Alva Review-Courier -

After decades had passed, Indian accounts of the Little Bighorn battle began to be accepted when they added to or confirmed specific events that had been previously described by reputable sources. However early eastern newspaper reports of the Little Bighorn massacre had been written in considerable haste before many hard facts had been established.

Custer was a graduate of West Point, and had been a rock star of Union cavalry forces during the Civil War. His boldness and timely actions had been key to numerous Union victories. In fact, the claim could be made that at a critical time in the Battle of Gettysburg, he virtually saved the United States by turning Jeb Stuart’s cavalry, a much larger force. And due to numerous other outstanding military successes, he rose in the ranks to the level of brevet Brigadier General at the unheard of age of 23.

And yet his well-equipped force at Little Bighorn had been completely destroyed by an unorganized enemy that was largely armed with stone aged weapons and a smattering of outdated firearms. Further, the opposing forces had been led by individuals who had received no formal military education or training. To the general public, the story was not just unbelievable, it bordered on the fantastic. And the newspaper reading public wanted answers as to how it happened NOW!

When facts of the little Bighorn battle were not yet available, pressured reporters of the time simply made them up. And outrageous fabrications sell more papers than ordinary exaggerations. This was especially true when newspapers reported the very harsh treatment given captives, particularly since most bodies of fallen troopers had been mutilated to the extent that their’ bodies could not be identified.

Later during the recovery or reburial of white human remains, white marble markers were placed where each body was found. Custer’s body was identified, and temporarily buried on site at the Little Bighorn. Later it was removed and reinterred at West Point with full military honors.

Some of the bodies were found grouped in bunches, and the largest concentration of bodies was discovered at “Last Stand Hill.” However, other individuals were found alone and isolated from the rest. By using modern forensic science methods, the locations of bodies and material artifacts can speak with considerable accuracy as to what had occurred at various places.

Perhaps ten years ago, I saw a documentary about the Little Bighorn that had been made after a prairie fire had burned much of the battle site in 1983. By using metal detectors and meticulous excavation techniques, archaeologists located all sorts of artifacts and relics exposed by the fire such as shell casings, bridles, spurs, pistols, spent bullets, and human and animal bones. In other words, the investigators treated the battle site much like a modern crime scene investigation.

When a brass cartridge is fired in a gun, it leaves an imprint on the back of the shell casing that can be scanned by a microscope and used tor identifying the specific weapon from which it came. Because the vast majority of troopers used the standard issue 1873 Springfield “trapdoor” single shot carbine that had superior range and stopping power, and the 1873 single action Colt revolver, investigators can be fairly certain where individual troopers had been situated during the fighting.

Some Indian warriors had firearms, and their arms varied considerably in caliber and type of weapon. And much to the troopers’ unpleasant surprise, some warriors even had repeating rifles that gave their users a much greater short-to-mid range capability in firepower.

By identifying individual firing pin markings on spent shell casings and plotting their locations on maps, investigators could trace the movements of individual troopers and Indians (armed with guns) across the battlefield. Further, the battlefield detectives were even able to tell with reasonable certainty, when a trooper might have discarded his weapon due to being wounded or from related battlefield issues.

And finally, investigators could likely tell when an Indian combatant had picked up a fallen trooper’s weapon, and continued to pursue and fire the weapon in other locations, because the requisite pattern of fallen shell casings would be significantly different. Afterwards the trail of spent shell casings was color coded and flagged on the battlefield for each and every gun identified as being used in the battle. Then they were individually plotted (in a unique color) on a map, alongside the trail of casings for every other gun.

After the trails of spent casings for all guns had been plotted on a map, theories were developed as to what was happening at particular locations at specific times. For example, when a line of spent casings were separated in piles approximately five yards apart, it was theorized that the troopers had dismounted in good order, and were following standard defensive cavalry tactics. At this particular time and location, troopers were probably firing at a distant enemy where the trooper’s Springfield rifle had its superior range advantage.

But when various shell casing piles began to mingle and bunch up, it was apparent that organized resistance was breaking down as troopers began to huddle together for moral and mutual support. It was also apparent from unspent cartridges with slight markings on the sides, that some of the cartridges had become jammed in gun breeches. This could be disastrous for a trooper when facing threatening combat conditions.

(Next time, black powder issues and Gatling guns.)