Custer’s Last Stand
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand.In 1876 a dispute between the American federal government and Native Americans over land rights led to an armed conflict now known as the Great Sioux War. An expeditionary federal force was sent out to coerce the Native Americans into reservations, and away from the gold reserves recently discovered in their traditional homelands.One of the officers in this expeditionary force was a Civil War hero, George Custer. While en route to his arranged rendezvous, Custer unexpectedly encountered a large group of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. Disobeying orders, he decided to attack. Barely half an hour later, he and all 200 of his men lay dead. Custer’s Last Stand has become one of the most famous and closely studied military engagements in American history.
Guests
- Kathleen Burk
11 episodes
Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College, London -
Adam Smith No other episodes
Senior Lecturer in American History at University College London - Saul David
4 episodes
Professor of War Studies at the University of Buckingham
Related episodes
-
The Battle of Bosworth Field
26 Apr, 2012 940 History of Europe -
The Battle of Bannockburn
3 Feb, 2011 940 History of Europe -
The Zulu Nation’s Rise and Fall
15 Apr, 2010 960 History of Africa -
The War of 1812
31 Jan, 2013 970 History of North America -
The Charge of the Light Brigade
10 Jan, 2008 940 History of Europe -
Napoleon’s Retreat from Moscow
19 Sep, 2019 940 History of Europe -
President Ulysses S Grant
30 May, 2019 970 History of North America -
The Mexican-American War
28 Jun, 2018 970 History of North America -
The American West
13 Jun, 2002 970 History of North America -
The Battle of Crécy
13 Apr, 2023 940 History of Europe -
The Siege of Tenochtitlan
27 Oct, 2011 970 History of North America -
The Glencoe Massacre
21 Jan, 2010 940 History of Europe -
Thermopylae
5 Feb, 2004 930 History of the Ancient World -
The Gettysburg Address
26 May, 2016 970 History of North America -
The Indian Mutiny
18 Feb, 2010 950 History of Asia -
The Battle of Lincoln 1217
4 May, 2017 940 History of Europe -
The Battle of Tours
16 Jan, 2014 940 History of Europe -
Napoleon and Wellington
25 Oct, 2001 940 History of Europe -
The Highland Clearances
8 Mar, 2018 940 History of Europe -
The Battle of Trafalgar
2 Dec, 2021 900 History
Programme ID: b0112xfd
Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd
Auto-category: 973 (United States history)