[31], By the time of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, half of the 7th Cavalry's companies had just returned from 18 months of constabulary duty in the Deep South, having been recalled to Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory to reassemble the regiment for the campaign. In 1890, marble blocks were added to mark the places where the U.S. cavalry soldiers fell. Custer's wife, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, in particular, guarded and promoted the ideal of him as the gallant hero, attacking any who cast an ill light on his reputation. Some historians believe that part of Custer's force descended the coulee, going west to the river and attempting unsuccessfully to cross into the village. "The case for a Custer Battalion survivor: Private Gustave Korns story". Soon the number of warriors amounted to only about 600. [67] By the time troops came to recover the bodies, the Lakota and Cheyenne had already removed most of their own dead from the field. Crow chief Plenty Coups recalled with amazement how his tribe now finally could sleep without fear for Lakota attacks: "this was the first time I had ever known such a condition. The only approach to a line was where 5 or 6 [dead] horses found at equal distances, like skirmishers [part of Lt. Calhoun's Company L]. [citation needed] When Reno came into the open in front of the south end of the village, he sent his Arikara/Ree and Crow Indian scouts forward on his exposed left flank. WebCapt. Lieutenant William Low, commander of the artillery detachment, was said to have almost wept when he learned he had been excluded from the strike force. WebWASHINGTON Historical accounts of the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn report that many of Gen. George Custers 7th Cavalry soldiers shot themselves to avoid being killed by [18], In the latter half of the 19th century, tensions increased between the Native inhabitants of the Great Plains of the US and encroaching settlers. Minneconjou: Chief Hump, Black Moon, Red Horse, Makes Room, Looks Up, Sans Arc: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man, Lower Yanktonai: Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree, Arapahoes: Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird, In 1896, Anheuser-Busch commissioned from Otto Becker a lithographed, modified version of Cassilly Adams' painting, A fictionalized version of the battle is depicted in the 2006 video game. "Custer's Last Stand" redirects here. [27] During a Sun Dance around June 5, 1876, on Rosebud Creek in Montana, Sitting Bull, the spiritual leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota, reportedly had a vision of "soldiers falling into his camp like grasshoppers from the sky. [203] With the ejector failure in US Army tests as low as 1:300, the Springfield carbine was vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading Springfields used in the Civil War. [48]:255259 E Company rushed off Custer Hill toward the Little Bighorn River but failed to reach it, which resulted in the destruction of that company. Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were wiped out and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. However, I believe that by the time of the Indian Wars the Army viewed the lever-actions weapons as under-powered novelty weapons and that they were equipping their men to fight wars against European equipped enemies or to re-fight the Civil War. ", Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Custer knew he had to move quickly to accomplish his objective. ", Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "It has been estimated that perhaps 200 repeating rifles were possessed by the Indians, nearly one for each [man in Custer's battalion].". [190], Historian Michael L. Lawson offers a scenario based on archaeological collections at the "Henryville" site, which yielded plentiful Henry rifle cartridge casings from approximately 20 individual guns. [20] There were numerous skirmishes between the Sioux and Crow tribes,[21] so when the Sioux were in the valley in 1876 without the consent of the Crow tribe,[22] the Crow supported the US Army to expel the Sioux (e.g., Crows enlisted as Army scouts[23] and Crow warriors would fight in the nearby Battle of the Rosebud[24]). [64] The retreat was immediately disrupted by Cheyenne attacks at close quarters. Hearings on the name change were held in Billings on June 10, 1991, and during the following months Congress renamed the site the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt, Neil Mangum. WebThat third family we just referred to, was Emanuel and Maria Custer of Monroe, Michigan who lost five family members at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana on June 25th, 1876. Lawson, 2007, pp. Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "On a final note: the Springfield carbine remained the official cavalry firearm until the early 1890s". Three companies were placed under the command of Major Marcus Reno (A, G, and M) and three were placed under the command of Captain Frederick Benteen (H, D, and K). [60] Realizing the full extent of the village's width, Reno quickly suspected what he would later call "a trap" and stopped a few hundred yards short of the encampment. Benteen was actively engaged in fighting throughout the Civil War, primarily in the western theater. ", Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "The Springfield had won out over many other American and foreign rifles, some of them repeaters, after extensive testing supervised by an army board that had included Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry.". Public