Ummm, they weren't escaping, Crazy Horse was retrograde moving around the backside of that hill and beat him to the top. Custer was not destined to be "King of the Hill" that day...
Crows were good scouts, but the Sioux made war on them all the time and drove them out of the Powder River basin and into the mountains. Sounds to me they were good at finding the Sioux, or the Sioux finding them, but maybe not so good at gleaning intentions...
I think you are completely misunderstanding my post. I said Custer was “only“ concerned with the Native Americans escaping, regardless of the intel he had (of which there was enough to understand a delay of at least a day was in order). But where would the glory be in prudent leadership.
This is why he divided his force into three columns, with CPT Benteen cutting off the Southern escape route, MAJ Reno conducting his attack, and Custer swinging North to cut off that escape route. He sat for over 30 mins after dispatching a message to Benteen to rejoin him. There is evidence he planned to duplicate the tactics he used against Chief Black Kettle years earlier and grab non combatant hostages. The location where he waited is in the low ground towards what is now I-90. The newest evidence points to the thesis that Custer’s command was calm and under control until the fatal last 30 minutes.
As for Crazy Horse, he did not beat Custer to the hill, but essentially won the battle well before that event. I have toured the battlefield probably 10 times, from the 80’s until my last time in 2016. My extended family lives in the area, a scant two hours away. It is always a fascinating experience. Walking Crazy Horse’s probable route through the low ground really gives one a great feel for how blind everyone was during the battle. And that is without black powder smoke all over the place. Here is how I believe the Crazy Horse part happened based on the latest studies......
Crazy Horse arrives with his mounted warriors too late to help repulse Reno, who is already scrambling for his life up what would be called Reno’s hill. According to native sources, Crazy Horse is mocked by the warriors who had participated for being late. Deeply shamed, Crazy Horse moves North with his men, fordes the river, and at speed negotiates the low ground through the rolling hills and ridges. He is moving to the sound of very heavy gunfire vicinity Last Stand Hill, where Custer has found himself driven by a large attack from the north end of the village. Due to the lack of visibility and situational awareness, Crazy Horse amd his mounted warriors unintentionally slam at the gallop right into India Company, deployed in a dismounted skirmish line vicinity Calhoun hill / ridge. Native Americans never conducted mounted charges, instead just skirmishing at distance. The cost of losing a Warrior was too high a price for a tribe to waste on charges. This accidental collision completely routs the already hard pressed India Company, and they immediately flee towards the only friendly forces they see......Custer fighting on Last Stand Hill (LSH). Crazy Horse and his mounted warriors are among them as they flee, and very few I Co Troopers make it to the hill, if any. Now, there is an easy path to the backside of LSH. At the battlefield, there are informative paintings in weather protected stands that explain this. What is cool is that it is a painting of the battle with the exact same aspect that you are looking at, terrain wise.
At this point it was a short siege. About 40 members from E Company attempt a break out from LSH, but fail. The final moments of Custer are essentially unknown, with multiple accounts given by Native American witnesses.
