The Significance of the Last Stand

By Douglas Damian McKerns, with comment by Lisa Wright

I. Fictionalizing History

Relating history of past to history of present

[1] What do historians create with the history they account? History is a story that never ends. The events of the present in essence have already happened in the past. Historians try to make sense of the present by deconstructing the past. Only through analysis of the past can one understand the present. I remember playing cowboys and Indians as a child. I would always play the part of the cowboys, and consequently the cowboys always won. At the end of my day's adventure I went to my parents to tell them of my conquest against the Indians. I made certain to include every detail of the battle -- from first charge to last saber stroke. History was made that day in my backyard with the green figurine--soldier on horseback--whose defeat of the Indian nemesis forces was both courageous and honorable.

[2] Past history is connected to the occurrences of the present. History repeats itself as present action gains significance from past events. President Clinton was recently impeached. To date he is the first President to receive this less-than-honorable acclaim. In my opinion, no critical repercussions resulted. The only reason why Clinton's impeachment was important was because it was the first such instance in our nation's history. If President Nixon had not resigned and had been impeached and removed from office, the importance of Clinton's impeachment would have appeared far less important in retrospect. Because of the past history of our nation, the present history became significant.

II. The Purpose of They Died with Their Boots On

Recreation of American Cause 1876

[3] American film demonstrates history as narrative. The historical classic They Died with Their Boots On is a recreation of the history of General George Armstrong Custer's life. This movie adds to the already prevalent myth of the Boy General. The movie was released in 1941, when Germany, under Adolf Hitler, had control of "Fortress Europe," and threatened to end democracy as the world knew it. The United States prepared to defend democracy in total war. American soldiers needed a cause to die for. The most important aspect They Died with Their Boots On created was a reason for United States Soldiers to die, fighting for the American cause. (see comment by Lisa Wright)

[4] To understand the ramifications this movie had on the existing nation of the time and to understand the American Cause Custer taught us to die for, Custer's life must be examined.

III. The Life of a General

Childhood

[5] George Armstrong Custer was born on December 5th, 1839, in a small hamlet of New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry and his second wife, Maria W. K. Custer. His father Emanuel was a blacksmith who came from a prosperous military heritage--his grandfather, also named Emanuel, came from Hesse in the Germanies around the middle of the eighteenth century and fought in the Revolutionary war. This was a fact proudly remembered by the family. Custer's mother, Maria Ward, was widowed in 1835, and remarried Emanuel Henry to produce two children who died in infancy before George Armstrong was born.

[6] The Custer's produced five children: George, Nevin, Thomas, Boston, and Margaret. George was understandably the favorite of both mother and father from birth. His parents called him "Autie," after his own childhood efforts to pronounce his middle name. Tom, the third born, developed a close relationship with his big brother--imitating and admiring George's actions. Tom followed George all the way into the Battle of Little Bighorn--Tom was a soldier under his big brother's command. Eventually the brother that Tom imitated and admired would lead him to death.

[7] George Armstrong Custer was a born militarist. When Autie was four he took a trip to the dentist to get a tooth removed. Little Autie, standing alongside his father, had been very brave while getting his tooth pulled. On the long walk home he exclaimed to his father, "Father, you and me can whip all the Whigs in Ohio!" Whether or not the dentist was a Whig is beside the point, Custer was always confident. His father, Emanuel, drilled with the local militia during the Mexican war--this military coloring rubbed off on Autie in early life. Autie surprised the family one day by declaiming a climactic line from Addison's Cato: "My voice is still for war!"

[8] George A. Custer was undoubtedly intelligent, but he was a careless and undisciplined student in grade school, getting by, one supposes, by applying himself only when it was necessary. These traits stayed with him all the way to West Point and beyond.

West Point

[9] Custer was, to say the least, not the model cadet. His most serious difficulties were caused by his deportment. A cadet could be expelled for receiving one hundred demerits in a period of a year. Demerits were given for any reason, mostly for minor infractions. Cadet Custer was known to fail to have a neat appearance on parade, have an untidy room, take inadequate care of equipment, have food in his room, and be tardy for classes, as well as arriving late for morning report. Custer regularly accumulated more than ninety demerits a year. Custer's deportment did not improve during his four years at West Point; in his last half-year he received ninety-seven demerits. Custer always walked the line of failure; in the case of his West Point graduation, he kicked up dust but finished the course.

Civil War Hero

[10] In an Army where the ruling virtue was discipline bordering on timid behavior toward superiors, Custer's belligerence excelled his presence and earned him a series of commendations. On May 5th, 1862, he entered an engagement near Williamsburg, accompanying Brigadier General Winfield S. Hancock as a volunteer aide. Charging forward to inspire rushing Federal infantry, he single-handedly captured six rebels and a large silk flag--the first such colors taken by the Army of the Potomac. Twenty days later, after a daring morning reconnaissance to the south side of the Chickahominy, he led a raiding party back across the river to overrun an enemy picket post in the vicinity. Lt. Custer was the first to cross the stream, the first to open fire, and one of the last to leave the battlefield.

