Author: Thomas Powers
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375714308
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 610
Book Description
With the Great Sioux War as background and context, and drawing on many new materials, Thomas Powers establishes what really happened in the dramatic final months and days of Crazy Horse’s life. He was the greatest Indian warrior of the nineteenth century, whose victory over General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was the worst defeat ever inflicted on the frontier army. But after surrendering to federal troops, Crazy Horse was killed in custody for reasons which have been fiercely debated for more than a century. The Killing of Crazy Horse pieces together the story behind this official killing.
The Killing of Crazy Horse
Author: Thomas Powers
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375714308
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 610
Book Description
With the Great Sioux War as background and context, and drawing on many new materials, Thomas Powers establishes what really happened in the dramatic final months and days of Crazy Horse’s life. He was the greatest Indian warrior of the nineteenth century, whose victory over General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was the worst defeat ever inflicted on the frontier army. But after surrendering to federal troops, Crazy Horse was killed in custody for reasons which have been fiercely debated for more than a century. The Killing of Crazy Horse pieces together the story behind this official killing.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375714308
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 610
Book Description
With the Great Sioux War as background and context, and drawing on many new materials, Thomas Powers establishes what really happened in the dramatic final months and days of Crazy Horse’s life. He was the greatest Indian warrior of the nineteenth century, whose victory over General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was the worst defeat ever inflicted on the frontier army. But after surrendering to federal troops, Crazy Horse was killed in custody for reasons which have been fiercely debated for more than a century. The Killing of Crazy Horse pieces together the story behind this official killing.
A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn
Author: James Madison DeWolf
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806158123
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
In spring 1876 a physician named James Madison DeWolf accepted the assignment of contract surgeon for the Seventh Cavalry, becoming one of three surgeons who accompanied Custer’s battalion at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Killed in the early stages of the battle, he might easily have become a mere footnote in the many chronicles of this epic campaign—but he left behind an eyewitness account in his diary and correspondence. A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn is the first annotated edition of these rare accounts since 1958, and the most complete treatment to date. While researchers have known of DeWolf’s diary for many years, few details have surfaced about the man himself. In A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn, Todd E. Harburn bridges this gap, providing a detailed biography of DeWolf as well as extensive editorial insight into his writings. As one of the most highly educated men who traveled with Custer, the surgeon was well equipped to compose articulate descriptions of the 1876 campaign against the Indians, a fateful journey that began for him at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory, and ended on the battlefield in eastern Montana Territory. In letters to his beloved wife, Fannie, and in diary entries—reproduced in this volume exactly as he wrote them—DeWolf describes the terrain, weather conditions, and medical needs that he and his companions encountered along the way. After DeWolf’s death, his colleague Dr. Henry Porter, who survived the conflict, retrieved his diary and sent it to DeWolf’s widow. Later, the DeWolf family donated it to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Now available in this accessible and fully annotated format, the diary, along with the DeWolf’s personal correspondence, serves as a unique primary resource for information about the Little Big Horn campaign and medical practices on the western frontier.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806158123
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
In spring 1876 a physician named James Madison DeWolf accepted the assignment of contract surgeon for the Seventh Cavalry, becoming one of three surgeons who accompanied Custer’s battalion at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Killed in the early stages of the battle, he might easily have become a mere footnote in the many chronicles of this epic campaign—but he left behind an eyewitness account in his diary and correspondence. A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn is the first annotated edition of these rare accounts since 1958, and the most complete treatment to date. While researchers have known of DeWolf’s diary for many years, few details have surfaced about the man himself. In A Surgeon with Custer at the Little Big Horn, Todd E. Harburn bridges this gap, providing a detailed biography of DeWolf as well as extensive editorial insight into his writings. As one of the most highly educated men who traveled with Custer, the surgeon was well equipped to compose articulate descriptions of the 1876 campaign against the Indians, a fateful journey that began for him at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory, and ended on the battlefield in eastern Montana Territory. In letters to his beloved wife, Fannie, and in diary entries—reproduced in this volume exactly as he wrote them—DeWolf describes the terrain, weather conditions, and medical needs that he and his companions encountered along the way. After DeWolf’s death, his colleague Dr. Henry Porter, who survived the conflict, retrieved his diary and sent it to DeWolf’s widow. Later, the DeWolf family donated it to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Now available in this accessible and fully annotated format, the diary, along with the DeWolf’s personal correspondence, serves as a unique primary resource for information about the Little Big Horn campaign and medical practices on the western frontier.
