What best describes the outcome of the Battle of the Little Bighorn?

Answer 1

The Battle of the Little Bighorn marked the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars. Although the battle ended in an overwhelming native victory, the vast military technological superiority of the United States Army eventually turned the Native American insurgencies into their favor. There are multiple perspectives on the outcome of how the battle ended:

1. Perspective of the US:

Colonel George Custer led around 640 troops to battle that day against between 2,000 to 5,000 Native warriors. Custer was an extremely arrogant commander - one author described him as a "headstrong nincompoop" - who refused to take the advise of his fellow officers and was a glory seeker. He thought the best thing he could do was engage the Natives in one climactic battle. When Native spies reported sighting a large Sioux settlement Custer mobilized his force. Upon entering the battlefield he split his 640 men int o three companies. He led the first, obviously hoping to be accredited to appear to be leading his victorious glorious soldiers into battle. After dividing his small force into even smaller units spread out across the hills, the Natives overwhelmed Custer's position first and he and about 250 troops of his company were wiped out in one massive charge. The other two companies sustained heavy casualties but held out longer. Rather than calling a retreat, in the disarray the surviving soldiers fled the battle in mass panic. Public reaction to the situation was shocked, but the losses a Little Bighorn were only a minor setback for the US Military who would eventually show to the Natives during the end of the war that sheer numbers weren't enough to turn the tide.

Perspective 2: The Natives

the Natives did not see this as a victory. Rather, they saw it as an enormous loss of life for no reason. They didn't see it as a battle but oddly a massacre. The very night after the battle, the Sioux and Cheyenne packed their belongings and moved their settlement away from Little Bighorn in fear of an American counterattack. By the time General Terry arrived to investigate the loss of the 7th Cavalry, all he found were dead soldiers. The Natives had fled. A fact suppressed for many years was that Custer evidently committed suicide when the situation became hopeless, as he died of a bullet wound to the temple, while an arrow had been pushed into his penis (almost certainly after death). By the time word from the battle reached other Native tribes it was too late to rally hope. The US soon pushed harder and more ruthlessly to achieve its Manifest Destiny.
The Native American won a decisive victory.

Answer 2

The Natives won a decisive victory.

Answer 3

Which of the following best describe the impact of the battle at little big Horn?