Which 1876 battle saw Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho forces defeat the U.S. 7th Cavalry?

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the 1876 battle in which Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho forces defeated the U.S. 7th Cavalry.

The battle took place on June 25–26, 1876, in present-day Montana during the Great Sioux War of 1876. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer led five companies of the 7th Cavalry into a large Native encampment. Custer and every soldier in the five companies were killed, while other U.S. troops under Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen survived the wider engagement.

The Native coalition included prominent leaders such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, although battlefield command was distributed and the forces were not a conventional unified army. The victory became known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” but that phrase describes only part of the battle. The U.S. government later intensified military pressure, and most Lakota ultimately lost their freedom to remain outside reservations.