Custer’s troops find shelter on June 24…

Custer’s troops find shelter on June 24 on an overlook called Crow’s Nest, around fourteen miles from Little Big Horn River, where they spot a herd of ponies.

This overlook sees onto one of the largest communities of Plains natives, which had been called together by Hunkpapa Lakota religious leader Sitting Bull.

The group consists of eighteen hundred warriors, among them notable warriors Crazy Horse and Gall.

Custer moves forward under the incorrect information given by agents that suggested that the region has just over eight hundred warriors, roughly the same size as the 7th Cavalry.

Custer and the men under his command take up positions on a hill near the Native encampment known as Battle Ridge.

General Crook, who had been camped a small distance away, tries to drive off the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, but fails to take advantage of his position because his troops are running low on ammunition.

Under the leadership of Crazy Horse, the Native warriors decimate Custer’s soldiers, forcing a small remnant of his command to defend themselves at a spot now known as Last Stand Hill.

In the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer and his men are massacred by the combined Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho force in what has become known as one of the worst defeats in American military history.

Nearly two hundred and seventy soldiers are killed, including Custer, who had split his forces just prior to the battle.

His immediate command of five cavalry companies is annihilated without any survivors.