I presume you are referring to the suicides, KV. They are referred to in"The Custer Myth" by Graham pages 105-107, "Killing Custer" by Welch pages 171-172, "Custer's Fall" by Miller pages108-109 and page114, "Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight" by Hardoff pages 66-67,75-76 and 162. I believe there are further references in other books relating to the fight but I haven't the time to rummage through them all yet. Accounts of Indian casualties vary slightly but average out to about 30 dead, which if we add on the accepted rate of wounded to killed, i.e. 4/1, gives total Indian casuaties of about 150.
Like you appear to have trooper I also have studied the Custer fight from the Errol Flynn version right up to the new archeological studies carried out after the Plains fire in 1983. The facts of the suicides of some of the cavalrymen have primarily been based on the Indian oral versions and may well be true.
But history is fixed and only interpretations differ except in this case we only have the one interpretation
The new archeological research only shows-shot pattern-trooper grouping and a fair indication that "Custer's Last Stand" was more of a running battle from Medicine Coulee to last stand hill and the last 40 troopers were more likely to have been picked off one by one as they ran firing over their shoulders until the last dozen at the hill were rushed by several hundred Lakota.
Many of Custer's troops were raw recruits- not all the battle hardened 7th Cavalry troopers of legend- however, amongst Companies C, E, F, I & L there were some seasoned Indian fighters and battle experienced soldiers (as an aside 20 of Custer's dead were ex-Confederate soldiers, all just with trooper rank even though one of them held the rank of Colonel in the Confederate Army)
Part of their basic training was the demonising of the enemy and the old adage of "save the last bullet for yourself" held some merit as the Sioux were notorious for inflicting mutilating torture on their enemies. One only has to read the Surgeon Commander's report on the US bodies after the Fetterman Massacre in 1866 which still makes gory reading today. Scenes like this related to new recruits by veterans were permanently etched on the pysche of soldiers, instilling fear as well as loathing of the "barbaric" Indian.
The basic courage of the ordinary frontier soldier, I believe in the main, depended on his training and belief in the unit cohesion for it's overwhelming superiority against a native foe, but when that breaks down-it's everyman for himself-stand and fight or run- we know now that they ran the same as they ran at Isandlwhana that was discussed just recently on another thread until we got told off for using the comparator with the Big Horn battle.
Now is it beyond the realm of one's imagination that as you are running one of your pals drops with a bullet in the leg and is unable to move- for you to put a bullet in his head to save him from a fate worse than death. I dont know sitting here in front of a computer but three skeletons of troopers were found with smashed leg bones and a bullet hole in the skull. Sure he could have shot himself for the same reason above and the mutulation of all 200 plus bodies of Custer's men found by General Terry tells us that if they did shoot themselves they had just cause to.
All pure speculation of course because we will never really know but food for thought.
Re:- Indian casualties the 30 dead Indians came I believe from White Buffalo a Sioux veteran of the Custer fight and a tribal historian who compiled a list of 29 warriors who were killed in the battle. But interestingly eight days before when Crazy Horse and 1500 Sioux caught Crook at the Rosebud and fought him for six hours which effectively put him and his column out of the campaign-the Sioux casualties according to the tribal compiler was 29 warriors. Makes one think that the counting capacity of a Sioux historian may have only been up to 29- then he ran out of sticks
Reb.
