WHAT’S THE STORY?
HE is one of the greatest American heroes, famous for his last stand at the battle of the Little Big Horn, but 150 years ago today, General George Armstrong Custer led his 7th Cavalry into the Battle of the Washita River and caused many Americans then and since to question whether the hero had a serious blot on his reputation.
For innocent women and children of the Cheyenne tribe were killed when Custer’s soldiers let loose their powerful armoury on a village full of Native Americans (please note any use of the word Indians below is taken from contemporary accounts).
At the time the victory was mostly seen as a great victory that enhanced Custer’s reputation, but questions soon began to be asked about the killing of innocents and they continue to be asked.
WHAT CAUSED THE BATTLE?
THE USA wanted the Southern Cheyenne tribe to move from their heartland to a reservation in Oklahoma. Cheyenne braves rebelled and carried out raids on incomers’ settlements, with reports of men killed, women being raped and children carried off.
Their chief, Black Kettle, went to Fort Cobb to explain what was going on: “When lately north of the Arkansas (river), some young Cheyennes were fired upon and then the fight began.
“I have always done my best to keep my young men quiet, but some will not listen, and since the fighting began I have not been able to keep them all at home. But we all want peace, and I would be glad to move all my people down this way; I could then keep them all quietly near camp.
“My camp is now on the Washita, 40 miles east of the Antelope Hills, and I have there about 180 lodges. I speak only for my own people; I cannot speak nor control the Cheyenne north of the Arkansas.”
The US Army under General Phil Sheridan was determined to clamp down on the Cheyennes and to force them to move to the reservation.
Sheridan gave the order for “total war” and ordered his troops “to destroy villages and ponies, to kill or hang all warriors, and to bring back all woman and children survivors”. He specifically warned that he wanted “all segments of Indian society to experience the horrors of war as fully as the warriors”.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DAY?
ON November 27, 1868, Custer, then a Lieutenant Colonel, and his 7th Cavalry and support units – about 550 men, all heavily armed – approached the Cheyenne village on the Washita River in Oklahoma state.
Custer wanted the element of surprise and sent out no scouts. Instead he formed his men into four lines and charged into the village, ignoring a white flag flying above it.
The killing was indiscriminate, and Chief Black Kettle and his wife were both shot in the back and killed while fleeing on their ponies. Some braves managed to fight back and 21 troopers were killed.
HOW MANY DIED?
THIS is the first controversy Custer himself wrote: “The Indians admit a loss of 140 killed, besides a heavy loss of wounded. This, with the Indian prisoners we have in our possession, makes the entire loss of the Indian in killed, wounded, and missing not far from 300.”
The Cheyenne reported less than 20 men dead but a similar number of women and children had been killed.
WHAT DID CUSTER SAY ABOUT THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN?
“INDIANS contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger.
For this reason I decided to locate our military camp as close as convenient to Chief Black Kettle’s Cheyenne village, knowing that the close proximity of their women and children... would operate as a powerful argument in favour of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed.”
BATTLE OR MASSACRE?
THE civil servants of the Indian Bureau had no doubt – they called it a “massacre of innocent Indians” and “cold-blooded butchery”.
A New York newspaper reported probably the most devastating indictment: "Col. Wynkoop, agent for the Cheyenne and Arapahos Indians, has published his letter of resignation. He regards Gen. Custer’s late fight as simply a massacre, and says that Black Kettle and his band, friendly Indians, were, when attacked, on their way to their reservation.”
To this day the Cheyenne people campaign for the Battle to be renamed the Massacre of Washita River.
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