They Died with Their Boots On
The film “They died with their boots on” released in 1941, is among those who have represented history in a very inaccurate way and an exaggerated manner. Most of the aspects and concerns in the film do not give the accurate picture of what happened in the historical American civil war and the conflict between the early government and the native Americans. Therefore, this paper will explore ways in which the film has quintessentially inaccurately represented history and areas where it depicted history as it happened.
The names of the characters used in the film are real people that is George Armstrong Custer was a United States general, the crazy Horse was the chief of the Sioux during that time, and Cadet Sharp was an individual in Viewpoint. The names of the places mentioned in the film are factual for example the Black hills and the places where war was waged is factual. This is in the case of the United states civil war was fought, the battle of Little Bighorn, The Great Sioux War, and the Treaty of Fort Laramie was a real treaty between the united states and the native Indians on the matter of the Black Hills.
The character of Custer and that of Sharp are exaggerated in the manner that the military records indicated on the issues of civil war and the battle of Little Bighorn as fought by the real Custer are fabricated and exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The feat of Custer which has commonly been branded as the “Custer Last stand” in the movie is represented in an exaggerated version will be indicated later. The film seems to make the audience like the lead character who is Custer by depicting him as being well off. He is represented as having reported to the military academy at WestPoint dressed by a plumed hat, knee-boots like those of the pirates, pack of dogs and an accessorized sword by his waist. This flamboyant depiction of Custer is fictional and is aimed at giving credit to the lead character by making him stand out from the rest of the cadets dressed as the normal 1897 folk. This is wrong because historical records show that Custer grew up in a humble middle-class house hold and had attended the academy on scholarship.
The film's retelling of the early adventures of the Custer are highly fictional and imagined. The exploits on Custer’s career path are wrong represented and the details of the battle fields are highly fudged. The demerits which Custer accumulate after joining the academy by punching Sharp and being brought to Superintendent Sheridan were pranks. The demerits accumulated by Custer after being made the guardian angel by the superintended are all pranks. This is because the united states military records do not indicate that Sheridan was at once a superintendent at WestPoint. However, it is factual that Custer and the rest of the Cadets had to graduate early after the break of the civil war (Parrish, 2002). The film here makes the connection of history in linking the civil war and the life and the exploits Custer.
The first battle win which Custer is involved is an exaggeration where he is depicted as having led the regiment to win through insubordination. The battle is depicted as having deteriorated out of control after an administrative mistake where Custer takes control and leads the regiment to win the battle. However, Custer did not lead the charge with the regiments. The chronology of events in the movie gets it wrong with the medal in which Custer was given since the medal was not made until 42 years later (Larson, 2009). This is a motive by the producers to give credit to the lead character as a war hero. Also, it is depicted that Custer led the regiment of the Union into defeating JEB Stuart but in a real sense, he was fundamental in defeating Stuart, which is an attempt by Custer to support the Pickett’s charge.
There are several instances which the film recreates its one dates to give other characters a better role in the film. It can be determined for the film that the extension of the term of Winfield Scott as the commander general is for that Sydney Green street can have an advanced role. After the war, in the film, Custer is described as having returned home as a hero and married Elizabeth on the same day, with the approval of Mr. Bacon. This follows the earlier scenes where Custer met Elizabeth during his punishment walk in Viewpoint. However, Custer did not meet Elizabeth at the View point, and she was not a relative of Sheridan as indicated in the film. After being married goes into depression, having a drinking problem and a mullet. It cannot be determined whether the whole issue is factual or that it issued to develop the script of the film. According to ("Custerology: the enduring legacy of the Indian wars and George Armstrong Custer," 2008), this is primarily because an embarrassing incident in 1862, Custer has sworn off from drinking alcohol and smoking. This is later as the film depicts Custer as sinking into depression in 1865 and resulting to alcohol. This used in the film to as the reason why he is deployed to the Dakota frontier where the film delves into imaginative hostile tribes and a land of ne’er-do-wells.