response to the Great Sioux War varied in the immediate aftermath of the battle. [223] A few even published autobiographies that detailed their deeds at the Little Bighorn. Many of the survivors' accounts use the Lone Teepee as a point of reference for event times or distances. [204][205], Gallear addresses the post-battle testimony concerning the copper .45-55 cartridges supplied to the troops in which an officer is said to have cleared the chambers of spent cartridges for a number of Springfield carbines. Reno's Arikara scout, Bloody Knife, was shot in the head, splattering brains and blood onto Reno's face. When some stray Indian warriors sighted a few 7th Cavalrymen, Custer assumed that they would rush to warn their village, causing the residents to scatter. Custer's body was found with two gunshot wounds, one to his left chest and the other to his left temple. I think that they were panic stricken; it was a rout, as I said before. This conclusion is supported by evidence from archaeological studies performed at the battlefield, where the recovery of Springfield cartridge casing, bearing tell-tale scratch marks indicating manual extraction, were rare. To say or write such put one in the position of standing against bereaved Libbie". [177], Of the guns owned by Lakota and Cheyenne fighters at the Little Bighorn, approximately 200 were repeating rifles,[178] corresponding to about 1 of 10 of the encampment's two thousand able-bodied fighters who participated in the battle. Finally, Custer may have assumed when he encountered the Native Americans that his subordinate Benteen, who was with the pack train, would provide support. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. They approved a measure to increase the size of cavalry companies to 100 enlisted men on July 24. Each trooper had 24 rounds for his Colt handgun. Jamming caused by black powder residue could lower that rate,[162][163] raising questions as to their reliability under combat conditions. [201], Whether the reported malfunction of the Model 1873 Springfield carbine issued to the 7th Cavalry contributed to their defeat has been debated for years. WebIsaiah Dorman: The Only African American Killed at the Little Bighorn Commander Terry, stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, ordered Fort Rice Commander Major Whistler to send mail to Fort Wadsworth where it could be forwarded with their mail to headquarters. [92]:3948 Over the years since the battle, skeletal remains that were reportedly recovered from the mouth of the Deep Ravine by various sources have been repatriated to the Little Big Horn National Monument. Other Indian leaders displayed equal courage and tactical skill. 268 Soldiers and attached personnel of the Seventh Cavalry killed in the ", Sklenar, 2000, pp. They were later joined there by the steamboat Far West, which was loaded with 200 tons of supplies from Fort Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and London, 1982, pp. Although Custer was criticized after the battle for not having accepted reinforcements and for dividing his forces, it appears that he had accepted the same official government estimates of hostiles in the area which Terry and Gibbon had also accepted. Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "not a wide disparity" in arms of the opposing forces. Knowing this location helps establish the pattern of the Indians' movements to the encampment on the river where the soldiers found them. ), Ultimately, however, much of the understanding of this most famous portion of the battle is the product of conjecture, and the popular perception of it remains shrouded in myth. They blamed the defeat on the Indians' alleged possession of numerous repeating rifles and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the warriors. We stood there a long time. Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield, Muster Rolls of 7th U.S. Cavalry, June 25, 1876, Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association, Kenneth M. Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Charles Kuhlman collection on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, MSS 1401, Timeline of pre-statehood Montana history, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&oldid=1141042286, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Articles needing additional references from December 2013, All articles needing additional references, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory, 55 wounded (6 of whom later died of wounds). So, protected from moths and souvenir hunters by his humidity-controlled glass case, Comanche stands patiently, enduring generation after generation of undergraduate jokes. Some historians have suggested that what Weir witnessed was a fight on what is now called Calhoun Hill, some minutes earlier. [216] At least 125 alleged "single survivor" tales have been confirmed in the historical record as of July 2012. WebIt may not be Gen. George Armstrong Custer, who died in 1876 along with his 267 soldiers at the hands of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at the Little Bighorn in Montana. Evidence from the 1920s supports the theory that at least one of the companies made a feint attack southwest from Nye-Cartwright Ridge straight down the center of the "V" formed by the intersection at the crossing of Medicine Tail Coulee on the right and Calhoun Coulee on the left. Custer's Last Stand. Reno's force crossed the Little Bighorn at the mouth of what is today Reno Creek around 3:00pm on June 25. Locke on Battle Ridge looking toward Last Stand Hill (top center). Reconstructions of their actions have been