My Life on the Plains: or, Personal Experiences with Indians"A graphic word picture of the experiences of one of the most controversial and publicized Indian Fighters the United States Army has ever produced." Military History When General Custer led his troops to annihilation in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, he was possibly the most notorious Indian fighter the army had known. In his own time, he achieved much of his fame as a daring soldier from his own published accounts of his adventures.