June is an important month for militarily historic events. Many monumental battles and campaigns have happened in June. Why June? In the northern latitudes, June coincides with better, warmer weather, and more daylight. Ideal conditions for military operations.
For me, and I suspect some of you too, June is the month when two of my most enduring military history fascinations occurred: On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa began, and on June 25, 1876, elements of the 7th United States Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col. George A. Custer were annihilated by Lakota, Dakota, Arapahoe and Cheyenne warriors in southeastern Montana.
More than 65 years separates these events, much more. Yet both had earth-shattering implications for the participants in their own way. Barbarossa, the Third Reich’s invasion of the Soviet Union, began on June 22, 1941, but the chaos and destruction it prepended would last more than four agonizing years and cost somewhere in the vicinity of 30 million Soviet lives and about 6 million German lives. Nothing in the history of human warfare compares to the misery and horror that began on that innocent morning in June.
By contrast, the 7th U.S. Cavalry’s defeat on the Little Big Horn River was a miniscule affair. The five troops under Custer’s command on June 25, 1876, consisting of about 210 troopers all perished, among them of course Armstrong Custer himself. In terms of casualties Little Big Horn was a minor affair. Yet its legacy continues to fascinate and perplex succeeding generations 148 years later.
For the native American communities involved, Little Big Horn was monumental. The decisive victory marked the apex of the Lakota and Cheyenne’s determined efforts to defy the United States government and live the way their ancestors lived, free and self-reliant, on the land of their choosing. For the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, it was a supreme victory over the feared and despised troopers who perpetually threatened their families and culture with destruction. Despite the tactical victory that hot, sunny day in June, tribal elders knew that there would be more soldiers and more Custers to fight, and that their days of living the old way were numbered. Even Crazy Horse, the most defiant and fiercely proud Ogalala Lakota warrior, had ominous premonitions of the days to come.
Two days in June. Two days that shook the world and resound through the years to us today. I’ll post more on each event in the coming days.
Military History Topics 