(horse neighing)
(birds chirping)
(horse hooves clopping) (horses neighing)
(somber atmospheric music) (horses neighing)
(horse neighing)
- We caught the Indians nappin'.
Dispatch a message to Captain Benteen.
- [Soldier] Yes sir, General.
Tell him to come without delay.
We found a large Indian village.
Bring men and ammunition quickly.
- Yes sir, orderly.
- [George] Ride as fast as you can.
- Yes sir. - Go.
Courage boys, we got 'em.
(soldiers cheering)
The Seventh cavalry will dispatch these hostiles and then head home!
(gunshots)
(tense dramatic music)
Forward.
(tense dramatic music)
♪ My country 'tis of thee
♪ Sweet land of liberty
♪ Land where my fathers died
♪ Land of the pilgrims' pride
♪ From every mountainside
♪ Let freedom ring
(solemn atmospheric music)
- [Narrator] On the North American plains,
opportunity calls men of courage
to chase the sun West into a new frontier.
They would shape a nation, lay hold of their destiny,
and birth a new mythology.
But with the passing of time, every myth has its reckoning.
George Armstrong Custer, known to America
as a decorated Civil War veteran, ambitious leader,
determined general and heroic warrior.
But behind every myth stands a man,
and behind every legend lies the truth.
- As most Americans know, George Armstrong Custer,
the swaggering boy general, is famous for his futile
last stand at the Little Big Horn.
But a legend of Custer's crushing defeat
does not tell the whole story.
The truth is Custer and the more than 200 men
who die with him that day could have been saved,
and it is Custer's flawed leadership,
not just on that fateful day,
that sets him up for his ultimate demise.
- [Narrator] Two years removed from the Civil War,
America faces a new challenge,
securing the Western territories
and achieving its continent-wide destiny.
28-year-old George Custer, star general of the Civil War,
is charged with removing the last obstacle in the way,
the Plains Indians.
For Custer, it's a chance to return to glory
and build on his fame.
- Whoa.
- Be safe George, and come back quickly,
and in one piece.
- I will, my dear.
- [Narrator] Cheering Custer on his Libby,
his wife of three years.
And by his side, younger brother Tom,
who serves on his staff.
- It's time General, column is moving out.
- George Custer, he was a rock star general.
A young man, the youngest general in the Union army,
coming out of the Civil War.
So he's got this, this kinda huge reputation
that he is now going to bring to fighting the Indians.
- [George] Move out.
- [Narrator] By 1867, many Native tribes
have been forced onto reservations,
but on the Great Plains,
100,000 Native people still roam free,
including the aggressive Sioux in northern Northern Cheyenne,
who attack homesteaders and railroad crews.
Custer is charged with driving the tribes onto reservations,
or eliminating them altogether.
(Native fighters warcry)
(people screaming)
- It may be asked, what had the Indians done
to make such an incursion necessary?
They had been guilty of numerous thefts and murders
during the proceeding summer and fall,
for none of which they had been called into account.
- [Narrator] But before the Army resorts to warfare,
they invite several Cheyenne chiefs
to council with General Winfield Hancock.
- I come with an offer of peace from President Johnson,
our great chief.
- [Narrator] It's Custer's first chance
to size up his new foes.
- Too many lives have been lost, too much bloodshed.
However, if your young men choose to go on the warpath,
you leave us no option but to fight.
- Tall Bear says the winter
was very hard on our people.
- Yes.
- [Narrator] The Cheyenne's main concern
is the scarcity of food, which they blame on the White man.
- Settlers kept coming in and encroaching
on Native American lands.
There was less and less resources,
there's less and less grass for horses.
There was less game to hunt.
Land was shrinking.
- [Narrator] Although the two sides failed to make peace,
they do agree to meet again the next day.
(solemn somber music)
But when morning comes, the Cheyenne have disappeared.
(horses neighing)
- Gone.
Take your men, find them.
You know what to do.
- [Narrator] It's an assignment Custer's been training for
his whole life.
(solemn somber music)
- [Officer] Report to your station, soldier.
- [Narrator] Young George begins his military career
at West Point, and makes a less than impressive start.
(cadets chattering)
He excels at hijinks and hell-raising
He earns more demerits than any other cadet.
- George Custer may not be a serious student.
He graduates last in his West Point class,
but it's not because he's dumb.
It's because half of his fellow cadets already dropped out
to fight in the Civil War.
(soldiers shouting)
(gunfire blasting)
- [Narrator] When Custer leaves the academy,
the outcome of the war is still uncertain.
He joins the Union fight, and proves to be
a courageous warrior, rushing into battle
and taking huge chances, as he combines
textbook military tactics with uncanny good luck.
- Custer had horse after horse shot out from under him,
engaged in the most daring hand-to-hand combat,
and emerged a two-star general,
virtually unscathed from America's bloodiest conflict.
- [Narrator] After the Union victory,
the Army reverts to its regular ranking system,
but in deference to Custer's war-time stature,
- Ha!
he's still addressed as General.
Now in pursuit of the fleeing Cheyenne,
the war hero is eager to earn his stars in the regular Army.
But after weeks on the plains, he's yet to find the enemy.
- Custer was used to seeing his enemy out there, camped out.
And you knew just what they were gonna do,
'cause you were classmates with that guy at West Point
that's over there on the other side.
The Cheyenne, they'd hit and run, hit and raid,
and Custer was not suited to that at all.
- [Narrator] For more than two months,
Custer searches doggedly for his elusive prey.
- I can whip the Indians, if I can find them.
And I will leave no effort untried to do this.
(tense solemn music)
I don't know whether I'm chasing men or ghosts.
- [Narrator] As the days drag on, supplies start to run out.
The choice provisions are reserved for the officers,
while stale bread is rationed out to the troops.
Exhausted and starving,
their loyalty to Custer begins to waiver.
- Sir.
- All right soldier, what is it, Indians?
- [Soldier] No, over there at the camp.
(tense urgent music)
- Well, I'll be.
Those are Seventh Cavalry men walking away.
Them brazen sons of bitches.
Major Elliott!
(horse neighing)
(tense urgent music)
- [Elliott] Halt, halt!
You can't outrun us!
- [Soldier] We got you!
Now drop your weapons.
- Custer's frustrated not only by
the Indians he can't catch,
but by the soldiers he can't control.
- Drop!
(cocking gun)
- [Paul] The men hate him.
This new war isn't working out for him.
(gunshots)
(tense dramatic music)