Last week, from June 25 to 27, marked the 150th anniversary of General George Custer鈥檚 disastrous defeat in a defining battle of American history in 1876. The silence around this commemoration resounded loudly. These days, it feels like every word about that moment is fraught. Too many think that history is about breast-beating or finger-pointing, while others reduce it to mindless cheerleading.听 Both are wrong 鈥� and we all missed an important opportunity to learn more about the chaos of that moment, about America鈥檚 strengths and flaws and about history鈥檚 multi-dimensionality.

Today, for Americans and Jews, the Battle of Little Big Horn has relevance and resonance. Living in a society still shaped by Christian sensibilities, Americans tend to read history through the Early Christian doctrine of Original Sin. Many instinctively see America as defined by its two original sins 鈥� the enslavement of Africans and the brutalization of the natives. That wiring makes it easy to view the world through that oh-so-popular 鈥� and tedious 鈥� oppressed/oppressor lens. Such oversimplifications reduce the complex dynamics of the 1930s and 1940s, whereby the Arab world tried to annihilate the Jews, into saying, 鈥淥f course, Israel has an 鈥榦riginal sin鈥� too 鈥� displacing the Palestinians.鈥�

Especially as we approach America鈥檚 250th 鈥� and we easily generate lists of 鈥�250 Reasons to Thank America” 鈥� Little Big Horn鈥檚 150th should stretch us to approach history more maturely. Better to wield magnifying glasses, to peer closely and understand the event, instead of always, mindlessly, bringing down the hammer, without acknowledging that sensibilities develop, perspectives shift, and most human beings are neither angels nor devils but simply individuals, living history, trying to get by.

I grew up in simpler 鈥� and admittedly more callous 鈥� times. We learned that 鈥渢he Indians鈥� 鈥渕assacred鈥� General Custer and his troops. Custer to us was a hero, romantic, impulsive, brave 鈥� with flowing golden hair, a Civil War demi-god. I even had a General Custer action figure.

A Brigadier General by 23, George Armstrong Custer led the Michigan Brigade鈥檚 charge at Gettysburg, urging, 鈥淐ome on you Wolverines!鈥� He was the kind of guy who didn鈥檛 wait for the ever-cautious General George McClellan鈥檚 engineers to measure how deep the Chickahominy River was. Defying enemy fire, Custer charged into the water on horseback, hit midpoint, turned and yelled, 鈥淢cClellan, that鈥檚 how deep it is, General!鈥�

Today, honoring Custer鈥檚 contributions to freeing slaves and reuniting the Union in the 1860s doesn鈥檛 preclude struggling about how he and the American government hunted down Native Americans in the 1870s. There鈥檚 value in understanding what happened, and in assessing Custer as a leader.

Contrary to the legend his widow Elizabeth Bacon 鈥淟ibby鈥� Custer tended for 57 years until her death in 1933, most historians now view Custer鈥檚 catastrophe as self-inflicted. With his bigoted dismissal of his foes, and his egotistical quest for glory, he failed to take basic precautions.

For decades, such thoughts were heresy. Americans believed that Custer鈥檚 soldiers had fought courageously, rigorously, never breaking ranks.

By 1970, the myth was shattering. With America mired in Vietnam and rebels questioning America鈥檚 traditional, self-justifying, historical spin, Dee Brown published “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” While detailing the broken treaties and brutal military campaigns Native Americans endured, Brown shifted perspectives,听 writing about 鈥淪itting Bull and the War for Black Hills.鈥� Brown exposed Custer鈥檚 nickname, 鈥淪quaw Killer,鈥� following his 1868 massacre killing women and children at Washita, a Cheyenne village. While resetting the moral dynamics, Brown framed Custer鈥檚 losing battle as a Native fight for self-defense, mounted courageously.

Thirteen years later, an August, 1983 wildfire consumed much of the thick brush that had grown in Little Bighorn National Monument, in southeastern Montana. Archaeologists led by Dr. Douglas Scott and Dr. Richard Fox started digging.

As Scott wrote in 2025 in the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, the evidence confirmed much of the 鈥淣ative American oral tradition鈥� summarized in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” Using metal detectors, forensic technology and GPS mapping of each spent shell-casing found, researchers discovered 鈥渢hat Lakota and Cheyenne warriors used 47 different firearm types to completely outgun the U.S. 7th Cavalry.鈥� The battle debris strewn far and wide suggests what Fox calls 鈥渢actical panic,鈥� not a disciplined 鈥淟ast Stand.鈥� 鈥淐uster鈥檚 command,鈥� Scott concluded, 鈥渨as outnumbered, outgunned and simply outfought by the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors who were defending their way of life.鈥�

Custer boasted: 鈥淭here are not enough Indians in the world to defeat the 7th Cavalry.鈥� Unaware of at least 1,800 Native warriors waiting in ambush, Custer weakened his own forces by dividing them into thirds.

Letters collected by the Shapell Manuscript Foundation also show that Custer鈥檚 soldiers 鈥� distanced from their command, overwhelmingly poor 鈥�听 justifiably feared their enemy, as did many officers. On April 20, 1876, William Losee of Company F, 7th Cavalry, ended his letter to 鈥淔ather and Mother,鈥� admitting 鈥渕y Eyes are dim with tears[.]听 So good Bye all and a Kiss for all鈥︹��

On June 21st, Second Lieutenant William Van Wyck Reily, a 23-year-old officer, wrote to 鈥淢y own darling Ma,鈥� from the Yellowstone River in Montana, after two weeks of scouting the area. 鈥淲e start tomorrow, and expect to have a fight inside of four days 鈥︹�� he wrote. 鈥淢uch love to all. We have pretty hard times, but I will assure you that I am satisfied, and am not complaining. I may be able to go to the Centennial without asking, if so expect me in September some time, if I live through this campaign.鈥�

Within days, Losee, Reily, and Custer were among the 268 soldiers, officers and civilians killed. Casualties included two of Custer鈥檚 younger brothers, his brother-in-law and his 18-year-old nephew. Most were stripped naked, scalped, with hands, fingers and legs slashed or dismembered. War clubs shattered heads and faces; arrows riddled most bodies.听 The warriors鈥� ritualized killings infuriated Americans. That anger turned the Natives鈥� victory into an ultimate defeat, as America鈥檚 military flooded tribal areas and retaliated severely.

Historians are neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys. We鈥檙e analysts not priests, dedicated to explaining not moralizing. Custer鈥檚 battle today is a still-relevant warning to all armies against underestimating enemies. It highlights the tragic clash between Natives defending their homeland and soldiers equally convinced that their side was on the right side of history. And it shows how thorough research rather than partisan posturing can often bring us closer to the truth, in all its complexity and moral messiness.

For the author’s podcast on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, click .

Gil Troy, an American presidential historian and Senior Fellow at the JPPI, the Global Thinktank of the 91传媒 People, is the host of sponsored by the Shapell Manuscript Foundation. He is the author of 18 books, including his two latest: 鈥�250 Reasons to Thank America鈥� with David Suissa 鈥� and, with the JJPI, “The Essential Guide to the U.S-Israel Partnership, the 250th Anniversary Edition.”