While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, for the first time with the local Lakota Native Americans, who will defeat them three years later at the Little Big Horn.
During the previous two years, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry had not fought a single battle against the tribes of the western Plains. Hungry for action, Custer was pleased when the 7th Cavalry was ordered to help protect a party of surveyors laying out the route for the proposed Northern Pacific Railroad. The new transcontinental railroad (the third in the United States) was to pass through Sioux territory.
Initially, the military escort saw little action. The Lakota seemed to be avoiding or ignoring the survey party. For Custer, the mission turned into something of a lark. He spent much of his time shooting buffalo, antelope, elk and other animals. To find good hunting, he often led the 7th Cavalry far away from the survey party and the main body of the military escort.
On August 4, 1873, Custer was far ahead of the rest of the force, camping along the Tongue River in southeastern Montana. Suddenly, a large band of Lakota warriors appeared on the horizon and attacked. The group was led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Custer, who had been taking an afternoon nap, reacted quickly and mounted an effective defense. After a brief skirmish, the tribesmen withdrew.
Since only one white soldier and one Native American were killed in the skirmish, Custer鈥檚 short battle along the Tongue River seemed relatively insignificant at the time. However, Custer鈥檚 easy escape in his first encounter with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse may have given him a dangerously scornful view of their fighting abilities. It helped to confirm his belief that the Plains warriors tended to flee rather than fight. As a result, when Custer again encountered Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at the Little Big Horn River three years later, his greatest fear was that they would withdraw before he could attack, and he rushed in without proper reconnaissance. That time, though, the Native Americans stood and fought, leaving Custer and more than 200 of his men dead.
