Battle of the Little Bighorn Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of US forces, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in
2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States) and was spread out, often with only one troop occupying a post. In December 1866, 25 troopers of the 2nd Cavalry under LT George W. Grummond accompanied CPT William J. Fetterman in his expedition against Chief Red Cloud. In northern Wyoming, these 81 men were engaged by a force of roughly 1,000 Indians, where they were all massacred in a desperate battle. On 29 June 1867, a small party of 10 troopers and 1 Indian scout under LT Lyman Kidder were ordered to take dispatches from General William Sherman to LTC George A. Custer. Custer grew impatient and moved out