Little Big Horn 1876
Author: Peter F. Panzeri
Publisher: Greenwood
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 104
Book Description
Little Big Horn was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Disobeying orders, George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment followed a trail to a large encampment of Indians. Without determining the numbers he faced, Custer split his command into three groups and attacked. The resulting chaos has passed into legend as the most infamous battle of the Indian Wars as Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed. The death of George Armstrong Custer, and over half of his 7th Cavalry Regiment in the valley of the Little Big Horn on 25 July 1876, has become the most celebrated battle of the Indian wars. It was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Planned as a combined operation by three different columns of troops commanded by Generals Crook and Terry and Colonel John Gibbon, the campaign went wrong almost from the start. Crook's column was stopped almost immediately and after a severe mauling fell back to its supply base. Custer then disobeyed orders and followed a trail left by a large number of ponies towards the Little Big Horn. He found a large encampment of Indians on the morning of 25 July and without determining the numbers he faced split his command into three groups and attacked. In the resulting chaos Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed. Custer's luck had finally run out. Peter Panzeri details the whole of the 1876 campaign against the Indians under Sitting Bull, including Gibbon's encounters and Terry's advance, before recounting in detail the last stand of one of history's most controversial figures.
Publisher: Greenwood
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 104
Book Description
Little Big Horn was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Disobeying orders, George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment followed a trail to a large encampment of Indians. Without determining the numbers he faced, Custer split his command into three groups and attacked. The resulting chaos has passed into legend as the most infamous battle of the Indian Wars as Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed. The death of George Armstrong Custer, and over half of his 7th Cavalry Regiment in the valley of the Little Big Horn on 25 July 1876, has become the most celebrated battle of the Indian wars. It was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Planned as a combined operation by three different columns of troops commanded by Generals Crook and Terry and Colonel John Gibbon, the campaign went wrong almost from the start. Crook's column was stopped almost immediately and after a severe mauling fell back to its supply base. Custer then disobeyed orders and followed a trail left by a large number of ponies towards the Little Big Horn. He found a large encampment of Indians on the morning of 25 July and without determining the numbers he faced split his command into three groups and attacked. In the resulting chaos Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed. Custer's luck had finally run out. Peter Panzeri details the whole of the 1876 campaign against the Indians under Sitting Bull, including Gibbon's encounters and Terry's advance, before recounting in detail the last stand of one of history's most controversial figures.
Little Bighorn Remembered
Author: Herman J. Viola
Publisher: Crown
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
On the morning of June 25, 1876, soldiers of the elite U.S. Seventh Cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer attacked a large Indian encampment on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. By day's end, Custer and more than two hundred of his men lay dead. It was a shocking defeat--or magnificent victory, depending on your point of view--and more than a century later it is still the object of controversy, debate, and fascination. What really happened on that fateful day? Now, thanks to the work of Herman J. Viola, Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution, we are much closer to answering that question. Dr. Viola, a leader in the preservation of Native American culture and history, has collected here dozens of dramatic, never-before-published accounts by Indians who participated in the battle--accounts that have been handed down to the present day, often secretly and accompanied by oaths of silence, from one generation to the next. These remarkable eyewitness recollections provide a direct link to that day's events; together they constitute an unprecedented oral history of the battle from the Native American point of view and the most comprehensive eyewitness description of Little Bighorn we have ever had. Here are the dramatic stories of the Cheyenne and Lakota warriors who rode into battle against Custer, the yellow-haired Son of the Morning Star, an adversary whose valor they admired--but who became a mortal enemy after breaking his peace-pipe oath, a scene described vividly in these pages. Here in their own words are the stories of the Crow scouts, allies of Custer, who advised against attacking Sitting Bull's village on the Little Bighorn. Hereare tales of valor told by the Arikara scouts who fought side by side with Custer's men against the Lakota and Cheyenne; although the Great Father in Washington rewarded their heroism with silence, it is celebrated to this day in tribal stories and songs that come to us from beyond the grave with hair-raising immediacy and power. Lavishly illustrated with more than two hundred maps, photographs, reproductions, and drawings, this remarkable book also includes: An account of the battle, including startling descriptions of Custer's conduct, collected from the Crow scouts by the famed photographer Edward S. Curtis in 1908. Curtis never published this report--President Theodore Roosevelt advised him not to--and it remained a secret until his ninety-year-old son recently gave the material to the Smithsonian. New archaeological evidence from the battlefield that casts fresh light on the Seventh Cavalry's movements, along with discoveries from the site of Sitting Bull's village--including the complete skeleton of a cavalry horse with its rider's well- preserved saddlebags and personal items. A series of illustrations made soon after the battle by Red Horse, a remarkable tableau that is reproduced here in its entirety for the first time. Three letters written by Lieutenant William Van Wyck Reily just days before he died at Little Bighorn that provide key and potentially controversial insights into the conduct of the cavalry under Custer's command. In short, this landmark book takes us much closer to knowing what really happened on that June day in 1876 when Custer died and a legend was born.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
