Just saw a program on the History Channel in which two guys use spent cartridge cases found at Custer National Battlefield Park, grouped together according to the rifle that fired them, to trace the actual action on the field - absolutely fascinating.

The show is "Battlefield Detectives" and it's just incredibly interesting. There was a scene where one of the crew had just dug up an unspent Springfield carbine round - the last time a human hand had touched it was during the last panic of some unknown trooper trying to get it in the chamber of his rifle, his fumbling hands unable to do so. The crewman's hands were trembling as he held the round. Very dramatic.

Not only is emotional pitch of the show just perfect, but the results of the forensics work are also extremely interesting. The Custer fight was basically this - rout of the right wing of skirmishers by warriors with rapid-fire Henry rifles, retreat of the one-in-six who survived that to Last Stand Hill, a short-lived tornado of killing as most of the troopers on the hill fell, including Custer, then a final flight into a nearby ravine of the few remaining survivors, who were annihilated by warriors on both banks. There was no heroic "last stand" - rather a general rout that lasted only a few minutes. The oral histories of the plains tribes were confirmed in detail by the forensics work.