The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer (42 page)

The quote from the official report about Custer's action, “the first to cross the stream…,” is found in O.R. series 1, vol. 11, pt. 1, 651–54, or more conveniently located in Reynolds,
The Civil War Memories of Elizabeth Bacon Custer,
75.

Perhaps the most appealing biography of Libbie Custer is
General Custer's Libbie,
by Custer scholar and Libbie admirer Lawrence A. Frost. A close second would be the intriguing and informative
Touched by Fire,
by Barnett. Another biography of note is the meticulously researched and well-written
Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth,
by Leckie. Excerpts from a sample of Libbie's correspondence, some of which have been donated to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, can be found in
The Custer Story,
by Merington, which provides an excellent narrative of the Custers' life together. See also:
A Life Within a Life,
by Kines; “Sidesaddle Soldier: Libbie Custer's Partnership in Glory,” by Ambrose; “Mrs. General Custer at Fort Riley, 1866,” by Millbrook; “The Girl He Left Behind,” by Tate; and “Elizabeth Bacon Custer in Japan: 1903,” by Wabuda.

Libbie's heartfelt quote “He is noble…” can be read in Merington,
The Custer Story,
50.

Letters and manuscripts of Libbie's are housed at the Detroit Public Library, Lincoln Memorial University, Monroe County Historical Museum, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and Yale University, as well as Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Pleasonton's quote about Custer being “the best cavalry general in the world” is on page 60 of Merington,
The Custer Story
.

Major Kidd's quote about Custer taking command is in Kidd's
Personal Recollections,
125–29.

The quotes by Ballard and Christiancy can be found in the
Grand Rapids Daily Eagle,
July 8, 1876, and Libbie's
Boots and Saddles,
9–10.

Libbie's “My more than friend…” letter is in Merington,
The Custer Story,
73.

Rebecca Richmond's description of Libbie's wedding dress can be found in Frost's
General Custer's Libbie,
92.

Custer's exclamation of “Glorious War” is in my
Glorious War,
202.

New York Times
reporter E. A. Paul compared Custer to Napoléon in the October 27, 1864, edition.

The subject of the Surrender table is covered in most Custer biographies and perhaps best by Frost in
General Custer's Libbie
. Sheridan's letter can be found in Merington's
Custer Story,
165.

Accounts of Custer's temperance lecture from Ann Reed and his religious conversion can be found in most biographies of him but perhaps are best depicted in my
Glorious War
.

Chapter Three

Chasing Shadows on the Plains

Custer's activities during this period of time in Texas and Louisiana are covered in the following:
Tenting on the Plains; or, General Custer in Kansas and Texas,
by Elizabeth Custer;
Custer in Texas: An Interrupted Narrative,
by Carroll; “The Boy General and How He Grew,” by Millbrook; and “A Better Time Is in Store for Us: An Analysis of the Reconstruction Attitudes of George Armstrong Custer,” by Richter.

Perhaps the most interesting account of the Hancock Expedition, although decidedly biased, was written by George Armstrong Custer in his
My Life on the Plains.
A well-researched reconstruction of events covering the years 1866–67 can be found in two fine articles by Millbrook: “The West Breaks in General Custer,” which has been reprinted in Hutton's
Custer Reader,
and “Custer's First Scout in the West,” edited by Dippie. Also, Dippie's footnotes in
Nomad
provide valuable information and Custer's own story about his adventurous buffalo hunt is included in his first “letter” of that volume.

Two views by participants—a cavalry officer and the only doctor accompanying Custer—are also significant:
Life in Custer's Cavalry,
edited by Utley, and
On the Plains with Custer and Hancock,
by Kennedy.

Observations by two representatives of the press who accompanied the expedition are documented in “A Summer on the Plains,” by famed illustrator Theodore R. Davis, and
My Early Travels and Adventures in America and Asia,
by Henry M. Stanley of the
New York Tribune
.

A highly critical assessment of Hancock's expedition from an Indian point of view is included in
The Fighting Cheyennes,
by Grinnell. The best source about the Kidder massacre is
A Dispatch to Custer,
by Johnson and Allan. This volume contain important correspondence between those involved—including Custer—as well as excellent photos and maps.

