Custer believes the Indians are doing what he expected, they are running.......How does he come to that conclusion. Every action taken so far has shown the opposite to be true. They attacked Reno and stopped him, when Custer sent a probe to ford B, it was repulsed, why does he think they are running away.
Dan,
You and "Ulan" are assuming too much. Please... try to remember the context when various events occurred.
When Custer sent Martini with the note things were going very well. If you want to read anything into the note,
read in the context of when and where it was written. What was happening... what had Custer seen... then try to figure the intent.
We have instances of hat-waving; we have an instance of, "Slow down boys! There's enough for all of us!" We have an instance of cheering. So what can we read into the note from that? Custer saw the valley... he could-- from "3,411"-- see much farther
up valley than he could see in detail,
down the valley.
Right? What did he see
up-valley? Nothing... no Indians, no villages, no camps... nothing. Therefore, time to bring Benteen back.
And we better hurry, because we have a full-scale brou-ha-ha going on and the Indians are on the run. How do we know that? Well, because they
always ran, didn't they? And the tactics they were employing, i. e., dust-making, warriors coming out to screen the village, warriors backing away as the troops came closer... all these things were classic. Custer could also see
across the valley and what he saw there were running Indians... were they running for their horses-- and why?-- or were they running away?
So when Martini was sent back, Reno had not lost a man and Custer had not fired a shot. Custer? He needed to get ahead of the fleeing Indians and cut them off... so he proceeded north. Benteen? Well... when Benteen got there, he would know what to do and when he wanted to know where Custer was, the messenger would tell him. (Only Martini was an idiot, a "clown"... and quite possibly, that's a literal assumption!)
Again, Dan, you are making an assumption: you are assuming Custer was in trouble. Someone here-- you? "Ulan"?-- used the word, "repulsed," regarding Ford B.
Custer was not repulsed at Ford B! "Repulsed" intimates he was forced away; that intimates if he were forced away, he intended to attack. Neither is the case.
When he mounted Luce Ridge he was still well over a mile from the middle of the valley... a mile from the river. So he dropped off Keogh to protect his rear and await any possible signal or action if need be. After all, there were Indians in the area. We know of at least 22 of them by name or inference on the east side of the river between Weir Peaks and MTC. We also know of a party of about 50 more under the titular leadership of Wolf Tooth and Big Foot, two Cheyenne. These latter guys were probably in upper MTC at the time and could represent a fair threat to the troops' rear. Therefore, Keogh....
The reason Custer went to "3,411" rather than Sharpshooters' Ridge or Weir Point was that he needed to get closer to the action, not necessarily higher. Those who insist he need "height," not "close," do not understand very much about military tactics. SSR was another 300 yards away, and even when DeRudio claimed he saw three figures-- Custer, Cooke, and one other-- atop "3,411," he claimed to an incredulous audience they were 1,000 yards away. In reality, they were closer to
1,400 yards away. SSR would have completed a full mile. Ridiculous!
So the side-trip to Ford B was less to find a crossing point there, than it was to get as close as he could to the scene-- the valley-- and see what he could, e. g., the extent of the village, what was happening through the dust this far down-river, etc. Like the Indians fronting the village farther up the valley, Custer used Smith's Gray Horse Troop as a screen and Smith stationed himself along the river's edge. That brought a hail of fire that may have even wounded Smith. But repulsed? No way. As I posted earlier, there simply were not enough Indians to repulse a Girl Scout Troop.
No... he does not.
Custer sees all he can see at Ford B, so he turns and heads toward the high ground farther north: Calhoun Hill. Keogh joins him there.
And what is the situation? Sheer mayhem in the valley. Indians running all over the place: west, north.... At Luce, Custer learned two valuable items: (1) Reno was in some trouble; and (2) Benteen was on the way. Fine. Now we are sitting atop Calhoun Hill and we have a lot more data to sift through.
If Reno is in trouble, we can assume he will head back the way he came. That means Indians-- lots of 'em-- heading up the valley in possible pursuit. But Benteen is on the way and the messenger will tell him where Custer went... and that is now where Benteen should be heading. (And forget the packs at this point; they are irrelevant. (
Remember the context when the note was written!)
Now... Custer is in no trouble. The sniping as he moved up the Deep Coulee flats was even less than what greeted him at Ford B. He has lost only two men, one whose horse went berserk and crossed the river; and Trumpeter Dose, shot in the back by a lucky arrow as Custer pulled away from the ford, probably about 500 yards from the river.
Not your basic fighting retrograde!So, all five companies sit atop Calhoun Hill. Indian bullets-- if there are any at this point-- are falling way short of the troops, with possibly a couple of pesky and indignant exceptions.
Custer tells Keogh and Yates what he plans next: Benteen is coming and he should be here by about 4 PM. (It is currently 3:23 - 3:26 PM). That gives Custer about a half-hour to head north, find a crossing point
below the fleeing Indians, and circle back part-way to some high ground where he would wait for a few moments for Keogh and Benteen to join him. In the meantime, Keogh is to sit back; await Benteen; and protect Custer's disappearing rear as he heads north.
The only Indians of any threat-- ha!-- are coming across the river at Ford B.
Once Benteen arrived, the six companies would ride the crest of Battle Ridge and see Custer waiting for them on Cemetery Ridge. The combined eight companies would then cross at the new fording point-- Ford D-- and rout, maim, slaughter, and kill every redskin in sight.
That'll team 'em!"Terry who?"-- GAC
Best wishes,
Fred.