What Are The Reasons Behind Colonel Sibley's Decisions

On June 25, 1876, The Battle of Little Bighorn took place near the Black Hills in Montana. This was one of the most controversial battles of the 20th century and the line between good guys and bad guys was grey at best. Gen. George Armstrong Custer (reduced to LTC after the civil war) had 366 men of the 7thU.S. Cavalry under his command that day. Sitting Bull (A Medicine Man) led 2000 braves of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes (Klos, 2013). At the conclusion of the battle, the stories of the Indians savagery were used to demonize their culture and there were no survivors from the 7thcavalry to tell what really happened.

Following the civil war the Army was downsizing. Custer was a captain in the regular army. In July 1866 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel made second in command of the 7th Calvary at Fort Riley Kansas. As the settlers, along with the railroad, were pushing west, there were conflicts with Indians. Custer’s mission was to tract down these roving Indian, war parties. This was a new type of war for Custer. It was guerrilla warfare. Custer tried to track down the Indians as if they were the confederates. He would camp on hill tops so he could see all around him. At night, his men would build big fires. The Indians would see this and flee. This lack of success drastically brought the morale down in Custer and his men. Before long, a group of 15 men deserted, Custer ordered them to be tracked down and shot. He then went on a forced march with his men just so he could spend a day with his wife regardless of the repercussions to his career. Major General Hancock gave a court martial to Custer for the execution of his men without trial. Custer was suspended in pay for one year.v

At Ft. Ridgely, anger and fear festered after the first attack on the fort as to when reinforcements would come. This also held true for the town of New Ulm which was scrambling to defend itself under the leadership of Colonel Flandrau. While these towns were being attacked, Sibley had gathered an army of 1,340 troops, but still complained about the lack of supplies and training his men had. As the book aptly put it, however, “…neither were the defenders of New Ulm and Fort Ridgley, and they fought with determination, improvised when necessary, and made do without what they could not get and still they bested superior numbers of Indians” (177-178). Sibley’s delays in advancing his troops and attacking the Indians caused heavy responses from the people of Minnesota. Many called for

The leaders had many moments to shine in this battle. The “commanders” of the Patriot militia were James Johnston,

In the twenty-seven day excursion to Savannah, Sherman's March engaged in very few battles. Even though many building were burned in the towns that Sherman's army passed, the special foraging parties would due the most damage. Before leaving Atlanta, Sherman or “Uncle Billy” as his men would call him, had wrote “Special Field Order No.120,” it outlined the rules for the foraging parties to abide by. The orders were very specific, as to how much food could be taken, what structures could be burned, and etiquette with the civilian population, there was a single sentence that the foragers felt gave them opportunity. That was: “The Army will forage liberally on the country during the march.” Many soldiers believed Sherman issued the order with the intent of being the reverse.

As a colonel, Davis gained fame and great respect from his men. After Captain W.P Rodgers refused stay in Saltillo as Davis commanded, he had a talk with him instead of demoting or court martialing the young captain.6 Davis also paid a farmer for the corn his men had taken from the farmer’s land stating: “Private rights must and should be respected”. 7

The soldiers told the Sioux that as long as they gave up some of their land they would give them a peace treaty.The Sioux no longer wanted to fight so they agreed and gave up some of their land to the government.

In 1874 the US Army sent a force under Colonel Custer into South Dakota. When gold was discovered in the area, the federal government declared that all Sioux Indians not in reservations would have to be subjugated by Custer’s troops. Many Sioux refused to cooperate, and Custer began to attack. At the battle of Little Bighorn, in June 1876, Custer split his troops, and a larger force of Indians wiped out all of his men. After this defeat, the army took a different course by harassing the Sioux in attrition. Indians eventually lost the will to resist as these strategies were commonly successful against the Sioux. In the December of 1890, approximately 300 Indians were killed by US troops at Wounded Knee. This massacre was the indication to the end of Indian opposition. The Plains Indians were eventually conquered and forced into reservations.

Once the Sioux figured out that they now had a chance to push the Ponca’s out of Indian Territory, that’s just what they did. They took their crops, horses, and gave many threats towards them. The third most famous war called the Great Sioux war began in 1876. Although the U.S. government had won the war, it still didn’t mean they would stop pleasing the Sioux. The U.S. government gave what was left of the Ponca land to the Sioux. The treaty they made with the Ponca’s was completely broken. They cheated the Ponca Indians, and they were furious. In January 1877, Edward C. Kemble asked the Ponca’s to let him speak during church service. He told them that the government had given their fields and farm to the Sioux for a greater purpose. He also told them that they be getting new virgin lands in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). By this time the there only 738 Ponca Indians in the tribe, which meant they were not much of a force to the federal government.

