When Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer reached the Little Bighorn, Chief Gall and his people had received only a few hours’ notice. A battle-hardened warrior at age 36, Gall had already experienced considerable combat throughout his life. He had killed American soldiers and rival warriors, earning his reputation as one of the most esteemed warriors of the Hunkpapa Sioux. Gall’s significance to his people was immense, leading Chief Sitting Bull to adopt him as a younger brother and to regard him as one of his closest advisers and friends.
Therefore, when news of Custer’s arrival reached Sitting Bull’s camp, Gall was among the first to learn of it. He was unaware that this confrontation would be unlike any other. This was a day he would remember and recount for the remainder of his life. Chief Gall was among the first Native Americans to narrate the battle from their perspective, and his account would alter the narrative of the Little Bighorn in Custer’s final moments.
On the morning of June 25, 1876, Sioux scouts discovered ration boxes a few miles from the village that had been abandoned by Custer’s men. American soldiers noticed the scouts and frightened them away, but Custer understood that they would return to inform Sitting Bull of his arrival. Custer believed he had no option but to launch an immediate attack before Sitting Bull could make his escape. The Sioux scouts indeed returned to the village with news of the approaching American soldiers.
Sitting Bull dispatched scouts to monitor their movements while he convened a council to deliberate their next steps. American troops, including Sergeant Daniel Kanipe, reported observing these scouts on the hills as they advanced. These scouts soon relayed that the Americans had divided their forces, although they were unable to discern the specifics of the plan at that moment. In reality, Custer led five companies to march over the bluffs and maneuver down to assault the village from the north.
A separate group of three companies was to accompany Major Marcus Reno to attack the village from the south. Unbeknownst to Gall at that time, a third contingent of three additional companies led by Captain Frederick Benteen was strategizing to traverse the river far to the south and approach the village from the west. The American strategy aimed to sever all escape routes. Sitting Bull and the other Native American leaders concurred that the most prudent course of action was to dismantle their camp and flee before the enemy launched an assault.
Nevertheless, they misjudged the rapidity of the Seventh Cavalry. Before they could execute their plan, Reno’s troops were observed crossing the river and charging through the timber to assault the village. Sitting Bull and I were present at the location of Reno’s attack, Gall later recounted. The Hunkpapa Sioux section of the village was situated on the southern perimeter directly in the trajectory of Reno’s forces.
Gunfire erupted with bullets ripping through the tents and scattering the inhabitants within. The warriors hastily sought their horses while the women and children fled southward away from Reno’s troops. Gall’s immediate concern was for his family. He hurried to locate his two wives and three children amidst the turmoil.
Regrettably, he did not need to search for long. It remains uncertain whether Reno’s men deliberately targeted the five members of Gall’s family or if they were merely collateral damage in the crossfire. By the time Gall found them, his two wives and three children had perished. They were slain there by the pale-faced warriors, which filled my heart with sorrow, Gall said.
For the Sioux, this expression encapsulated grief, despair, and a thirst for vengeance. Subsequently, I eliminated all my adversaries with the hatchet, he recalled. This too was a Sioux euphemism. To forsake the gun and wield a hatchet was to invite death in exchange for inflicting greater brutality upon an enemy.
It represented the choice of a warrior engulfed in rage who prioritized his enemy’s suffering over his own survival. The cost that the Americans would incur for the slaughter of Gall’s family would be monumental. Reno’s men secured their horses and positioned themselves among the timber on their flank, advancing on foot within mere hundreds of feet from the camp. They had established a line formation and commenced firing into the camp.
Gall joined the warriors who were resisting the assault. Although Sitting Bull is most famously linked to the battle, he did not actually participate in it. Sitting Bull had ceased to engage in battles and stayed in camp to prepare medicine for the men who did. In this context, medicine referred to a form of magic or power intended to empower the warriors and ensure their victory.
Instead, it was individuals like Gall and the Oglala Sioux warrior Crazy Horse who led the warriors in battle. The Sioux warriors responded to Reno’s forces with a combination of gunfire and cavalry charges. It did not take long for the Americans to realize they were outmatched. Reno’s forces consisted of only about 150 men in contrast to the hundreds of Sioux warriors rushing to defend with more arriving every moment.
