Editing Battle of the Little Bighorn (section)

====Little Bighorn====
While the Terry–Gibbon column was marching toward the mouth of the Little Bighorn, on the evening of June 24, Custer's Indian scouts arrived at an overlook known as the Crow's Nest, {{convert|14|mi}} east of the Little Bighorn River. At sunrise on June 25, Custer's scouts reported they could see a massive pony herd and signs of the Native American village{{NoteTag|[[Plains Indians]] were semi-nomadic peoples and had no permanent settlements off the [[Indian reservation|reservations]] (aka "Agencies). A "village" was a collection of [[tipis]], housing a group of Natives under the leadership of a chief, including those of tribes other than the chief's. A village would be created wherever a group stopped by simply erecting the tipis and could last from a single night to several weeks. Young warriors without a tipi would generally create [[lean-tos]] or sleep in the open. When the chief decided that it was time to move on the villagers simply struck their tipis, tied the tipi poles to their horses so as to form a [[travois]] for their goods and children, and followed the chief. The term "village", therefore, refers to the group while moving or encamped.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', Viking, 2010, pp. 102, 106, e{{ISBN|978-1-101-19011-1}}</ref>}} roughly {{convert|15|mi|km}} in the distance. After a night's march, the tired officer who was sent with the scouts could see neither, and when Custer joined them, he was also unable to make the sighting. Custer's scouts also spotted the regimental cooking fires that could be seen from {{cvt|10|mi|km}} away, disclosing the regiment's position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nativeamerican.co.uk/lbhthebattle.html |title=1876 The Battle of the Little Big Horn |date=July 2007 |access-date=January 17, 2022}}</ref>

Custer contemplated a surprise attack against the encampment the following morning of June 26, but he then received a report informing him several "hostiles" ''[sic]'' had discovered the trail left by his troops.<ref>Andrist, Ralph K., "The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indian". ''Editorial Galaxia''. 2001, p. 272.</ref> Assuming his presence had been exposed, Custer decided to attack the village without further delay. On the morning of June 25, Custer divided his 12 companies into three battalions in anticipation of the forthcoming engagement. Three companies were placed under the command of Major [[Marcus Reno]] (A, G, and M) and three were placed under the command of Captain [[Frederick Benteen]] (H, D, and K). Five companies (C, E, F, I, and L) remained under Custer's immediate command. The 12th, Company B under Captain [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]], had been assigned to escort the slower pack train carrying provisions and additional ammunition.<ref name="John Gray" />

Unknown to Custer, the group of Native Americans seen on his trail was actually leaving the encampment and did not alert the rest of the village. Custer's scouts warned him about the size of the village, with [[Mitch Bouyer]] reportedly saying, "General, I have been with these Indians for 30 years, and this is the largest village I have ever heard of."{{NoteTag|Villages were usually arrayed in U-shaped semi-circles open to the east; in multi-tribal villages, each tribe would erect their tipis in this manner separately from the other tribes but close to the other tribes. Sitting Bull's village was multi-tribal, consisted of "a thousand tipis [that] were assembled in six horseshoe-shaped semicircles", had a population of approx. 8000 people, and stretched over two miles end-to-end.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', Viking, 2010, Ch 3, e{{ISBN|978-1-101-19011-1}}</ref>}}<ref>Macnab, David B., ''A Day to Remember: Introducing the Drama, Irony, and Controversies of the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', iUniverse, 2003, p. 45, based on Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings of the Reno Court of Inquiry, 35.</ref> Custer's overriding concern was that the Native American group would break up and scatter. The command began its approach to the village at noon and prepared to attack in full daylight.<ref>{{Cite book |first=John |last= Gray |author-link= John C. Gray |title= Custer's Last Campaign |publisher= University of Nebraska Press |year= 1991 |page=243 |isbn= 0-8032-7040-2}}</ref>

With an impending sense of doom, the Crow scout [[Half Yellow Face]] prophetically warned Custer (speaking through the interpreter Mitch Bouyer), "You and I are going home today by a road we do not know."<ref name=Viola>{{cite book|last=Viola|first=Herman J.|title=It Is A Good Day to Die, Indian Eyewitnesses Tell the Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn|year=2001|publisher=Bison Books|location=US|isbn=0-8032-9626-6|page=30}}</ref>