On the morning of June 25, 1876, the great Sioux encampment along the Little Bighorn River was calm. The village stretched more than two and a half miles along the valley, home to thousands of people from several tribal bands. Rumors had circulated that Long Hair—George Armstrong Custer—was pursuing the camp, but according to Crow King, none of the Sioux anticipated an immediate battle. Daily life continued without alarm.
Iron Hawk was eating his first meal of the day, having overslept. Red Horse was digging turnips with four women some distance from camp. Rain in the Face was attending a feast in a young man’s lodge. But Sioux scouts had been watching the soldiers since early morning as they crossed the divide.
Flying Hawk remembered people noticing dust clouds in the distance. A tribal chief spotted a flag on a pole atop a nearby hill. Suddenly, a scout galloped into camp shouting warnings of approaching white soldiers. A second scout arrived moments later with crucial intelligence: the army had split into two groups, with one circling to attack from another direction.
The order to move the camp was issued immediately. The first attack targeted the Hunkpapa section of the encampment, which occupied the highest position along the river. Flying Hawk watched soldiers form a long line and fire directly into the lodges, hitting women and children. Crow King specified the firing began from approximately four hundred yards away.
The response was swift but organized. Women grabbed their children’s hands, carried the smallest ones, and scattered in all directions. Children ran up from the river where they had been bathing. Many sought shelter in the gullies along the river.
Meanwhile, the men prepared for battle. Crow King explained their initial strategy: “We retreated slowly at first to give our women and children time to escape while others returned for horses. ” Iron Hawk managed to throw a rope around only one horse as the others fled in panic. Gaul emphasized the crucial role of women and children who helped catch horses for the warriors.
Rain in the Face rushed to his lodge for his rifle, bow, arrows, and the stone war axe he typically carried. As he prepared to confront Reno, he noticed another group of soldiers appearing almost directly opposite, at the edge of a long cliff across the river. All mounted warriors immediately redirected toward the downstream ford. Around Rain in the Face were Oglala, Miniconjou, Cheyenne, and some Hunkpapa warriors, most of them very young men.
Red Horse remembered that the soldiers attacked so quickly there was no time for counsel. As sufficient warriors assembled, the counterattack began. Flying Hawk identified Kicking Bear and Crazy Horse as leading the assault. Iron Hawk described warriors charging toward the soldiers, with many Hunkpapa gathering in the bushes and woods near where the soldiers had stopped and dismounted.
Red Horse recounted how all the Sioux simultaneously attacked, driving the soldiers in disarray across the Little Bighorn River. Many soldiers drowned in the swift current. The remaining troops were forced to halt on a hill, surrounded by Sioux warriors. Gaul confirmed that once mounted, they pushed Reno back into the woods.
“Sioux attacked Reno. Cheyenne fought against Custer and everything became confused,” he noted. After pushing back the first attack, Crow King concluded, “We Sioux warriors returned to camp. ”
The respite proved short-lived.
As Crow King recalled, a second attack by white soldiers appeared. They couldn’t immediately identify the commander, but believed it was Custer’s force. These soldiers began firing from nearly a mile away. By this time, the Sioux had fully mobilized.
Crow King estimated approximately eighty warriors in his immediate band, but the total number was far more substantial. “All Sioux from everywhere were present, warriors as numerous as leaves. ” Their encampment housed thousands from various tribal bands. The tactical situation now favored the Sioux.
Reno’s force was contained on its defensive hill, surrounded and unable to support Custer. Red Horse described the terrain between Reno’s hill and Custer’s position as predominantly flat, interrupted only by a small creek. The Sioux expected Reno to attack them from behind as they engaged the new threat, but when this didn’t happen, they surmised his troops had exhausted their ammunition. Flying Hawk provided crucial information about Custer’s positioning: he was located farther north than Reno’s men, planning to attack the lower end of the village.
After pushing back Reno’s force, all Native Americans now had horses, guns, bows, arrows, and war axes. They charged the soldiers on the hilltop from the east and north, keeping Reno pinned down while other warriors moved to intercept Custer. Iron Hawk’s testimony revealed how the warriors rapidly repositioned. “After that, everyone turned downstream, shouting, ‘It’s a good day to die.
‘ The soldiers were advancing from the other end of the village, though none of us knew their numbers. ” Warriors gathered strategically on the east side of the river at the foot of a ravine leading up to the hill where the second group of soldiers was positioned. Rain in the Face described the developing encirclement. The leading warriors had nearly surrounded the white troops, and more warriors were crossing the river continuously.
He observed that the soldiers had dismounted and were firing into the camp from the top of the cliff. Crow King noted that Sitting Bull didn’t directly participate in the fighting but provided tactical direction. This strategic leadership helped coordinate the Sioux response to the dual threats. “The Sioux turned to face the second group of soldiers,” Crow King detailed.
“Most warriors concentrated in front of the soldiers and charged simultaneously while others circled around to flank and surround the cavalry. ”
The chiefs coordinated the warriors with the battle cry “Hi yay! ” which Crow King explained was a command instructing all warriors to observe and follow the chief’s actions. This simple but effective command system enabled large numbers of warriors to act in concert despite the chaos of battle.
