This Day in History: Battle of Little Bighorn

This Day in History: Battle of Little Bighorn June 25, 1876 The battle was between the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes of the Great Plains, and the U.S. Army. It is also known as Custer's Last Stand, after Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Led by Chief Crazy Horse, the Native American forces defeated Custer's 7th Cavalry near the Little Bighorn River in southern Montana. The members of the Great Plains tribes had gathered near the river in defiance of a U.S. War Department order. Sent in to scout for enemy troops, Custer fatefully decided not to wait for reinforcements. Custer and 200 of his men were killed in the attack. The Great Plains tribes would be confined to reservations within five years.