At Hanover, Custer charges twice. The first with the 7th Pa, the second with the 5th and 6th Pa. When both charges begin, the colors have 35 stars. As noted with someone else on this web site, the 35th star is not added until July 4, 1863, the day after the Battle Of Gettysburg ends. But during the second charge, the flag loses a star. At the start, there is a 35 star flag. Then moments later, it has only 34.
The handwriting on Custer's promotion order changes from when it is written in the War Department to when he receives it in the field. Some of the letters and spacing of some words are noticeably different.
In the film George Armstrong Custer argues that there is no gold in the Black Hills, but in reality he led the 1874 expedition that discovered gold near French Creek.
Among the many historical inaccuracies is the fact that Crazy Horse and Custer never met each other face to face. Given Crazy Horse's relative anonymity, it is also unlikely that he would have been recognized had he in fact been captured prior to the Little Big Horn.
The movie shows Custer and the 7th charging with their sabers, hard to do as they did not bring them along on this campaign.
Phil Sheridan was not Commandant of West Point during Custer's time there as portrayed in the film. In fact, he was only nine years older than Custer and, having graduated from West Point in 1853, was only a First Lieutenant at the outbreak of the Civil War, not a Colonel.
While the film has Custer offered $10,000 to become President of Sharp's railroad company, the position for which he was actually offered $10,000 in gold (and requested a leave of absence from the Army) was to serve as an Adjutant General in Benito Juarez's army in Mexico.
In several scenes (as Custer rides into the Black Hills, and later during his charge at the Little Big Horn) the sky as originally shot was apparently later replaced as a visual effect. The clouds are out of sync with the motion of the camera against background hills and the other elements of the shots.
In the last battle scene where Indians are overrunning the soldiers, a warrior leaps atop a trooper. To the far left of the scene, a white building or barn can be seen clearly.
1940s-era overhead electrical lines are seen several times during the Civil War battle at Hanover.
Upon Custer's first arrival at Fort Abraham Lincoln, a soldier announcing his arrival is standing in front a 1930s era plaque memorializing the fort's founding.
After Butler has refused to take the letter back to Fort Lincoln, the camera shows a side shot of California Joe's head and he has what appears to be a hearing aid in his ear.
Several tire tracks can be seen towards the end of the movie when the 7th Cavalry is chasing Crazy Horse and the Indian war party.
Custer is shown kissing Elizabeth while wearing a Civil War Campaign Medal, first issued on 26 May 1909, with a distinctive two color ribbon (blue and gray, not that it's obvious in a black and white film) first issued 12 August 1913.
The montage dedicated to "Garry Owen" shows the song played with greater complexity from one scene to the next. However, the audio is just one long recording with different visuals spliced in. This mismatch is most evident early on. The piano starts up before Butler has a chance to fully sit down and the hand movements of the soldier playing the concertina are out of sync with the soundtrack.
During the final battle a trooper struggling with an Indian is shot in the back with an arrow by another Indian. The outline of the square block under his clothes into which the arrow was fired can be clearly seen.
The 7th Cavalry is depicted as being organized at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory. In fact it was organized at Fort Riley, Kansas, and its first campaigns were against the Southern Cheyenne, not the Lakota.
When Judge Bacon speaks with the preacher as he collects rents, mountains are clearly visible over the rooftops. There are no mountains anywhere near Monroe, Michigan.
During the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) scene, the soldiers are shown riding among rather large hills. The hills appear to be almost barren. The actual battlefield is on gently rolling hills with plenty of flora.
In the scene when Mr. Bacon speaks with the preacher as he collects rents, mountains are clearly visible over the rooftops. There are no mountains anywhere near Monroe, Michigan.
"Queens Own Butler" originally introduces the song "Garry Owen" to Custer during the Civil War while in a bar. A couple years later, Custer and his officers meet Butler whereupon Custer tells him he's haunted by the song, but can't remember it. Butler sits down at a piano and plays it for Custer and his officers. Although the officers are hearing the song for the first time, they somehow all know the words and begin to sing along.
During the office scene where they are discussing which cadets can be graduated early, you can see the shadow of the boom mic on the wall in the left rear of the room.
Ulysses S. Grant graduated from West Point in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 39--not at the bottom of his class, as characters state in the movie.
Libbie Custer did not call her husband George. As with the rest of his family, she called him by his family nickname "Autie", his childhood mispronunciation of his middle name Armstrong.