"According to a new documentary on George Armstrong Custer, some of the seeds of the tragedy that occurred at the Battle of the Little Big Horn actually began eight years earlier.

That’s when Custer took part in the Battle of Washita, a conflict in which Maj. Joe Elliott, an officer with the U.S. 7th Calvary, was killed. Some of the other officers, including Frederick Benteen, resented Custer for leaving the scene without learning the fate of Elliott and his men.

“As a (soldier) the cardinal sin is leaving your men dead or alive on the field of battle,” says documentarian Stephen Ives. “For a lot of complicated reasons, that’s what Custer did, and it would come back to haunt him.”

Ives’ documentary, “Custer’s Last Stand,” is part of the PBS American Experience series. It will air at 7 p.m. Tuesday on SDPTV."

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Jill Callison: TV show unravels Custer's motives (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 1/11)