Final answer:
The correct answer is option d. colonel custer.
Step-by-step explanation:
At the Battle of Little Bighorn, the brash colonel who made a fateful mistake was Colonel George Custer. This event occurred on June 25, 1876, when Custer, driven by personal ambition, attacked a Native American encampment on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Instead of a small encampment, Custer and his 7th Cavalry faced a significant force of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors, nearly three thousand strong, led by the iconic Sitting Bull. The ensuing battle led to Custer and 262 of his men being surrounded and killed in what was the largest defeat of U.S. troops during the era of westward expansion.
Red Horse, a Sioux sub-chief who participated in the battle, later provided detailed drawings that have been considered some of the most reliable descriptions of the events, countering sanitized narratives focusing on Custer's perspective. Custer's tactics at Little Bighorn, particularly his division of forces without adequate reconnaissance, have become infamous as a significant military blunder. This event, also known as Custer's Last Stand, remains a subject of extensive study and representation in various media.