Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
From what I remember, Custer was a day or two ahead of the artillery and gatlings. He was, essentially, showboating. Seizing an opportunity for glory against what he believed to be an ill-disciplined, outnumbered, under equiped opponent. He was going to "take the initiative" and neatly rout them all on his own. If he had waited a day or two, the outcome could have been far different. But he would have had to have shared the glory. He wasn't that kind of guy.
|
Not showboating, gambling. He felt he could never catch up to his opponent if he was lugging his big guns along with him.
As Patton would later say,
"Nothing is impossible in war provided that it is executed with audacity."
That was the premise Custer was operating under IMO. Little did he know they were already waiting for him en masse...
His biggest mistake, IMO, was splitting his forces.