Among Reno’s troops were a few Native American scouts from the Crow and Arikara tribes. They were adversaries of the Sioux. So when the Sioux noticed them collaborating with the enemy, they made it a point to target them specifically. This included Custer’s chief scout and companion known as Bloody Knife.
Bloody Knife was of mixed heritage, being half Arikara and half Hunkpapa Sioux, the same tribe as Gall and Sitting Bull. Gall and Bloody Knife had grown up together and harbored a profound animosity towards one another. Gall had never trusted Bloody Knife due to his Arikara lineage, and Gall’s treatment of him ultimately led Bloody Knife to leave the tribe and ally with the Americans. The two men became sworn enemies with Gall eventually attacking and killing Bloody Knife’s brothers and one of his sons.
Bloody Knife was on horseback next to Major Reno as the assault unfolded when he was abruptly shot in the head. Since Gall was unarmed, it is clear that he was not the shooter. However, one of the other Sioux must have recognized him and eliminated Gall’s old adversary on his behalf. The sight of Bloody Knife’s death right before his eyes terrified Reno, serving as the final impetus for him to order a retreat.
Reno’s troops began to retreat into the woods where their horses were secured, subsequently attempting to escape back across the river. Reno’s withdrawal was marked by chaos and fatalities. Gall and the other Sioux capitalized on their adversaries’ panic and pursued them relentlessly, pulling men from their horses to dismember them or shooting them in the back as they fled toward the river. At least 32 Americans perished before the remaining members of Reno’s forces managed to scramble to safety up the hills on the opposite side of the river.
Gall was keen to continue the pursuit, but the frightened cries of his fellow Sioux halted them. A second American contingent was gearing up to launch an attack from the south. Should they penetrate the village, they would capture the women and children, leading to dire consequences. According to Gall, the subsequent events unfolded quite differently than commonly believed.
Gall hurried north with three fellow warriors to intercept Custer’s advance. Here, Gall’s narrative diverges from those of most other native warriors. He asserts that he led a small reconnaissance team along the bluffs on the eastern bank of the river to monitor Custer’s approach to the village. In Gall’s recounting of the events, he and his scouts halted on a hill approximately 600 yards from Custer’s forces, observing them and assessing their next actions.
One officer rode ahead of the others, surveying the route with his binoculars. Custer had shortened his renowned long golden hair for this engagement, which explained why Gall did not recognize the man referred to by the Sioux as the Long Hair. It was only later that he understood who the individual must have been. No one was aware, Gall later stated when questioned if anyone recognized Custer on that battlefield.
No one could distinguish him from anyone else and we could not identify him from any other individual. In the narrative presented by Gall, Custer exhibited hesitation upon observing the village and chose to pause in order to await the arrival of the remainder of his command before proceeding. Gall interpreted this as the moment when Custer recognized that he had overestimated his capabilities. According to Gall, it was at this juncture that the Native Americans initiated the attack, charging at him as he traversed the bluffs approximately three-quarters of a mile from the river.
The chief asserted that it was Gall and his warriors who took the initiative that day rather than Custer. Custer’s final confrontation was characterized not as a failed offensive, but rather as a failed defensive effort. Other Sioux warriors, including Lazy White Bull, indicated that Custer’s assault commenced almost immediately following the retreat of Reno’s forces. Gall speculated that his belief regarding Custer’s failure to reach the river stemmed from the fact that the Cheyenne had successfully repelled the Americans by the time he arrived.
Given the timeline, it is improbable that Gall could have conducted reconnaissance on Custer prior to his attack. It is likely that Gall arrived to witness Custer’s men already in retreat up the hills on the eastern bank of the river, which he misinterpreted as the commencement of the battle. The withdrawal was not executed in an organized manner. The numerous American bodies discovered post-battle illustrate a narrative of a disordered retreat.
