<P> Historian Robert M. Utley, in a section entitled "Would Gatling Guns Have Saved Custer?" presents two judgments from Custer's contemporaries: General Henry J. Hunt, expert in the tactical use of artillery in Civil War, stated that Gatlings "would probably have saved the command", whereas General Nelson A. Miles, participant in the Great Sioux War declared "(Gatlings) were useless for Indian fighting ." </P> <P> The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors that opposed Custer's forces possessed a wide array of weaponry, from Stone Age war clubs and lances to the most advanced firearms of the day . The typical firearms carried by the Lakota and Cheyenne combatants were muzzleloaders, more often a cap - lock smoothbore, the so - called Indian trade musket or Leman guns distributed to Indians by the US government at treaty conventions . Less common were surplus . 58 caliber rifled muskets of American Civil War vintage such as the Enfield and Springfield . Metal cartridge weapons were prized by native combatants, such as the Henry and the Spencer lever - action rifles, as well as Sharps breechloaders . Bows and arrows were utilized by younger braves in lieu of the more potent firearms; effective up to 30 yards (27 meters), the arrows could readily maim or disable an opponent . </P> <P> Sitting Bull's forces had no assured means to supply themselves with firearms and ammunition . Nonetheless, they could usually procure these through post-traders, licensed or unlicensed, and from gunrunners who operated in the Dakota Territory: "...a horse or a mule for a repeater...buffalo hides for ammunition ." Custer's highly regarded guide, "Lonesome" Charley Reynolds, informed his superior in early 1876 that Sitting Bull's forces were amassing weapons, including numerous Winchester repeating rifles and abundant ammunition . </P> <P> Of the guns owned by Lakota and Cheyenne fighters at the Little Bighorn, approximately 200 were repeating rifles corresponding to about 1 of 10 of the encampment's two thousand able - bodied fighters who participated in the battle </P>

Why did the battle of little bighorn begin