Along with the Alamo, Custer’s Last Stand might be the most famous losing battle fought. Custer, a brilliant military leader, fought in the Civil War and then was tapped to lead the U.S. military show of force against the Plains Indians. His mission took on an added dimension when one of the contested territories between the settlers and the Indians, the Black Hills of South Dakota, was found to contain gold.

On this day, June 25, in 1867, Custer’s force of 750 attacked an Indian army at the mouth of the Little Big Horn river. Custer’s was a small advance group, and he was was supposed to wait for reinforcements before commencing any hostilities himself, but rumors of the nearby presence of Chief Sitting Bull, the leader of the Indian tribes opposing the settlers, made Custer rush his attack.

Chief Sitting Bull was ready, and Custer’s men were encircled immediately after crossing the river. Custer himself never made it out alive; his body, along with that of his brother were found days later when the bulk of the army arrived. Stories of his heroic fall galvanized American public opinion, and troops poured into the Black Hills to avenge him.