formulated using both the accounts of Native American eyewitnesses and sophisticated analysis of archaeological evidence (cartridge cases, bullets, arrowheads, gun fragments, buttons, human bones, etc. Some Scouts would have been armed with both types of weapons plus a variety of side arms. The Army's coordination and planning began to go awry on June 17, 1876, when Crook's column retreated after the Battle of the Rosebud, just 30 miles (48km) to the southeast of the eventual Little Bighorn battlefield. It met with Crook's command, similarly reinforced, and the combined force, almost 4,000 strong, followed the Lakota trail northeast toward the Little Missouri River. In the end, the hilltop to which Custer had moved was probably too small to accommodate all of the survivors and wounded. [41], With an impending sense of doom, the Crow scout Half Yellow Face prophetically warned Custer (speaking through the interpreter Mitch Bouyer), "You and I are going home today by a road we do not know. Gray. That spring, under the orders of Lieut. Rumors of other survivors persisted for years. Updates? Rifle volleys were a standard way of telling supporting units to come to another unit's aid. Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custers Last Stand, (June 25, 1876), battle at the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory, U.S., between federal troops led by Lieut. Calloway, Colin G.: "The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 17601850". The casings would have to be removed manually with a pocketknife before [reloading and] firing again. Winkler, A. [202], That the weapon experienced jamming of the extractor is not contested, but its contribution to Custer's defeat is considered negligible. Gen. Alfred H. Terry headed west from Fort Abraham Lincoln in charge of the Dakota Column, the bulk of which constituted Custers 7th Cavalry. [233][234], US Casualty Marker Battle of the Little Bighorn, Indian Memorial by Colleen Cutschall[235]. Gallear's analysis dismisses the allegation that rapid depletion of ammunition in lever-action models influenced the decision in favor of the single-shot Springfield. This left about 50-60 men, mostly from F Company and the staff, on Last Stand Hill. [155][156][157][158] In addition to these practical concerns, a strained relationship with Major James Brisbin induced Custer's polite refusal to integrate Brisbin's Second Cavalry unitand the Gatling gunsinto his strike force, as it would disrupt any hierarchical arrangements that Custer presided over. The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, and had been inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull (Tatka yotake). In 1805, fur trader Franois Antoine Larocque reported joining a Crow camp in the Yellowstone area. Reports from his scouts also revealed fresh pony tracks from ridges overlooking his formation. "[48]:306 Yates's force "posed an immediate threat to fugitive Indian families" gathering at the north end of the huge encampment;[48]:299 he then persisted in his efforts to "seize women and children" even as hundreds of warriors were massing around Keogh's wing on the bluffs. News of the defeat arrived in the East as the U.S. was observing its centennial. Map of Indian battles and skirmishes after the Battle of Little Bighorn. Comanche alone survived. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1969, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, C-SPAN Cities Tour Billings: Battle of the Little Bighorn, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer, List of battles won by Indigenous peoples of the Americas, "Characterization of Geographical Aspects of the Landscape and Environment in the Area of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana", Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village (review), "A 7th Cavalry survivor's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn", "Online version of Cullum's Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy Class of 1846 Samuel D. Sturgis", "The 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment Fought in Battle of the Little Bighorn", "The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 2526, 1876", "George Armstrong Custer and The Battle of the Little of The Little Big Horn (A South African View)", "Confirmed by one of his surviving Arikara scouts, Little Sioux", "Little Sioux's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn", Martin J. Kidston, "Northern Cheyenne break vow of silence", "White Cow Bull's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #1", "Indian War / Gen. Gibbons Letter Relating to Terrible Massacre", "Massacre of Our Troops / Five Companies Killed by Indians", "1876: The Eagle Screams. Why is the Battle of the Little Bighorn significant? [130] By the time the battle began, Custer had already divided his forces into three battalions of differing sizes, of which he kept the largest. These weapons were vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading weapons of the Civil War, which would frequently misfire and cause the soldier to uselessly load multiple rounds on top of each other in the heat of battle.". Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "Both sides [troopers and Indians] apparently believed that some weapons malfunctioned. [64] He made no attempt to engage the Indians to prevent them from picking off men in the rear. Comanche lived on another fifteen years. After a night's march, the tired officer who was sent with the scouts could see neither, and when Custer joined them, he was also unable to make the sighting. [125] Some testimony by non-Army officers suggested that he was drunk and a coward. They could fire a much more powerful round at longer ranges than lever-actions.". Sklenar, 2000, p. 163: "the village contained possibly 1,200 lodges, plus several hundred wikiups housing individual warriors. [71] As the scenario seemed compatible with Custer's aggressive style of warfare and with evidence found on the ground, it became the basis of many popular accounts of the battle. Col. John Gibbon's column of six companies (A, B, E, H, I, and K) of the 7th Infantry and four companies (F, G, H, and L) of the 2nd Cavalry marched east from Fort Ellis in western Montana on March 30 to patrol the Yellowstone River. Around 5:00pm, Capt. Gallear, 2001: "The Indians were well equipped with hand-to-hand weapons and these included lances, tomahawks, war clubs, knives and war shields were carried for defense. Other historians claim that Custer never approached the river, but rather continued north across the coulee and up the other side, where he gradually came under attack. Former U.S. Army Crow Scouts visiting the Little Bighorn battlefield, circa 1913, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer , commanding, Second Lieutenant Charles Varnum (wounded), Chief of Scouts, Estimates of Native American casualties have differed widely, from as few as 36 dead (from Native American listings of the dead by name) to as many as 300. Custer's remaining companies (E, F, and half of C) were soon killed. In 1946, it was re-designated as the Custer Battlefield National Monument, reflecting its association with Custer. [53]:379 Given that no bodies of men or horses were found anywhere near the ford, Godfrey himself concluded "that Custer did not go to the ford with any body of men". Donovan, 2008, p. 188 (fragment of quote), Donovan, 2008, p. 118: Reynolds "best white scout in Dakota Territory had earned Custer's respect for his excellent work report[ed] to Custer that Lakotas under Sitting Bull were 'gathering in force'. [65] The soldiers dug crude trenches as the Indians performed their war dance. Thus, Custer unknowingly faced thousands of Indians, including the 800 non-reservation "hostiles". [citation needed]. Two Moons, a Northern Cheyenne leader, interceded to save their lives.[113]. Among the dead were Custer's brothers Boston and Thomas, his brother-in-law James Calhoun, and his nephew Henry Reed. They were always trying to crawl out and I was always putting them back in, so I didn't sleep much. Ahead of those 5 or 6 [dead] horses there were 5 or 6 men at about the same distances, showing that the horses were killed and the riders jumped off and were all heading to get where General Custer was. Graham, Benteen letter to Capt. On June 28, 1876, three days after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, survivors of the 7 th U.S. Cavalry under the command of Major Marcus A. Reno began the painful task of burying Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's command. "[90] In a letter from February 21, 1910, Private William Taylor, Company M, 7th Cavalry, wrote: "Reno proved incompetent and Benteen showed his indifferenceI will not use the uglier words that have often been in my mind. In 1908, Edward Curtis, the famed ethnologist and photographer of the Native American Indians, made a detailed personal study of the battle, interviewing many of those who had fought or taken part in it. WebJames C. Bennett Private C, wounded then died July 5, 1876 L. Edwin Bobo 1 st Sergeant C John Brightfield Private C Thomas J. Bucknell Trumpeter C James Calhoun 1 st Lieutenant [191], After exhaustive testingincluding comparisons to domestic and foreign single-shot and repeating riflesthe Army Ordnance Board (whose members included officers Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry) authorized the Springfield as the official firearm for the United States Army. Pvt McCarthy enlisted into the US Army on August 15, 1865, at Philadelphia, PA. [168] The typical firearms carried by the Lakota and Cheyenne combatants were muzzleloaders, more often a cap-lock smoothbore, the so-called Indian trade musket or Leman guns[169][170] distributed to Indians by the US government at treaty conventions. [84], I think, in all probability, that the men turned their horses loose without any orders to do so. I am hoping that some day all of these damned fakirs will die and it will be safe for actual participants in the battle to admit and insist that they were there, without being branded and looked upon as a lot of damned liars. [72]:141 However, in Chief Gall's version of events, as recounted to Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, Custer did not attempt to ford the river and the nearest that he came to the river or village was his final position on the ridge. This resulted in a series of conflicts known as the Sioux Wars, which took place from 1854 to 1890. ", Gallear, 2001: "No bayonet or hand to hand weapon was issued apart from the saber, which under Custer's orders was left behind. [47], Custer's field strategy was designed to engage non-combatants at the encampments on the Little Bighorn to capture women, children, and the elderly or disabled[48]:297 to serve as hostages to convince the warriors to surrender and comply with federal orders to relocate. [232], Photo taken in 1894 by H.R. Events leading up to the confrontation were typical of the irresolute and confusing policy of the U.S. government toward Native Americans. White, Richard: "The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries". According to Pretty Shield, the wife of Goes-Ahead (another Crow scout for the 7th Cavalry), Custer was killed while crossing the river: "and he died there, died in the