Wars/