"The Guns Custer Left Behind . . ."

[Diane Merkel]

Many of you know Lee Noyes from his work with the Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association (CBHMA) and his LBH e-mail list. Here's an article he wrote for Wild West Magazine.

"The Guns Custer Left Behind Would Have Been a Burden"

The ‘Boy General’ declined to take Gatlings to the Little Bighorn.

Historical tragedies invariably demand scapegoats. The June 25–26, 1876, Battle of the Little Bighorn clearly illustrates this predictable human response to catastrophe. Some within the Army tried to affix responsibility for the Montana Territory disaster even before the nation learned of the Lakota and Cheyenne victory over Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer of the 7th U.S. Cavalry and his immediate command. Custer’s reputation for impulsiveness and insubordination made him a logical target and easily explained what Brigadier General Alfred Terry termed “a sad and terrible blunder.”

Article: www.historynet.com/guns-custer-left-behind-burden.htm