Pride Goes Before Destruction....

He graduated last in his academy class

Arrogant, reckless and frequently crass

But with war now raging across the land

West Point officers were in high demand

 

In the Union Army he soon rose to fame

Bold and audacious he revelled in acclaim

Seeking attention from attendant press

He boasted his deeds in flamboyant dress

 

At twenty-three he was a shining star

His battlefield deeds known near and far

But the more they lauded his daring name

The more perilous the fire of glowing fame

 

After the war he became a cavalry man

Dispossessing natives of their sacred lands

But his imperious disregard of military code

Saw his career halted and stigma bestowed

 

Gold was discovered in the Hills of Dakota

On land already treatied to the native Lakota

And as miners swarmed onto sacred reservation

Custer was recalled to ease the consternation

 

Indigenous tribes had been cruelly abused

Forced from their lands and callously misused

So they gathered by the Bighorn to parlez a plan

Arapaho, Lakota and the Northern Cheyenne

 

George Armstrong Custer decided to attack

But seriously miscalculated the Indian pack

He'd split his regiment into tactical platoons

An error proving fatal on that June afternoon

 

They were soon confronted by a superior force

Braves led by Sitting Bull and Chief Crazy Horse

The invincible leader had played his final hand

And died by the Bighorn at Custer's Last Stand

 

An ego unchallenged grows reckless with all

Until hubris and fortune conspire in the fall

Glory is always fleeting and pride comes at cost

And by the Little Bighorn both of these were lost

 

Audio Link: https://1drv.ms/u/c/4db44a4d6b88c854/IQC_7dKBcRkWT5RzJTuzSMiTAU_Lw1L5wDM...

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