When the soldiers were surrounded on two sides with the river on the third, the attack order was given. According to Gaul, after defeating and forcing Reno to retreat, all Sioux forces turned toward Custer and fought until his complete annihilation. A Reno officer later confirmed that after being pushed back onto the hill, there was more than an hour without engagement—likely the time when the Native Americans concentrated their forces against Custer. Gaul stated Custer never reached the river but was stopped about half a mile up a gulch now called Reno Creek.
The tactical situation deteriorated rapidly for Custer’s forces. What followed was a complex multi-phase engagement. Red Horse noted that Custer’s soldiers established five different defensive lines as they attempted to maintain their position. Iron Hawk witnessed the soldiers’ increasingly desperate situation.
“I saw soldiers beginning to run down the hill toward us. Most were on foot, perhaps too terrified to know what they were doing. They waved their arms as if running quickly, but were actually walking. Some fired their guns into the air.
” The Sioux response was immediate and overwhelming. All Sioux shouted “Hoka! ” and charged forward, riding their horses around the soldiers in the twilight. Gaul provided insight into the equipment failures that plagued the soldiers.
The soldiers’ rifles jammed with empty cartridges, forcing them to discard their rifles and fight with pistols. The Sioux employed sophisticated tactics targeting the soldiers’ mobility. Warriors concentrated fire on the horses while others fought. When the horseholders were killed, warriors used blankets and loud yells to panic the horse herd, preventing soldiers from escaping.
Some soldiers mounted desperate attempts to escape. Rain in the Face observed soldiers fleeing along the hillside toward Reno’s position, but Sioux warriors pursued them “like hundreds of blackbirds chasing an eagle. ” One soldier tried to escape eastward, but Crazy Horse spotted him, leaped on a horse, and captured him half a mile from where the others lay dead. Despite their hopeless situation, the cavalry fought with determination.
Crow King acknowledged, “They maintained their formation and fought courageously to the last man. ” Gaul noted that Keogh’s and Calhoun’s companies dismounted and fought as infantry, never faltering, retreating step by step until they were driven up the hillside and all were killed. Thirty-eight bodies from Keogh’s men were found piled together. The battle’s intensity produced significant casualties on both sides.
Red Horse provided rare specific numbers regarding Sioux losses: 36 killed and 160 wounded. Crow King estimated about 30 to 50 Native Americans killed, with many wounded who died later. Flying Hawk described the battle’s climactic moments. When the Sioux surrounded them, the battle ended within an hour.
Thick dust made clear vision impossible, but Native Americans rode horses around the soldiers, shouting and shooting until all were dead. Crow King stated simply, “Not more than half an hour after Long Hair attacked, he and all his soldiers were dead. ”
The immediate aftermath saw systematic collection of weapons and supplies. Flying Hawk recounted how the Sioux took the soldiers’ rings, money, watches, clothing, and all rifles and pistols, capturing 700 firearms.
Rain in the Face addressed rumors that he had killed the commander or cut out the heart of Custer’s brother, Tom Custer. “Many lies have been told about me,” he said. “During that battle, the excitement was so great that we could barely recognize even our closest friends. ”
After Custer’s defeat, the warriors returned to deal with Reno’s besieged force.
They fired on this group until sunset and guarded them throughout the night. The siege continued until a Sioux scout reported infantry soldiers approaching. The warriors became fearful and quickly withdrew. This fear of infantry reinforcements saved Reno’s remaining forces.
Crow King offered a candid tactical assessment: if Reno had held his position until Custer arrived and then fought as Custer did, they might have defeated the Native Americans. Such coordination would have forced the Sioux to divide their forces to protect women and children. Red Horse echoed this analysis: “If the soldiers had not divided their forces, they would have inflicted more casualties on the Sioux. ”
Voices of restraint emerged from Sioux leadership.
A chief from the Uncpapa called for an end to firing on Reno’s group, saying they had been punished enough. Sitting Bull himself ordered a ceasefire, stating that these soldiers were only following orders. The battle carried deeply personal meaning. Gaul revealed that when Reno initially attacked, he killed two of his wives and three of his children.
“And afterward, I fought with an axe. ” Crow King reported personal tragedy: “I lost two brothers in the battle. ”
Both Crow King and Low Dog expressed a nuanced view of responsibility. They didn’t feel blameworthy for the battle or its outcome.
It was war. They were attacked. Custer tried to kill them, and they killed him. Crow King expressed remarkable respect for his adversaries, noting great admiration for the courage of Custer and his soldiers.
He reflected that the battle impressed upon the Native Americans the superiority of the white men and that continuing to fight them would lead to the destruction of Native Americans. Rain in the Face reflected on the larger meaning: “I fought for my people and my country. When conquered, I remained silent as a warrior should. ” His observation that the spirit of Rain in the Face left him when he laid down his weapons before the United States reveals the profound psychological impact of the Sioux’s eventual surrender and confinement to reservations.
The victory at Little Bighorn, while complete, proved to be the beginning of increased military pressure rather than a turning point in the larger conflict. These authentic voices from the Greasy Grass preserve essential perspectives often missing from American history, recasting the battle not as a massacre but as a strategic military victory where coordinated native tactics overwhelmed a divided cavalry.