447. Custer vs. Crazy Horse: The Winning of the West (Part 2)

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode reassesses George Armstrong Custer’s myth, arguing that his appeal came from daring, vanity, politics, and a talent for spectacle rather than simple heroism. It traces his post-Civil War career in Texas and on the Plains, showing how his self-promotion, racism, and disobedience shaped violent encounters with the Cheyenne and foreshadowed Little Bighorn.

Main Topics: Custer as myth and performer (Priority: 5/5): The hosts frame Custer as a man who made himself famous through flamboyant behavior, horse riding, and public spectacle, challenging the idea that he was universally loved or purely heroic. Post-Civil War politics and Reconstruction (Priority: 5/5): Custer’s political unsoundness, including support for Andrew Johnson and hostility to Radical Republicans, damaged his standing with superiors such as Grant. Texas, Mexico, and failed military discipline (Priority: 4/5): His assignment to Texas after the Civil War exposed his poor management skills when not in combat, while his desire to fight in Mexico was blocked for diplomatic reasons. Frontier warfare against the Cheyenne (Priority: 5/5): The episode details escalating conflict with the Cheyenne, including Hancock’s expedition, the 1867 campaign, and Custer’s role in violent reprisals and village destruction. The Washita attack as foreshadowing Little Bighorn (Priority: 5/5): Custer’s attack on Black Kettle’s village is presented as a brutal massacre that demonstrates tactics—surprise, encirclement, hostage-taking—that anticipate later events. Clashing moral interpretations of the Indian Wars (Priority: 4/5): The hosts weigh 19th-century justifications against modern condemnation, emphasizing that the conflict is inseparable from U.S. expansion and Indigenous dispossession.

Key Arguments: Custer’s fame depended on fun, charisma, and performance as much as military success. His superiors did not necessarily love him; many found him annoying, unreliable, or politically dangerous. Custer’s ambitions were more aligned with money, status, and New York elites than with a romantic desire for the Great Plains. Reconstruction politics strongly shaped his career, especially his alignment with Andrew Johnson and opposition to Grant’s faction. The frontier army was undertrained, demoralized, and socially degraded, making the Indian Wars highly brutal and chaotic. The Cheyenne were reacting to real pressures from railroads, settlement, disease, and previous atrocities such as Sand Creek. The Washita attack was militarily successful by contemporary standards but morally disastrous because it targeted an unsuspecting village including women and children. Custer’s actions at Washita helped establish tactics and expectations that would matter later at Little Bighorn. Modern judgment of Custer is inseparable from changing attitudes toward U.S. expansion and Indigenous history.

Data Points: Date of Washington parade: 23 May 1865 - Custer’s public display at the end of the Civil War Size of Hancock expedition: 1,400 men - The force that marched out of Fort Riley in March 1867 Troops led by Custer in Hancock expedition: Eight companies of the 7th Cavalry - Custer’s command on the Plains Camp/force composition on the Plains: German, Irish, Canadian, Danish, Swiss, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Hungarian, and Russian soldiers - Illustrates the multinational makeup of the 7th Cavalry Proportion from Germany: More than a tenth - Share of the 7th Cavalry at the time of Little Bighorn attributed to German-born men Proportion from Ireland: About a fifth - Share of the 7th Cavalry attributed to Irish-born men Sand Creek deaths: 150 people - Massacre in 1864, two-thirds women and children Reservation deal size: 4 million acres - Medicine Lodge Creek treaty with the majority of the Cheyenne Custer’s claimed Washita kill count: 103 people - His own claim regarding casualties at Washita Killed ponies at Washita: 875 ponies - Custer’s men destroyed the village’s horse supply Custer’s suspension: 1 year - Penalty after his dereliction of duty in 1867 Battle of Washita date: Winter campaign, dawn attack after March 1867 expedition - The episode places the attack in late 1868 and describes the winter offensive Number of dogs Custer kept at Fort Lincoln: About 40 dogs - His menagerie included numerous animals and pets

Pivotal Quotes: "Custer's fame is the victory of fun and myth over complicated history." — Narrator/host quote from Ian Frazier: Sets up the episode’s central thesis about Custer’s appeal "There are not Indians enough in the country to whip the 7th Cavalry." — George Armstrong Custer: His hubristic statement before the Washita attack "The Battle of the Rashida River is the most complete and successful of all our private battles and was fought in such unfavourable weather and circumstances as to reflect the highest credit on yourself and regiment." — William Tecumseh Sherman: Sherman’s praise of Custer after the Washita campaign

Implications: The episode suggests Custer should be remembered less as a romantic hero than as a reckless symbol of U.S. expansion, political opportunism, and frontier violence. It sets up Little Bighorn as the outcome of these choices.