Other notable sources for the expedition include:
Custer, Come at Once!
by Burkey;
Tenting on the Plains,
by Elizabeth B. Custer; and “The Hancock and Custer Expedition of 1867,” by White.

The best account of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment is
Of Garry Owen in Glory,
by Chandler. Three fascinating books flavored with amusing anecdotes written by Libbie Custer, who followed the Seventh Cavalry's guidon, offer an insight into post life and personalities:
Boots and Saddles, Tenting on the Plains,
and
Following the Guidon.
The Seventh Cavalry is well represented, with depictions of daily duty, in Utley's
Frontier Regulars
. For a look at the trials and tribulations of a cavalryman see
The Troopers,
by Whitman, and
Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay,
by Rickey. A description of the weapons, dress, equipment, horses, and flags of the Seventh Cavalry in 1876 can be found in
Boots & Saddles at the Little Bighorn,
by Hutchins.

Biographical sketches of individual members of the Seventh Cavalry are contained in
They Rode with Custer,
edited by Carroll, and a revised and expanded edition of that book titled
Men with Custer,
edited by Nichols.

More about Winfield Scott Hancock can be found in
Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock, by His Wife,
by Hancock;
The Life of Winfield Scott Hancock,
by Junkin; and
Winfield Scott Hancock,
by Jordan.

Custer describes his inaugural excursion to Denver aboard the Kansas Pacific Railroad in the October 7, 1870, edition of
Turf, Field and Farm,
which has been reprinted in
Nomad,
edited by Dippie. General railroad sources include: “When the Union and Kansas Pacific Built Through Kansas,” by Snell and Richmond;
The Story of the Western Railroads,
by Riegel;
New Tracks in North America,
by Bell; and
Trails, Rails and War,
by Perkins.

For two notable works about railroad and land speculator William Jackson Palmer, see:
Rebel of the Rockies,
by Ahearn and
A Builder of the West,
by Fisher.

The definitive biography of William W. Cooke is
Custer's Forgotten Friend,
by Arnold; see also Arnold's “Cooke's Scrawled Note: Last Word from a Doomed Command.” Numerous references to his friend Cooke are made by Custer in his
My Life on the Plains
.

Perhaps the most accurate book about the life of the enigmatic Myles Keogh is
Myles Keogh,
edited by K. Langellier, et al. The most romantic and thought-provoking account is
Keogh, Comanche and Custer,
by former battlefield superintendent Luce. See also:
The Honor of Arms,
by Convis;
Captain Myles Walter Keogh,
by Hayes-McCoy; Hayes-McCoy's “Captain Myles Walter Keogh, the Irish Sword”; “The Man Who Rode Comanche,” by Taunton; and “Myles Keogh from the Vatican to the Little Big Horn,” by Pohanka.

References to Weir's personal relationship with the Custers can be found in
The Custer Story,
by Merington, as well as
Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth,
by Leckie.

The best version of Custer's dash across Kansas can be found in “The West Breaks in General Custer,” by Millbrook, which has been reprinted in
The Custer Reader,
by Hutton. Also see:
My Life on the Plains,
by Custer and
The Custer Story,
by Marguerite Merington, which contains Libbie's letter and other interesting observations, as does Libbie's
Tenting on the Plains.

Benteen's theory for Custer's desertion is related in Carroll's
Custer: From the Civil War to the Big Horn,
and Mathey's account was told in an interview with Walter M. Camp, Harold B. Lee Library.

The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer,
by Frost, includes not only an excellent account of the Hancock Expedition but also a verbatim account—testimony and exhibits—of Custer's court-martial proceedings. Two other notable sources are “The Custer Court Martial,” by Murray, and “The Court-Martial of Brevet Major General George A. Custer,” by Halsey. Custer's point of view can be found in his
My Life on the Plains
and Libbie's
Tenting on the Plains
. The subject is also covered from various angles in every biography of Custer, but none comes close to matching Frost's work, which allows readers to form their own conclusions regarding Custer's actions and subsequent punishment.

