That leader had quickly saddled his favorite war pony and was
starting with his young men for the south end of the camp, when a
fresh alarm came from the opposite direction, and looking up, he
saw Custer's force upon the top of the bluff directly across the
river. As quick as a flash, he took in the situation -- the enemy
had planned to attack the camp at both ends at once; and knowing
that Custer could not ford the river at that point, he instantly
led his men northward to the ford to cut him off. The Cheyennes
followed closely. Custer must have seen that wonderful dash up the
sage-bush plain, and one wonders whether he realized its meaning.
In a very few minutes, this wild general of the plains had
outwitted one of the most brilliant leaders of the Civil War and
ended at once his military career and his life.

In this dashing charge, Crazy Horse snatched his most famous
victory out of what seemed frightful peril, for the Sioux could not
know how many were behind Custer. He was caught in his own trap.
To the soldiers it must have seemed as if the Indians rose up from
the earth to overwhelm them. They closed in from three sides and
fought until not a white man was left alive. Then they went down
to Reno's stand and found him so well intrenched in a deep gully
that it was impossible to dislodge him. Gall and his men held him
there until the approach of General Terry compelled the Sioux to
break camp and scatter in different directions.

While Sitting Bull was pursued into Canada, Crazy Horse and
the Cheyennes wandered about, comparatively undisturbed, during the
rest of that year, until in the winter the army surprised the
Cheyennes, but did not do them much harm, possibly because they