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. Here are 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.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, but. . ........2007-01-18
I wished I had known (should have read the reviews!) that this is a coffee table attempt to deal with an extremely complicated subject. The pretty pictures and artwork were fine, but the book claims to have important historical information from the Crow scouts. When I read (reread and reread) the accounts, I was no closer to understanding what happened. Indeed, one descendant of the Crow scouts admitted that the versions of the events told to him by the scouts were not the same.
The book's strength is in its modern work at the site. The articles about what items were found at both sites with metal detectors (a whole horse!) was fascinating and worth the purchase price. For instance, that bullets with the same rifling were found all over the Custer battle site is fascinating. I hope more metal detector search can be done.
The best book I've ever read!!.......2004-05-01
This book is so ground-breaking and thorough and clever that I'll read it again as soon as I get time. The narratives and recollections of native Americans combined with the most up-to-date scholarship make this book a small masterpiece. Our view of the battle was so slanted and biased, generally without intention, because of an overemphasis on the records of European participants, etc. This book gives another view, and thus B-A-L-A-N-C-E.!!
A major work........2001-05-28
In general I'm not really big on modern history (my notion of "modern" being everything after 1200 BC!), but Viola's book "Little Bighorn Remembered," featured as it was as the "untold Indian story of Custer's last stand," intrigued me. I have to admit to having had to take a second run at it before I really got into the subject. It isn't that the work is poorly written; it isn't. I think that the up front and in your face brutality of the 19th Century US government in dealing with the Native American population was just hard to deal with for me. It`s not that I am myself Native American; I just have a strong sense of fairness and fairness had no part in it. When I finally did settle into the material, however, it read rapidly. In fact it probably classifies highly with some of those I-couldn't-put-it-down novels over which people burn the midnight oil. (In my case I should have been getting a quick nap between patients while I was on-call for the OR on a night shift).
The first two chapters of the book concern the antecedents leading up to the Indian confrontation with Custer and the 7th Cavalry. These included Custer's own pre-dawn attack on a sleeping Cheyenne village under the leadership of Chief Black Kettle on the Washita River in 1868 and an earlier similar attack on Plains Tribes camping at Sand Creek in 1864. In both instances dozens of men, women, and children were hunted down and shot and their bodies butchered. In the 1868 attack even the Cheyenne pony herd, some 900 animals, was also killed, severely crippling the people's ability to pursue their traditional lifestyle. The narrative of these two chapters is filled with unfulfilled promises and broken treaties with Native Americans in the furtherance of US territorial expansion during the 19th Century. Certainly anyone familiar with the attitudes of Europeans toward technologically less advanced populations world wide in areas they wished to exploit will recognize the pattern.
The remainder of the book is divided into chapters each dealing with various perspectives on the battle of the Little Bighorn. Here is where the book rises above others on the subject, for Viola makes use of very diverse sources in his effort to thoroughly and fairly cover the subject .
Included are the oral histories passed on by the Indian participants, stories from the Cheyenne and the Dakota on one side and from the Crow and Arikara scouts with Custer on the other. Probably the most interesting part of this material is the fact that not all Plains Indians felt the same about the coming of the army into the area. In fact the imperialism of the US government was actually superimposed upon on-going events among traditional enemies within the community of local people. The long standing enmity of certain groups actually facilitated the ultimate defeat of the Plains Indians. Even allies weren't necessarily of one mind and still are not. A popular saying among the modern Cheyenne is that "The Sioux got the glory, the Crows got the land, but the Cheyennes did the fighting(p. 27)."
Also among the narratives are notes left by Edward S. Curtis who undertook the mission of creating a photographic preservation of Native American Indian lifestyles before they disappeared. During the pursuit of this work Curtis took the opportunity of covering the battle site in the company of three of Custer's Crow scouts. From information about events provided by these individuals he came to the conclusion that the battle had not proceeded as recorded thirty years previously. His intent to publish his conclusions in his project was discouraged by President Theodore Roosevelt, primarily because the latter was concerned that pro-Custer factions would ruin Curtis. The information was preserved and given over to the National Museum of American History by his son Harold just prior to Harold's death at the age of 95 in 1988.
