Editing Battle of the Little Bighorn (section)

====Custer's final resistance====
Recent archaeological work at the battlefield indicates that officers on Custer Hill restored some tactical control.<ref name="Fox1993"/>{{rp|255–259}} E Company rushed off Custer Hill toward the Little Bighorn River but failed to reach it, which resulted in the destruction of that company. This left about 50–60 men, mostly from F Company and the staff, on Last Stand Hill. The remainder of the battle took on the nature of a running fight. Modern archaeology and historical Indian accounts indicate that Custer's force may have been divided into three groups, with the Indians attempting to prevent them from effectively reuniting. Indian accounts describe warriors (including women) running up from the village to wave blankets in order to scare off the soldiers' horses. One 7th Cavalry trooper claimed to have found several stone ''mallets'' consisting of a round cobble weighing 8–10 pounds (about 4&nbsp;kg) with a rawhide handle, which he believed had been used by the Indian women to finish off the wounded.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied>{{cite book |title=They Died With Custer: Soldiers' Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn |first1=Douglas D. |last1=Scott |first2=P. |last2=Willey |first3=Melissa A. |last3=Connor |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2013 |orig-year=1998 |url={{GBurl|id=KO-9A4b2t4IC}} |isbn=((978-0-8061-3507-7))}}</ref>{{rp|314}} Fighting dismounted, the soldiers' skirmish lines were overwhelmed. Army doctrine would have called for one man in four to be a horseholder behind the skirmish lines and, in extreme cases, one man in eight. Later, the troops would have bunched together in defensive positions and are alleged to have shot their remaining horses as cover. As individual troopers were wounded or killed, initial defensive positions would have been abandoned as untenable.<ref name="ReferenceB">Gray, John C. "Custer's Last Campaign"</ref>

Under threat of attack, the first U.S. soldiers on the battlefield three days later hurriedly buried the troopers in shallow graves, more or less where they had fallen. A couple of years after the battle, markers were placed where men were believed to have fallen, so the placement of troops has been roughly construed. The troops evidently died in several groups, including on Custer Hill, around Captain [[Myles Keogh]], and strung out towards the Little Bighorn River.<ref name="ReferenceB" />