While I was driving through the Little Bighorn battlefield I stopped at various pull-offs along the way and got out of the car to read the informational plaques that were placed there. I was able to see the areas described on the plaques and get a better idea of the wide open spaces where the fighting occurred. The fallen infantrymen of the US Army were buried where they fell and the white stones were placed to mark their graves. The hillsides were dotted with these graves. Eventually, when the national cemetery was established on the grounds, the soldiers were reburied there. A large memorial was erected to commemorate the battle and under the original memorial the bodies of the horses that perished during the battle were buried. The surrounding terrain offered no cover for the soldiers and the horses were used in many cases as shields for the soldiers. A very sobering thought.
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