Pride is a terrible thing for a leader! There is no doubt, based on the accounts of the Civil War, that GA Custer was a courageous man! He was boastful and vain and one gets the feeling that he needed the world to remember him as a courageous man. Possibly, his courage faltered there at the end. It is interesting that the Indian expresses appreciation for the courage of his enemy, while at the same time, showing no compassion or mercy. There is no doubt the Army was poorly led at the Little Big Horn. Captain Reno seemed to fight a pretty good static battle, but even then, he was doomed unless other forces engaged. There is an account of a scout or a seargeant using a civilian's Sharps rifle to still a nest of snipers - if that is an accurate term - who were bringing fire onto Reno's hill. Once again, a rifleman can cause the course of a battle to change. Also, the widely held belief that many of the soldier's Springfield rifles were rendered inoperable through copper cartridges peeling off, has been pretty much dispelled.
Dan C