[11] When Major General George B. McClellan heard of the account, he offered Custer a place on his staff with the temporary rank of captain. In eleven months, Custer had progressed from class "goat" at West Point to membership in the official family of the Republic's most important soldier.

[12] On June 28th, 1863, newly-appointed head of the Army of the Potomac, Major General George G. Meade appointed three captains in the Cavalry Corps as brigadier general in the U.S. Volunteers: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnworth, and George A. Custer. When he traded his captain's bars for brigadier's stars, Custer received command of the Second Brigade of the Third Cavalry Division--known simply as the Michigan Brigade or, to Custer, the Wolverine Brigade. At 23, Custer was commanding an inexperienced unit. Few had ever heard a shot fired, and their discipline and organization was raw. The Wolverine Brigade would get their first lesson in combat as a result of General Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North.

[13] On the afternoon of July 3rd, 1863, the greatest battle waged on American soil neared its climax. JEB Stuart attacked three miles east of Gettysburg hoping to confuse the right flank of the Army of the Potomac, while Major General George E. Pickett was to pierce the Federal center on Cemetery Ridge. Custer was positioned in a supporting role, but in the heat of battle his Wolverines would bear the brunt of Lee's Cavalry. As two rebel forces approached to sweep the Yankees from the field, Custer mustered up half his brigade, the veteran First Michigan, to greet the Confederate masses. Five hundred Yankee troopers to stop more than four times their number, with Custer at the front, he charged, "Come on, you Wolverines!"

[14] By March of 1865, Custer had been appointed to rank of Major General. Smashing the remnants of Early's army at Waynesboro and systematically carving away at Lee's retreating army, the Civil War was drawing to a close with Custer a prominent hero. By April 6th, the bronzed bluecoats composing the Boy General's escort bore thirty-one rebel battle flags--each tattered banner a mute symbol of a destroyed regiment. On April 7th, acting on information acquired from a captured Confederate straggler--and in defiance of orders from his immediate superior, Wesley Merritt--Custer rushed his division forward, throwing it between Lee and his only line of retreat through Appomattox Court House. Lee surrendered on April 9th, 1865.

Indian Fighter

[15] The years from 1867 to 1876 marked a turning point in the career of George Armstrong Custer, as he chased a scattered, mobile foe across the vast plains of America. Kansas would reshape the famous, Civil War Boy General into the buckskin-clad Indian fighter whose death on the Little Bighorn River in 1876 brought mythic immortality. When the Civil War ended, Custer, never tasting failure, had achieved the rank of brevet major general. Foretelling what postwar service would entail, Custer was appointed to lieutenant colonel of the 7th Cavalry regiment and would remain that rank until his death. Custer reported for duty at Fort Riley under the command of General Winfield S. Hancock in his fourteen-hundred-man expedition.

[16] The expedition to protect the southern plains was a failure. If peace was the goal, the overzealous military tactics proved counterproductive. If war was the goal, Hancock's expedition only succeeded in increasing the Indians' anger. Frustration loomed for Custer. The draining marches that tired downtrodden men and broke horses made desertion an epidemic, and the Natives of the plains were an elusive quarry whose mobility mocked the army's plodding pursuit.

[17] On July 15, a discouraged Custer deserted his command at Fort Wallace and set off for Fort Riley to visit his wife, whatever the cost. The cost was an October 11th court-martial at Fort Leavenworth that found Custer guilty as charged on all specifications and sentenced to suspension from rank and pay for one year. Custer had obviously not done well as an Indian fighter in 1867. Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan gave Custer his first duty after suspension, when they determined to visit total war on the Indians. Who better to end hostilities on the plains than George Armstrong Custer?

[18] Custer's first action back found him on a bluff above the Washita with Black Kettle's village of Cheyennes at hand. A masterful attack coordinated at dawn caught the inhabitants of the village sleeping; the battle was over before it started, but the memory of the massacre lives forever. 103 Cheyenne men, women, and children were killed, another 53 taken captive. In the spirit of total war, 875 ponies were slaughtered and all property destroyed. Sheridan applauded the victory on the Washita as decisive, and the American public finally acclaimed Custer as a great Indian fighter.

[19] In February of 1873, the 7th Cavalry was reassigned to the Department of Dakota to ensure the Sioux that resistance to construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad would be futile. These were jolly times for Custer and his troops, who enjoyed matches of baseball, bouts of game hunting, and relatively few encounters with Indians. In July 1874, the 7th was assigned to explore the Black Hills, to determine possible locations for a military post, as well as investigate rumors of gold. During the Black Hills expedition the Indian resistance never materialized. As news of gold in the Black Hills became more rampant nationwide, it was increasingly difficult to keep prospectors from the area and consequently more difficult to uphold the Sioux title. A gold rush would find the treaty broken and Custer in the saddle protecting the land around the Little Bighorn river and American interests. At what cost?