water of the Little Bighorn, with Two-bodies, and the blue soldier carrying his flag". ", Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Thinking his regiment powerful enough to handle anything it might encounter, [Custer, in addition to declining the Gatling guns] declined the offer of four additional cavalry companies from [Gibbon's] Montana column." On January 2, General Sheridan had quoted Lee's report of agent malfeasance in a supplement to his annual report, which continued the General's running battle with the, Libbie Custer "spent almost sixty years commemorating her marriageand her memories of it quite literally kept her alive.she was quintessentially the professional widow, forcing it to become a very touchy matter for any military writer or officer to criticize Custer for having insanely launched an attack without taking the most elementary precautions or making even an attempt at reconnaissance. Additionally, Custer was more concerned with preventing the escape of the Lakota and Cheyenne than with fighting them. In 1881, the current marble obelisk was erected in their honor. The open circle of the structure is symbolic, as for many tribes, the circle is sacred. [166], Historian Robert M. Utley, in a section entitled "Would Gatling Guns Have Saved Custer?" Custer's scouts warned him about the size of the village, with Mitch Bouyer reportedly saying, "General, I have been with these Indians for 30 years, and this is the largest village I have ever heard of. Many of these men threw down their weapons while Cheyenne and Sioux warriors rode them down, "counting coup" with lances, coup sticks, and quirts. [65] Behind them he saw through the dust and smoke hills that were oddly red in color; he later learned that this was a massive assemblage of Indian ponies. ", Gallear, 2001: "Officers purchased their own carbines or rifles for hunting purposes[however] these guns may have been left with the baggage and is unclear how many officers actually used these weapons in the battle. The covering company would have moved towards a reunion, delivering heavy volley fire and leaving the trail of expended cartridges discovered 50 years later. However, there is evidence that Reno's men did make use of long-range hunting rifles. However, it would incapacitate and few troopers would fight on after an arrow hit them.". In Custer's book My Life on the Plains, published two years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he asserted: Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger For this reason I decided to locate our [military] camp as close as convenient to [Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne] village, knowing that the close proximity of their women and children, and their necessary exposure in case of conflict, would operate as a powerful argument in favor of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed.[52]. Behind them, a second company, further up on the heights, would have provided long-range cover fire. In 1878, the army awarded 24 Medals of Honor to participants in the fight on the bluffs for bravery, most for risking their lives to carry water from the river up the hill to the wounded. Fire from the southeast made it impossible for Custer's men to secure a defensive position all around Last Stand Hill where the soldiers put up their most dogged defense. "Reno Court of Inquiry, Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 177, Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 252, Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 179, Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 254, GSklenar, Larry, To Hell with Honor, p. 260, "Last of the Argonauts: The Life and Services of Capt. The Indians had left a single teepee standing (some reports mention a second that had been partially dismantled), and in it was the body of a Sans Arc warrior, Old She-Bear, who had been wounded in the battle. The Battle of the Little Bighorn is significant because it proved to be the height of Native American power during the 19th century. Battlefield archaeologists digging at the Little Bighorn have reawakened haunting memories and revived some of the bitter controversies connected with the Last Stand. Benteen and Lieut. That they might have come southwest, from the center of Nye-Cartwright Ridge, seems to be supported by Northern Cheyenne accounts of seeing the approach of the distinctly white-colored horses of Company E, known as the Grey Horse Company. They reviewed Terry's plan calling for Custer's regiment to proceed south along the Rosebud while Terry and Gibbon's united forces would move in a westerly direction toward the Bighorn and Little Bighorn rivers. Indian accounts spoke of soldiers' panic-driven flight and suicide by those unwilling to fall captive to the Indians. The 7th Cavalry returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to reconstitute. For instance, he refused to use a battery of Gatling guns and turned down General Terry's offer of an additional battalion of the 2nd Cavalry. pistol. Pack Train commander: 1st Lt. Edward Gustave Mathey (detached from M Company), Goose: Arikara scout (wounded in the hand by a 7th Cavalry trooper), Peter Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot brother of William, scout, William Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot scout. In the East as the Sioux Wars, which took place from 1854 to 1890 pattern of the government! Long-Range cover fire of Indians, including the 800 non-reservation `` hostiles.! Published autobiographies that detailed their deeds at the Little Bighorn, Indian Memorial Colleen! 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