Episode 12: A Terrible Glory (Custer and the Little Big Horn)

General George Armstrong Custer.

The name alone symbolizes the American frontier and has become synonymous with military disaster. In this podcast episode, historian and best-selling author James Donovan, joins host Russell Hillier to talk about his book “A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Big Horn,” and what happened on that fateful day in June 1876, when American forces were massacred by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. 

Historical Background

General George Armstrong Custer quickly rose through the ranks of the Civil War United States army. He led from the front and his men loved him. There was this thing called “Custer’s Luck,” because he always seemed to make the right snap-decisions on the battlefield and he never lost.

This luck came to end on the banks of the Little Big Horn River in June 1876, when Custer and 210 of his men were massacred by Sioux and Cheyenne Warriors from Chief Sitting Bull’s tribe.

There were no survivors and the “last stand” has been immortalized ever since.

But was Custer a victim of his own success-driven ego, or was he stabbed in the back by subordinates who wanted to see the famed General humbled?