When Reno and his company crossed the river the lakota and cheyenne was surprised and rushed to defend their village from the oncoming attackers. Reno then held his troops and formed them into a skirmish line, in which they began to fire upon the oncoming attackers. Reno had to retreat two times, the first time was when his left flank was endangered, and the second time he had to retreat to the east side of river. During the retreat Lakota and Cheyenne warriors rode down the troops inducing heavy casualties to Reno’s men. Reno’s company regrouped with the main the group after Benteen confirmed that there was no Indians following. A written message from Custer was sent by a messenger to Benteen stating “ Come on, Big Village. Be Quick. Bring Packs. P.S Bring Packs.” para. 11 (Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument). Captain Weir’s company made an effort to locate and communicate with Custer’s men after heavy gunfire was heard. (Little Bighorn Battlefield National

The 7th Cavalry Regiment's destruction at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876 is the subject of over a century of debate. LTC George A. Custer failed to exercise four key responsibilities that were expected of him as the regiment’s commander. He failed to understand the problem and environment, visualize a feasible solution, clearly describe it to his subordinates, and effectively direct his forces. These four aspects of mission command are integral to the operations process and help Soldiers understand and execute their commander's intent. Custer's failure to properly fulfill his role in the operations process resulted in his death and a strategic defeat for the nation.

     As the battle wore on, the superior numbers of the Union Army began to wear down the Confederate lines. At a critical point, as the Confederates began to fall back, an officer pointed out a line of rebels who were still strong. He said, “look at Jackson’s men standing like a stone wall”. He was talking about General T. J. Jackson’s men. Jackson would from then on be known as “Stonewall Jackson”, one of the most famous of all Confederate generals. This seemed to inspire the Southern troops at Henry

Among the ranks during the American Civil War stood men such as Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant that will be forever remembered for their leadership qualities. One such man earned his nickname, fame, and popularity during the Civil War as a Confederate general. Thomas Jackson, more commonly known as “Stonewall” Jackson, was a brilliant leader who gained the admiration of all who came to know him. He gained his popularity from his famous Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1862. With integrity beyond reproach, he successfully provided direction, purpose (though skeptical), and motivation to those serving below him during the Valley Campaign.

The second Treaty of Fort Laramie, signed in 1868, guaranteed the Lakota people ownership of 25 million acres of land, now known as the Great Sioux Reservation, only to be occupied by Indian people (“Treaty of Fort Laramie” Article 2). While this treaty kept the peace for a few years, the United States government soon reneged on the agreement and allowed miners to enter reservation lands to look for gold. Eventually, the government decided to use military force to retake the land from the Sioux people and so began the Great Sioux War. In response to the US government’s illegal actions, Kicking Bear asked the Lakota people to practice the Ghost Dance, which was said to be a prophecy of the Great Spirit renewing the earth by making it free of evil and more beautiful than before (Kicking Bear, 1890). This included ending the white man’s expansion into Indian lands. This rhetorical analysis will argue that Kicking Bear’s “Address at the Council Meeting of the Hunkpapa Sioux, Great Sioux Reservation” in 1890 was a fitting response to the United States Government’s expansion into reservation land through the examination of purpose, audience, and persona.

The carnage at St. Francis deserves a brunt of the detail. It was now good marching ground and the men pressed on with celerity till on the 22nd day after their departure from Crown Point, one of them, by climbing a tree, discovered the village of St. Francis at three miles distance, when the party were ordered to halt and refresh themselves. At eight o'clock in the evening, Major Rogers, Lieut. Turner and Ensign Avery left the company and went forward for the purpose of reconnoitering the place. They found the Indians engaged in a dance, evidently entertaining no apprehensions of an enemy in the vicinity. They returned about two o'clock in the morning and at three o'clock, Rogers advanced with the whole party, within three hundred yards of the village, where the men were lightened of their packs and formed for action. About an hour after this, the Indians broke up their dances and retired to their cabins for repose; and soon the whole village was asleep, the more oblivious from the weariness induced by their late diversion. About half an hour before dawn, the troops, having been arranged in three divisions for the purpose of making simultaneous attacks, in as many directions, were ordered to advance. Never was a place more completely surprised, nor in a condition less capable of making any sort of