The gully below was full of Indians, and these sent a murderous fire
at Custer as he came. His horses swerved, but several ran right on and
disappeared, horse and rider in the sunken ditch, as did Napoleon’s
men at Waterloo.

The mad, headlong charge hesitated. The cottonwoods, the water and the
teepees were a hundred yards away.

Custer glanced back, and a mile distant saw Reno’s soldiers galloping
wildly up the steep slope of the hill.

Reno’s charge had failed—instead of riding straight down through the
length of the village and meeting Custer, he had gotten only fifty
rods, and then had been met by a steady fire from Indians who held
their ground. He wedged them back, but his horses, already overridden,
refused to go on, and the charging troops were simply carried out of
the woods into the open, and once there they took to the hills for
safety, leaving behind, dead, one-third of their force.

Custer quickly realized the hopelessness of charging alone into a mass
of Indians, who were exultant and savage in the thought of victory.
Panic was not for them.

-------------------------------------

They were armed with Springfield rifles, while the soldiers had only
short-range carbines.

The bugles now ordered a retreat, and Custer’s men rode back to the