On the morning of June 25, 1876, soldiers of the elite U.S. Seventh Cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer attacked a large Indian encampment on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. By day's end, Custer and more than two hundred of his men lay dead. It was a shocking defeat--or magnificent victory, depending on your point of view--and more than a century later it is still the object of controversy, debate, and fascination. What really happened on that fateful day? Now, thanks to the work of Herman J. Viola, Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution, we are much closer to answering that question. Dr. Viola, a leader in the preservation of Native American culture and history, has collected here dozens of dramatic, never-before-published accounts by Indians who participated in the battle--accounts that have been handed down to the present day, often secretly and accompanied by oaths of silence, from one generation to the next. These remarkable eyewitness recollections provide a direct link to that day's events; together they constitute an unprecedented oral history of the battle from the Native American point of view and the most comprehensive eyewitness description of Little Bighorn we have ever had. Here are the dramatic stories of the Cheyenne and Lakota warriors who rode into battle against Custer, the yellow-haired Son of the Morning Star, an adversary whose valor they admired--but who became a mortal enemy after breaking his peace-pipe oath, a scene described vividly in these pages. Here in their own words are the stories of the Crow scouts, allies of Custer, who advised against attacking Sitting Bull's village on the Little Bighorn. Hereare tales of valor told by the Arikara scouts who fought side by side with Custer's men against the Lakota and Cheyenne; although the Great Father in Washington rewarded their heroism with silence, it is celebrated to this day in tribal stories and songs that come to us from beyond the grave with hair-raising immediacy and power. Lavishly illustrated with more than two hundred maps, photographs, reproductions, and drawings, this remarkable book also includes: An account of the battle, including startling descriptions of Custer's conduct, collected from the Crow scouts by the famed photographer Edward S. Curtis in 1908. Curtis never published this report--President Theodore Roosevelt advised him not to--and it remained a secret until his ninety-year-old son recently gave the material to the Smithsonian. New archaeological evidence from the battlefield that casts fresh light on the Seventh Cavalry's movements, along with discoveries from the site of Sitting Bull's village--including the complete skeleton of a cavalry horse with its rider's well- preserved saddlebags and personal items. A series of illustrations made soon after the battle by Red Horse, a remarkable tableau that is reproduced here in its entirety for the first time. Three letters written by Lieutenant William Van Wyck Reily just days before he died at Little Bighorn that provide key and potentially controversial insights into the conduct of the cavalry under Custer's command. In short, this landmark book takes us much closer to knowing what really happened on that June day in 1876 when Custer died and a legend was born.
To Hell with Honor
Author: Larry Sklenar
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806134727
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
"Sklenar contends that Custer did have a battle plan, one different from any other suggested by scholars thus far. Custer, he argues, had reason to believe that his scheme might succeed with minimum bloodshed; made decisions consistent with army regulations and his best instincts as an experienced commander; had subordinates who could not overcome the limits of their personalities in a desperate situation; and made a selfless commitment to save the bulk of his regiment. Along the way, Sklenar appraises the officers and other men who served in the Seventh, evaluating the survivors' testimony and assessing the intent and motives of each."--BOOK JACKET.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806134727
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
"Sklenar contends that Custer did have a battle plan, one different from any other suggested by scholars thus far. Custer, he argues, had reason to believe that his scheme might succeed with minimum bloodshed; made decisions consistent with army regulations and his best instincts as an experienced commander; had subordinates who could not overcome the limits of their personalities in a desperate situation; and made a selfless commitment to save the bulk of his regiment. Along the way, Sklenar appraises the officers and other men who served in the Seventh, evaluating the survivors' testimony and assessing the intent and motives of each."--BOOK JACKET.
Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Author: Richard A. Fox
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806132921
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334
Book Description
Based on the archaeological evidence presented in this book, we know more about the weapons used against the Custer and the Cavalry, where many of the men fought, how they died, what happened to their bodies, how the troopers were deployed, and what kind of clothing they wore.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806132921
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334
Book Description
Based on the archaeological evidence presented in this book, we know more about the weapons used against the Custer and the Cavalry, where many of the men fought, how they died, what happened to their bodies, how the troopers were deployed, and what kind of clothing they wore.
Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle
Author: Richard A. Fox
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806170514
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 431
Book Description
On the afternoon of June 25, 1867, an overwhelming force of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians quickly mounted a savage onslaught against General George Armstrong Custer’s battalion, driving the doomed troopers of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry to a small hill overlooking the Little Bighorn River, where Custer and his men bravely erected their heroic last stand. So goes the myth of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a myth perpetuated and reinforced for over 100 years. In truth, however, "Custer’s Last Stand" was neither the last of the fighting nor a stand. Using innovative and standard archaeological techniques, combined with historical documents and Indian eyewitness accounts, Richard Allan Fox, Jr. vividly replays this battle in astonishing detail. Through bullets, spent cartridges, and other material data, Fox identifies combat positions and tracks soldiers and Indians across the Battlefield. Guided by the history beneath our feet, and listening to the previously ignored Indian testimonies, Fox reveals scenes of panic and collapse and, ultimately, a story of the Custer battle quite different from the fatalistic versions of history. According to the author, the five companies of the Seventh Cavalry entered the fray in good order, following planned strategies and displaying tactical stability. It was the sudden disintegration of this cohesion that caused the troopers’ defeat. The end came quickly, unexpectedly, and largely amid terror and disarray. Archaeological evidences show that there was no determined fighting and little firearm resistance. The last soldiers to be killed had rushed from Custer Hill.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806170514
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 431
Book Description
On the afternoon of June 25, 1867, an overwhelming force of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians quickly mounted a savage onslaught against General George Armstrong Custer’s battalion, driving the doomed troopers of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry to a small hill overlooking the Little Bighorn River, where Custer and his men bravely erected their heroic last stand. So goes the myth of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a myth perpetuated and reinforced for over 100 years. In truth, however, "Custer’s Last Stand" was neither the last of the fighting nor a stand. Using innovative and standard archaeological techniques, combined with historical documents and Indian eyewitness accounts, Richard Allan Fox, Jr. vividly replays this battle in astonishing detail. Through bullets, spent cartridges, and other material data, Fox identifies combat positions and tracks soldiers and Indians across the Battlefield. Guided by the history beneath our feet, and listening to the previously ignored Indian testimonies, Fox reveals scenes of panic and collapse and, ultimately, a story of the Custer battle quite different from the fatalistic versions of history. According to the author, the five companies of the Seventh Cavalry entered the fray in good order, following planned strategies and displaying tactical stability. It was the sudden disintegration of this cohesion that caused the troopers’ defeat. The end came quickly, unexpectedly, and largely amid terror and disarray. Archaeological evidences show that there was no determined fighting and little firearm resistance. The last soldiers to be killed had rushed from Custer Hill.
Warriors at the Little Bighorn 1876
Author: Richard Hook
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782008934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
The battle which took place on the Little Bighorn river on June 25, 1876 has passed into legend as “Custer's Last Stand”. This remarkable book is a unique analysis of the oral and pictorial evidence for the appearance of nearly 30 named Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who were present that day, and for their parts in the battle. The fruit of many years' study by one of today's most internationally respected interpreters and illustrators of Native American material culture, it offers biographical notes and meticulously researched color reconstructions, together with rare photographs and pictographs.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782008934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
The battle which took place on the Little Bighorn river on June 25, 1876 has passed into legend as “Custer's Last Stand”. This remarkable book is a unique analysis of the oral and pictorial evidence for the appearance of nearly 30 named Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who were present that day, and for their parts in the battle. The fruit of many years' study by one of today's most internationally respected interpreters and illustrators of Native American material culture, it offers biographical notes and meticulously researched color reconstructions, together with rare photographs and pictographs.