With soldiers falling every few meters, the Americans fought with desperation, utilizing all available resources. Their Springfield carbines were prone to jamming under severe conditions, and Gall observed many soldiers discarding their jammed rifles in favor of their revolvers. Gall asserted that numerous soldiers ran out of ammunition during the conflict and were swiftly overtaken by warriors like himself. Armed only with hatchets, the Native Americans exerted every effort to instigate disorder within the American ranks.
By employing blankets and loud shouts, they spooked loose horses into the American formations, causing the soldiers’ mounts to bolt in fear. The stampede of horses instilled terror in the Americans and deprived them of their sole opportunity for escape. It was a massacre. We took no prisoners, Gall confessed.
Our hearts were hardened, and we slaughtered them all mercilessly. The same fate would soon befall Custer. As stated by Gall, the reality of the events was not what people had been led to believe. Custer’s remaining soldiers were driven back towards the summit of the bluffs where they divided into at least two factions.
What was left of Companies C, E, and F stayed with Custer and his brother Tom as they retreated towards the peak now known as Custer Hill. Gall did not witness Custer’s final moments. Unlike many other warriors from that day, he never claimed to have been the one to kill the notorious Long Hair. Additionally, in contrast to other narratives, Gall was convinced that Custer’s group was not the last to stand.
He stated that white native warriors chased Custer’s men up the hill. Another group of warriors had caught up with them and swiftly surrounded them at the top of Custer Hill, where they were cut down within minutes. According to Gall, the true last stand occurred to the southeast of Custer Hill, where a second group led by Custer’s brother-in-law, Lieutenant James Calhoun, along with his L Company and the Irish Captain Miles Keogh with his I Company, had proceeded after separating from Custer. Gall maintained that these men were indeed the last ones standing.
They never faltered, but retreated step by step all the way up the hill. Upon realizing they were encircled, Calhoun’s men dismounted and fought on foot until the last man. Captain Keogh and the remaining members of his company seemingly attempted to reunite with Custer by traversing Battle Ridge between the two hills. Keogh was shot off his horse during the journey, and his men were soon overwhelmed.
The bodies of his I Company were discovered piled together nearby, having fought side by side until the very end. They fought valiantly, Gall later remarked, regarding Custer’s men. But it did not save them. The Custer engagement lasted less than an hour.
Yet the battle itself was far from concluded. Gall directed his horse southward to finish off Reno and avenge his slain family. Following their initial assault, Reno’s men had retreated to a hill located to the southeast. They waited there for reinforcements from Captain Benteen and the pack train, which arrived at approximately 4:00 p.
m. With the combined strength of the seven remaining companies of the Seventh Cavalry, they commenced their march towards Custer’s last known location. However, Gall confirmed that Custer’s men had already perished by the time Reno and Benteen set out. After eliminating Custer, the Sioux and Cheyenne regrouped to confront Reno.
They ascended the bluffs and discovered the Americans advancing towards them. Upon noticing the throng of adversaries shouting and firing in their direction, the Americans opted to retreat back to their hill and prepare for a defensive engagement. With over 400 men, Reno and Benteen’s forces formed a defensive perimeter on Reno Hill. For several hours, the Native Americans charged and harassed the American troops.
Yet, they were unable to penetrate their defenses before nightfall. Gall and Crazy Horse instructed the warriors to refrain from continuing their assaults throughout the night, as this would only result in casualties. They would keep the Americans alert with sniper fire while the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors took the opportunity to rest. Time would work in their favor.
They informed the warriors that the Americans would eventually succumb to their thirst, becoming desperate for water. Indeed, the water situation on Reno Hill was critical. The summer heat and the dehydration of the injured men rapidly depleted the American water supplies, leaving them completely dry by the morning of June 26. The following morning, Gall stationed snipers on the hills across the Little Bighorn to target the American water retrieval parties attempting to collect water from the nearby ravine.
Eventually, the Americans deployed their own marksmen to counter Gall’s snipers and secure a safe passage, an achievement that earned several men Medals of Honor. Later that afternoon on June 26, Sioux scouts detected dust clouds raised by an approaching American contingent.