Shattering the Myth: Signposts on Custer's Road to Disaster by Kevin M. Sullivan

Years of frustration were boiling over in the hearts and minds of the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. This day would see leaders such as the famed Crazy Horse, Gall, Rain-In-The-Face, and others overwhelming and annihi- lating the elite Seventh Cavalry, and they would do so with a speed and determination that would make any West Point instructor proud.

As the troopers gave ground under pressure, some groups proved to be more orderly than others. However, when panic ensued, disintegration followed by death came very quickly. After Lieutenant Calhoun's position was overrun, the rem- nants fled northward into Captain Keogh's Company I. But a mounted attack by Crazy Horse's warriors brought des- truction on most of these as well. Soon all of the groups were killed, leaving only Custer's huddled mass to deal with.

The smoke and dust of battle, the screams of the wounded, and the sound of gunfire and eagle-bone whistles filled the air. As the fight continued to the spot known today as Last Stand Hill, the officers and men shot their horses, instantly transforming the animals into protective breastworks. The hostiles, firing various weapons and hurling arrows with metal heads would engulf the boy-general and all those who looked to him for their deliverance. But today, there would be no de- iverance, and an unlikely epitaph was about to be written.