Here are some additional conclusions I reached from my brief and incomplete look at the ground, the reading I did on the way to and from the LBH, thinking while looking at all the terrain I came across from Seattle - Missoula - Billings - LBH - Colorado Sprints - Wichita - Houston - Biloxi - Jacksonville - Merritt Island.
All three authors Philbrook, Wagner, Fox beleive Custer was on the "offensive" until the last. I don't. He may have been moving, looking for a good piece of terrain or a place to attack, but wondering around the way he did he was mostly probing/conducting reconnaissance. He did not mass at any time once he went to the right an up toward where Reno ultimately defended. Had he formed a fist of five companies instead of trying to poke someone with a finger, he may have succeeded, whether defending or attacking, with a five company fist. Remember, "First the Panzer's Punch a Hole, THEN See What Develops." With all his thrashing about, he may have been looking for the best defensible terrain and not finding any, circled back - not getting to Ford D - and was trying to link up with his Rear Guard.
Why do I think there was a rear guard? Because of the deployment of the skirmish lines along Nye-Cartwright ridge. Fox states there were at least 800+ cartridges/casings found there. I attempted to draw the lines fround on the Bonaface map onto my nifty 1:10000 map, shown below.
I measured the central high ground the 3300 hundred foot contour line - vicinity the 3286 spot elevation and found it to be about 300 meters (sorry for mixing measurement systems here) in length from left-side upside down L to the tip of the finger on the right. Measuring the right hand skirmish line it is about 800 meters long, the small one just east of it 100 meters long, and the W line about 500 meters long, for a total of 1400 meters. If the screen line was deployed completely to doctrine (one man every 5 meters or so) they would need 280 men on the the line plus horse holders. If we say that the companies were all about 40 men, they would detail around 10 as horse holders, and the best we could home for is 150 men on the line and 40 as horse holders. It looks to me the left hand screen line is composed of three companies occupying at intervals of 7 - 9 meters, and the right hand W with 2 companies, at about the same interval.
The left hand line is oriented North with the right flank refused to the east and the right hand line is oriented south toward Ford B, again with its right flank refused and facing East. The small line around the small hill top is probably trying to see into some dead space while the small groups to the south could be reconnaissance parties trying to see what is up with Ford B.
The battalion is much to spread out to defend in this location, and the "scouts" who either could not see the ford or were repulsed there made their way back to the main line and Custer decided to move West.
What were these people shooting at? There was little or no pressure to the South (toward the Ford), there could be some from people moving from Reno's Position and someone was likely to the North. Could this be where the volley's heard by Reno-Benteen were fired from? I think the timing is off, though.
At this point, Custer decided to move, probably having somehow decided crossing at Ford B was not a good idea. Since the battalion is ordered E, F, I, C, L at the end, it looks like he just took off in that way and dropped off people behind him. On the other hand, it it was F, E, I, C, L then it looks like he leap frogged people forward from the rear, and then moved off.
No bodies were found along the skirmish line. If there had been, this may have provided a clue as to the order of march and shed some light to the mystery (or if reserchers could get cartridges from the area and map them to see if they can find where carbines ended up on the battlefield.)
If I was going to move with three companies forward, I think it would have been E, F, and C. No way Tom Custer would be a horse holder for George in a fight. No way would Custer leave his brother behind if he thought there was going to be a fight. But C's positioning is a mystery in a place where there are too many mysteries.
At any rate, 2, 3, 4, or 5 companies moving to, but not getting to Ford D, doesn't really matter a tinker's damn. They were cut up like an expert one handed chef cutting up a carrot by the Indians or, if any of you bother to take a look at the Winter War between Finland and the Soviets, like the Finns chopping up the Soviets like cordwood.
Next, this business with Martini and Benteen. It's only because Benteen thought his orders were garbage that he turned back toward the Regiment's path. (Shouldn't we keep the Regiment together, sir? You have your orders!) IF he had done this valley hunting until he reached the Little Bighorn (How would he know he even reached it? He didn't have a map worth beans, if at all. He had no Scouts. He just followed the lay of the land.) and could then turn North. I estimate he would come out far to the South of Ford A at least as far as Little Otter Creek (vicinity Benteen today) and maybe Shaving Creek (much further south). How would Martini have found him, much less get back in time to assist anyone?
Then only reason Martini found Benteen was Benteen turned North before reaching the LBH further South.
I think I have learned what I needed to learn, and barring some unforeseen financial largess coming my way, I don't particularly see a reason to go back or expand my collection of books, but these three things remain on my mind:- From as near to the Crows nest as I could get, could I even determine where the Little Bighorn valley was, much less see horses and the village. (Having said that, I can see with the naked eye, Saturn V Booser (from 67-72), the Space Shuttle (98-2010 or so) and the Artimis Booster (from now forward) sitting on the pad about 20 kilometers away to the North from State Road 528 on the Indian River. But I know exactly where to look.)
- From Weir Point could I see what was going on around Battle Ridge? Doubtful. I could hardly see the monument from the southern side of Calhoun Hill or Greasy Grass Ridge.
- I'd like to walk the Reno-Benteen position to see if it was as good as I think it is in terms of best available terrain versus best terrain for defense and then to see where I would have defended from if I had been George.
Finally, I think as a modern day cavalryman, my mindset is not quite right yet to get fully immerssed into Custer's mind. I am too used to engagements from 1000 - 4000 meters. When the enemy gets to within 1000 meters, its time for me to leave, unless I am defining to retain, because if I wait longer than that, we will reach my next position at the same time and ties do not go to the runner on the battlefield. I think Chuck, as a light infantryman, has a better feel for the ground than I, since riding a horse, truck, armored personnel carrier, or infantry fighting vehicle is just a method to getting to the ground you want to fight on while minimizing the dismounted infantryman's vulnerability.
TTFN.