IV. History of the Time

World War II

[20] The German Army that went to war in 1939 implemented a new blitzkrieg style of warfare that rolled over Poland, Norway, Denmark and France faster than Custer ascended to rank of brigadier general. On May 10th, 1940, Germany invaded the lower countries of France. The rest of the world was deathly scared of the encompassing German machine.

[21] In the spring of 1941, "Fortress Europe" was at its height, Great Britain was in severe danger of overthrow, and the United States knew involvement in the war was imminent. The political stance of the United States since WWI had been one of isolationism. In a resurgence for the last hope of Democracy, president Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed America toward internationalism. Great Britain was close to a military collapse, so The United States would be the only hope left for democracy.

[22] Just as Hitler had his form of propaganda, the Americans needed theirs. A resurgence of nationalism was necessary. The American dream needed to be reinvented in the minds of every citizen of the United States. It didn't matter if you stabbed a Nazi in the throat with a bayonet or tied a ribbon on your coat-pocket--everyone participated in the war effort. Each participation increased nationalism. The American public needed to have pride in their country. They needed to feel they had a cause to fight for. They needed a cause to die for. They Died With Their Boots On provided insight on the American cause worthy to die for. What did Custer stand for? What did he die for? Why was Custer willing to sacrifice his life for the good of the nation? The hoped result was that American soldiers participating in the war against the Axis powers would risk sacrificing themselves for the good of the nation.

[23] Where there is atrocity there exists hypocrisy: Hitler's extermination of Jews. With the lightning invasion of Poland, Hitler immediately followed with the liquidation of Jews and the Polish intelligentsia, the enslavement of the local "subhuman" population, and the beginnings of a German colonization. As concerned citizens involved in a growing America, we must ask ourselves, "When has this happened before in history?" Americans landed on a new country, gained independence from Great Britain, then proceeded to remove the "subhuman" population and colonize the land. The colonial era of American history had begun. Colonization entailed, directly or indirectly, the deaths of millions of Native Americans and the dispossession of many more. Searching the issue from a different perspective produces new insight. Is Hitler's "Final Solution" similar to the United States solution for the Native Americans?

[24] I feel that a second intention of They Died With Their Boots On was to decrease the likelihood of making an analogy of this kind. One such analogy would prove harmful to the cause of America in 1941. In a time when America needed a cause to die for--any such degradation of America would be detrimental to national unity. Instead, the movie provides evidence for justification of the United States Government's action against the Indian population of the continent. If extermination and acculturation of the Native Americans was necessary to accomplishing the cause of America, then any action taken toward providing that end is justified. As a representative of America, what sentiment does Custer have toward the Indians? Custer is understanding to the Native American plight and acts as a parallel to the character of Crazy Horse. American soldiers, under Custer, only attack the Indians when provoked, and in the end it is the Indians who massacre the Americans--providing a reason for the American extermination of the Indians after Bighorn to happen. What kind of hypocrisy is it for America to denounce racial extermination, when America is guilty of the crime it accuses?

Japan bombs Pearl Harbor

[25] "Remember Pearl Harbor," a call to arms when meek men needed to build in them the will to fight. The meek men in this instance are the courageous soldiers of the United States, and the fight is war against the machine of Japan. Interesting to note, successive battles against Native American forces following Custer's Last Stand were accompanied with a battle call, "Remember Big Horn." The connection between these two military cries of revenge are too similar to discount. I believe it was a third intention of They Died With Their Boots On to invoke in the American public a resurgent feeling of revenge against opposition, which would ultimately provide justification for any action the United States Government would take against Japan.

U.S. Response to Pearl Harbor

[26] The response of the United States Government against Japan ultimately was the use of the Atomic bomb. Never before had an Atomic bomb been used in military warfare. Never before had the world seen an atrocity of inhumanity such as this. Or have we?

[27] To justify the nuclear response, the American public needed only to go back in history to Custer's massacre at the Little Bighorn River. Fourteen years after Bighorn, the Indian problem was solved. In the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, at Wounded Knee, what remained of the faded hopes of the Native American cause were massacred. American soldiers at the battle against the Sioux were heard to shout, "Remember Custer!" The Last Stand of Custer at Bighorn was used as justification for the massacre of the Native American race. Custer and all his fallen comrades became national martyrs. The cause they died for became the cause the nation should fight for.