Custerology
Author: Michael A. Elliott
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226201481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346
Book Description
On a hot summer day in 1876, George Armstrong Custer led the Seventh Cavalry to the most famous defeat in U.S. military history. Outnumbered and exhausted, the Seventh Cavalry lost more than half of its 400 men, and every soldier under Custer’s direct command was killed. It’s easy to understand why this tremendous defeat shocked the American public at the time. But with Custerology, Michael A. Elliott tackles the far more complicated question of why the battle still haunts the American imagination today. Weaving vivid historical accounts of Custer at Little Bighorn with contemporary commemorations that range from battle reenactments to the unfinished Crazy Horse memorial, Elliott reveals a Custer and a West whose legacies are still vigorously contested. He takes readers to each of the important places of Custer’s life, from his Civil War home in Michigan to the site of his famous demise, and introduces us to Native American activists, Park Service rangers, and devoted history buffs along the way. Elliott shows how Custer and the Indian Wars continue to be both a powerful symbol of America’s bloody past and a crucial key to understanding the nation’s multicultural present. “[Elliott] is an approachable guide as he takes readers to battlefields where Custer fought American Indians . . . to the Michigan town of Monroe that Custer called home after he moved there at age 10 . . . to the Black Hills of South Dakota where Custer led an expedition that gave birth to a gold rush."—Steve Weinberg, Atlanta Journal-Constitution “By ‘Custerology,’ Elliott means the historical interpretation and commemoration of Custer and the Indian Wars in which he fought not only by those who honor Custer but by those who celebrate the Native American resistance that defeated him. The purpose of this book is to show how Custer and the Little Bighorn can be and have been commemorated for such contradictory purposes.”—Library Journal “Michael Elliott’s Custerology is vivid, trenchant, engrossing, and important. The American soldier George Armstrong Custer has been the subject of very nearly incessant debate for almost a century and a half, and the debate is multicultural, multinational, and multimedia. Mr. Elliott's book provides by far the best overview, and no one interested in the long-haired soldier whom the Indians called Son of the Morning Star can afford to miss it.”—Larry McMurtry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226201481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346
Book Description
On a hot summer day in 1876, George Armstrong Custer led the Seventh Cavalry to the most famous defeat in U.S. military history. Outnumbered and exhausted, the Seventh Cavalry lost more than half of its 400 men, and every soldier under Custer’s direct command was killed. It’s easy to understand why this tremendous defeat shocked the American public at the time. But with Custerology, Michael A. Elliott tackles the far more complicated question of why the battle still haunts the American imagination today. Weaving vivid historical accounts of Custer at Little Bighorn with contemporary commemorations that range from battle reenactments to the unfinished Crazy Horse memorial, Elliott reveals a Custer and a West whose legacies are still vigorously contested. He takes readers to each of the important places of Custer’s life, from his Civil War home in Michigan to the site of his famous demise, and introduces us to Native American activists, Park Service rangers, and devoted history buffs along the way. Elliott shows how Custer and the Indian Wars continue to be both a powerful symbol of America’s bloody past and a crucial key to understanding the nation’s multicultural present. “[Elliott] is an approachable guide as he takes readers to battlefields where Custer fought American Indians . . . to the Michigan town of Monroe that Custer called home after he moved there at age 10 . . . to the Black Hills of South Dakota where Custer led an expedition that gave birth to a gold rush."—Steve Weinberg, Atlanta Journal-Constitution “By ‘Custerology,’ Elliott means the historical interpretation and commemoration of Custer and the Indian Wars in which he fought not only by those who honor Custer but by those who celebrate the Native American resistance that defeated him. The purpose of this book is to show how Custer and the Little Bighorn can be and have been commemorated for such contradictory purposes.”—Library Journal “Michael Elliott’s Custerology is vivid, trenchant, engrossing, and important. The American soldier George Armstrong Custer has been the subject of very nearly incessant debate for almost a century and a half, and the debate is multicultural, multinational, and multimedia. Mr. Elliott's book provides by far the best overview, and no one interested in the long-haired soldier whom the Indians called Son of the Morning Star can afford to miss it.”—Larry McMurtry
Custer's Best
Author: French L. MacLean
Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited
ISBN: 9780764337574
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
This is the story of George Custer's best cavalry company at the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn – Company M. With a tragically-flawed, but extremely brave Company Commander and a no-nonsense First Sergeant, Company M maintained a disciplined withdrawal from the skirmish line fighting, saving Major Marcus Reno's entire detachment and possibly the rest of the regiment from annihilation. Presented here is the most-detailed work on a single company at the Little Bighorn ever written – the product of multi-year research at archives across the country and detailed visits to the battlefield by a combat veteran who understands fields of fire, weapons' effects, training, morale, decision-making, unit cohesion and the value of outstanding non-commissioned officers.
Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited
ISBN: 9780764337574
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
This is the story of George Custer's best cavalry company at the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn – Company M. With a tragically-flawed, but extremely brave Company Commander and a no-nonsense First Sergeant, Company M maintained a disciplined withdrawal from the skirmish line fighting, saving Major Marcus Reno's entire detachment and possibly the rest of the regiment from annihilation. Presented here is the most-detailed work on a single company at the Little Bighorn ever written – the product of multi-year research at archives across the country and detailed visits to the battlefield by a combat veteran who understands fields of fire, weapons' effects, training, morale, decision-making, unit cohesion and the value of outstanding non-commissioned officers.