“Garryowen,” an old Irish tune, was the regimental marching song of the 7th Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The Battle of the Little Big Horn commenced in the valley just east of here on June 25, 1876, after Custer ordered Major Marcus Reno to move his battalion into action against the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians, led by Gall, Crazy Horse, Two Moons, and Sitting Bull. Reno, with 112 men, came out of the hills about 2½ miles southeast of here and attacked the Indian encampment. The Indians, who outnumbered the soldiers ten to one, stopped Reno’s charge. Reno ordered his men to dismount and form a thin skirmish line in the timber along the river. After severe losses, Reno then ordered his men to retreat to the high ground east of the Little Big Horn where he was joined by Captain Frederick Benteen’s battalion. The combined force stood off the Indians until the approach of General John Gibbon’s column from the north the following day caused the Indians to pull out. Reno and Benteen did not discover Custer’s tragic fate until the morning of the 27th.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.