[28] More than half a century later, the martyrs changed, but the cause for the fight remained. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they sealed their own doom. The past tells us America's reaction to Pearl Harbor, and the past justifies it. "Remember Pearl Harbor!" "Remember Custer!" Remember the American cause and our fallen heroes!! On August 6th, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb the world had seen was dropped on Hiroshima, killing over 100,000 inhabitants. On August 9th, 1945, the second Atomic Bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing over 60,000 inhabitants. Was American action rightfully justified by the history of the past?

V - History Teaches

[29] What has been learned about our nation's history? Not to trust the words written in history books. To question the intentions of the historian, to read history from a different perspective than intended, to understand how the history of the past resurfaces in the events of the present. What role do movies play in history? History is a narrative that continues to live on. Movies are part of the never-ending story of history. Whether completely truthful or total fiction, the portrayal of history in film creates feelings associated with the historical occurrences presented. How do these feelings shape the attitudes of a nation? If the depiction of history is false, the attitude is shaped that way. Regardless of whether the history is deemed true or fiction, we should always question it.

Comments

Lisa Wright 5/17/15

[1] I’d like to expand on Doug’s assessment of why They Died with Their Boots On was created: “The most important aspect They Died with Their Boots On created was a reason for United States soldiers to die, fighting for the American cause.” True, the film was strategically released in November 1941 when America was poised to enter WWII; the timing was undoubtedly no accident as the film’s overall theme is the life of the heroic legend George Armstrong Custer who valiantly sacrifices himself in the name of country, duty, and glory. But what is it about this sacrifice that resonates so strongly with the American public? It is not as if Custer prevails, victoriously walking off the field while he steps over (or on) the bodies of his vanquished foes, free to spend the rest of his days as a decorated war hero safe within the arms of his loving wife Libby. The story of Custer is quite the opposite; although if one considers history, eventually the United States did prevail in the war with the Indians as we, over time, forced them to abandon the land that was rightfully theirs in the name of Western expansion. However, this still does not change the fact that in 1876, Custer not only lost the battle but lost his life (and the lives of the Seventh Cavalry) in the pursuit of victory over a “savage” enemy.

[2] There are many important things to consider when trying to define the purpose of a film based on such a well-known historic event as the Battle of Little Bighorn: one is the context of when it was created. At the time, westerns were becoming an extremely popular genre among moviegoers. Therefore, the choice to present a heroic American story to inspire a nation on the brink of war, and in the form of a Western no less, was not that strange. However, this film was also made at a time when the country was emerging from the hardships of the depression, and needed a story about prevailing in the face of overwhelming odds. At this time, the Custer myth was already embedded in America’s collective consciousness, existing as a courageous representation of an early American hero. Thus, the pre-existing Custer myth was ripe for the taking within a historical context of a country seeking positive reinforcement, a boost of morale, and, most importantly, a good old-fashioned dose of patriotism.

[3] Another thing to consider is how They Died with Their Boots On chose to present Custer, his enemies (Indian and otherwise), and the battle itself. Even the most cursory examinations of history reveal the many errors and inconsistencies existing in the film. However, it was not the purpose of this film to critically and accurately examine the history of the Battle of Little Bighorn, or the conduct of Custer, or the role of the U.S. Army. Neither was it meant to critique (or applaud), the policies of the U.S. government during the time of Manifest Destiny. It was also not the purpose of this film to present its audience with facts. It was, however, the intention of the film to entertain and inspire. The surest way to do this was to present an already well established myth, comfortably situated within the American cultural consciousness. This is why Custer is depicted as the dashing, handsome, and charismatic soldier who has the capacity to inspire men to follow himâ€"even to the death. This, coupled with the film’s way of emphasizing his lack of success at West Point and his troubles with the U.S. Army, paint Custer as a lovable underdog from the start that we can’t help but cheer for in spite of his occasional arrogance. Therefore, when faced with a dangerous and overwhelming situation at Little Bighorn, Custer is forced, as he is throughout his life, to overcome the odds. This is something that is an indomitable part of the American spirit, and it is no surprise that the filmmakers would choose to represent Custer in this way. This is not to say that there are no other “good guys” in the film, it is just that everyone else is in shades of gray (even the enemy Indians, who are supposed to be the “bad guys”), whereas Custer is, even with his faults, portrayed as being figuratively garbed in the whitest white.

[4] Throughout the years following the Battle of Little Bighorn and leading up to Custer’s portrayal in They Died with Their Boots On, the Custer myth underwent many transformations in American pop culture. The history of the battle itself, and the role Custer played in it, was both distorted and elevated in the minds of many who sought to find the truth of what happened on that day in 1876. However, one thing is for certain: the legend of Custer remained a vital part of the American ethos whether it was positively or negatively portrayed, and, in 1941, it was called upon once again to touch the minds and hearts of American moviegoers. It was not meant as propaganda to encourage Americans to willingly sacrifice themselves for their countryâ€" but to inspire them to be the “good guy,” to have courage, to lead, and, if the situation called for itâ€"to die with their boots on.