Chapter Four

Death Along the Washita

The debate about the “Indian problem” is described best in
Uncle Sam's Stepchildren,
by Priest, and
American Indian Policy in Crisis,
by Prucha.

The concept and execution of “total war” demonstrated during the Winter Campaign of 1868–69 can be found in
William Tecumseh Sherman and the Settlement of the West,
by Athearn;
Personal Memoirs of Philip Henry Sheridan,
by Sheridan;
Phil Sheridan and His Army,
by Hutton;
General Custer and the Battle of the Washita: The Federal View,
by Carroll; Utley's
Cavalier in Buckskin; Sheridan's Troopers on the Borders,
by Keim; and Hoig's
The Battle of the Washita
.

The best contemporary account of the Beecher Island battle is Monnett's
Battle of Beecher Island and the Indian War of 1867–69.
George A. Forsyth's own romanticized version of the battle can be found in “A Frontier Fight” and in his autobiographies,
Thrilling Days in Army Life
and
The Story of a Soldier
. Eyewitness accounts by participants John Hurst and Sigmund Shlesinger are found in “The Beecher Island Fight.” The rescue by the Tenth Cavalry is detailed in
The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West,
by Leckie.

Other notable sources include:
Hero of Beecher Island,
by Dixon;
The Beecher Island Battle,
by Werner; “The Battle of Beecher Island,” by White;
The Fighting Cheyennes,
by Grinnell; and
Indian Fights and Fighters,
by Brady.

The best accounts of the march of the Kansas cavalrymen can be found in
Campaigning with Custer and the Nineteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry on the Washita Campaign, 1868–69,
by participant David L. Spotts, edited by Brininstool; “Winter Campaigning with Sheridan and Custer,” by White; and “The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry in the Indian Territory, 1868–69,” edited by White. Other helpful sources include: “The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry and the Conquest of the Plains Indians,” by Hadley; “The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry in the Washita Campaign,” by Moore; and Hutton's
Phil Sheridan and His Army
.

Benteen's dislike of Custer is demonstrated in one classic volume,
The Benteen-Goldin Letters on Custer and His Last Battle,
edited by Carroll, which best reveals the true personality of the sarcastic and critical army captain. Bitter and vindictive in his old age, Benteen literally blisters the pages of these letters to a former Seventh Cavalry private named Theodore Goldin and others with his hatred of Custer and contempt for most of his old comrades. Benteen occasionally rattled his saber by alluding to great crimes or misdeeds committed by Custer but fails to provide evidence and instead merely repeats camp gossip spiced with his rancorous conjectures.

Benteen was the subject of a rather sympathetic biography,
Harvest of Barren Regrets,
by Mills. His softer yet no less sarcastic side is revealed in
Camp Talk: The Very Private Letters of Frederick W. Benteen of the 7th U.S. Cavalry to His Wife, 1871–1888,
edited by Carroll.
The Custer Myth,
by Graham, dedicates a full chapter to a sampling of Benteen's writings on various topics.

Other notable sources include
Gray Head and Long Hair,
by Karol Asay;
Cavalry Scraps: The Writings of Frederick W. Benteen,
edited by Carroll; and
Benteen's Ordeal and Custer's Field,
by Johnson. The Frederick W. Benteen Collection, which consists of three boxes of material, is located in the University of Georgia Library.

Cheyenne oral tradition contending that Custer and Mo-nah-se-tah were an item can be found in
Cheyenne Autumn,
by Sandoz;
Custer on the Little Bighorn,
by Marquis; and
Custer's Fall: The Indian Side of the Story,
by Miller.

Benteen's allegations about Custer's affair with the Indian girl are contained in his letters of February 14 and 17, 1896, in
The Benteen-Goldin Letters on Custer and His Last Battle,
edited by Carroll; scout Ben Clark's fading memories were recorded in a 1910 interview with Walter Camp in Field Notes, Folder 4, Box 2, Walter M. Camp Papers, Lilly Library, Indiana University.