In the film, Custer is depicted as being sympathetic to the native Indian in that he leads a peace initiative with the Lakota Sioux nation. However, his intentions of making peace with the native Indians is thwarted by a shrewd business man Ned Sharp, who spread the rumors that there is gold in the Black Hills. It is historically correct that the native Indians attempted to protect the areas of the Black Hills because it was sacred to them. The film in an attempt create a villain for the climax of the movie, brings Sharp into the picture. Prospectors and investor flocked into the area and violated the Treaty of Fort Laramie leading to war. Sharp in this context is fictional, and the person who was responsible for the gold rush and the start of the Great Sioux War was Custer himself (Bernholz & Pytlik Zillig, 2010). However, it is true that the Black Hills had gold deposits in them and many investors had shown interest in it. In the war, it can be determined that Custer sends an English soldier from the ranks stating that it is an American war and Europeans are not needed. This is that he is the only English man in the 7th rank. However, it is improbable because there were probably hundreds of Englishmen in each rank fighting in the American civil war and the battles after that. Custer is depicted in the film as being the defender in chief of the native Indians while he engineered the ouster of the Indians for the Black hills after the discovery of gold there (Bernholz & Pytlik Zillig, 2010).
The climax of the film depicts what is expected of a thrilling film, of people on horse backs shooting at each other. This is expected of a film even though there are intense actions which are done thorough stunts. It is historically incorrect for the events which culminated in the battle of Little Bighorn. It paints Custer in good light as the defender of the native Indians and entering the war since he had no choice. He is depicted in the film marching into the battle ground as a show of sacrifice for the what had culminated on the invasion of the Black Hills. However, it can be determined that Custer did not enter the war with the interest of native Indians, but he did so with much arrogance and rash to win the area from the Indians. It was not a show of nobility as depicted in the film but a treasure quest for Custer and his group of investors. The troops descending to the Indian village are shown as having sabers and the Indians having repeating rifles ("A terrible glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn--the last great battle of the American West," 2009).
It is historically incorrect in that none of the troops by then would have carried a saber at war and the Indians had a variety of weapons including the reappearing rifles. In the battle, Custer is shown as the last white man standing, but it highly likely that Custer was killed earlier in the battle. This is in the aspect that he was not the last to die and the killer short fired by Crazy Horse was probably among those which other Indians were participating. At the end of the film, Libby Custer submits Custer’s last letter which indicates the corrupt railway company and names of people who had conspired to start the Great Sioux War("A terrible glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn--the last great battle of the American West," 2009). The letter is handed over to Sheridan who promises that he will carry out Custer’s last dying wish and gives a guarantee that Indians can keep the Black Hills. However, it is widely known that this is the Sheridan who had quipped that “the only good Indian, is a dead Indian.” However, Custer’s death has been regarded as the turning point from the mistreatment of Indians.
In conclusion, the film has a reckless white washing of history, and it can be classified as a film which is for entertainment rather than being informative. However, George Custer is an individual who can be used to embody white imperialism(historically) and a frontier hero (in the film). The films have a double intent in that it incorporates historical events and personalities with the entertainment props to come up with a thrilling film, however, to a larger extent, the film is overblown and over dressed in its retelling of the life of George Custer.
References
A terrible glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn--the last great battle of the American West. (2009). Choice Reviews Online, 46(07), 46-4025-46-4025. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.46-4025
Bernholz, C., & Pytlik Zillig, B. (2010). Comparing nearly identical treaty texts: a note on the Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux, etc., 1851 and Levenshtein's edit distance metric. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 26(1), 5-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqq016
Custerology: the enduring legacy of the Indian wars and George Armstrong Custer. (2008). Choice Reviews Online, 46(02), 46-1082-46-1082. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.46-1082
Larson, D. (2009). The Battle of Bull Run. American Scientist, 97(3), 182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1511/2009.78.182
Parrish, T. (2002). The American Civil War: Literary Sources and Documents (review). Civil War History, 48(3), 274-275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cwh.2002.0042
Walsh, p. (1941). "They Died with Their Boots On." United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.
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