AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Custer’s Last Stand Preview

This two-hour biography of one of the most charismatic and contradictory American leaders of the 19th century takes viewers on a journey from Custer’s memorable charge at Gettysburg to his lonely death on the windswept Plains of the West. Along the way, viewers learn how this supremely ambitious son of a blacksmith ricocheted from triumph to disaster, from battlefield heroism to impetuous escapade. In the end, Custer’s reputation was saved by the wife he adored, who almost single-handedly turned the Battle of the Little Bighorn into one of the most iconic events in American history and mythologized Custer’s role — turning it into a tale of heroic sacrifice with only the most noble of motives. Learn more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/custer/