Among the "documents" preserving the Battle at Little Bighorn are the Indian drawings of the event of which Viola includes illustrations of many. Though simple line drawings they give every bit as clear an image of the violence and carnage of the battle field as do the photo images of the Civil War. Included are drawings by the Dakota, Red Horse, and some etched drawings by an unknown artists on flattened metal from trade kettles. Also presented, many for the first time, are some of the victory memorabilia collected from the battlefield and preserved by family members of the Indian participants through the generations.
A fire across the battlefield in 1983 made an archaeological examination of the site possible and almost imperative. Application of modern techniques to the charting, recovery and analysis of the material remains on the site by professionals and trained volunteers in the decade between 1985 and 1995 have allowed a reinterpretation of what occurred and an external verification of the stories of various participants. (For a more in-depth account of which see my review of "They Died With Custer : Soldiers' Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn.")
Among the most amazing reports of the battle and its events is that of the contribution of suicide to the death toll. Apparently the notion of torture at the hands of Indian combatants, fostered in part by the tradition of post mortem mutilation of enemy bodies (to prevent their full enjoyment of the afterlife) produced a "save the last bullet for yourself" mentality that led to a far higher mortality than might have occurred. One Indian witness reported having seen a man "murder" a compatriot and than shoot himself. Apparently he was not the only individual to have seen this puzzling behavior either.
Probably the most arresting facets of Viola's book, and certainly the ones I found most enjoyable, were the many rotogravure/tintype portraits of the various American Indian personalities involved in the drama of the Plains. The faces are filled with dignity, composure, and intelligence. It leaves the viewer with a sense of compassion and loss. One wonders what the country might have been like had the two worlds learned to coexist more peacefully and to learn from one another.
Crow accounts are valuable.......2000-03-04
I found this book to be fascinating pictorially and in its presentation of Indian viewpoints of Little Bighorn.
Some other reviewers have criticized Herman Viola's inclusion of the accounts of Custer's Crow scouts, as if Viola is somehow doing a disservice to scholarship. However, I don't think he is necessarily presenting these accounts as gospel. Viola acknowledges the inconsistencies between witnesses' stories, but he gives the Crow a chance to speak for themselves, which seems like a good thing to me.
Perhaps by publishing these little-known testimonies, Viola will encourage other Indian sources to share their knowledge of Little Bighorn while that knowledge still exists.
A Pretty book but flawed.......2000-02-19
Read without knowledge of the other Indian based accounts available; this is an interesting book. There are other books available also which are based on Indian accounts and seem more coherent. This book is pretty and interesting but adds very little to a serious student of the event. Some of the vignettes are interesting when compared with other indian accounts and blended with them. The story of Custer sitting around at Weir point while Reno's battalion was being routed is not well placed in time or detail. In short, the book is a quick and easy read. It is an interesting contrast to the "old" accounts of the Little Big Horn saga. In light of other recent works on the subject; it is a lightweight.
Book Description
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. Disobeying orders, Custer followed a trail to a large encampment of Indians 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.
Customer Reviews:
Very Well Done.......2007-09-07
This is a series book from a collection outlining famous battles through history. Little Big Horn 1876...by Peter Panzeri delivers a thorough, well illustrated and tight description of what was known as Custer's Last Stand (before the PC police got a hold of this piece of the American experience).
This book was written after wildfires burned the brush at Little Big Horn National Military Park. This is important to understand because the denudation of the landscape led to the exposure of many battle-era artifacts. The resulting archaeological work led to a better understanding of the battle and troop movements and dispositions. This book takes advantage of the new information.
The author lays out very concisely the campaign plan, battle movements and likely (based on evidence) final disposition of Custer's troopers on and in the vicinity of Last Stand Hill. The full battle is portrayed with equal relevance given to the Reno/Benteen fight and defense five miles away from Custer. The splitting of Benteen and Reno's troopers as well as personality conflicts and vignettes on the major players on both the Indian and Cavalry sides are provided. The Indian side is well covered and I learned a lot about how and why the tribes gathered there as well as their war fighting tactics and practices that gave me a much fuller understanding of the battle than I had before.
The 3-D maps showing troop movements are very well rendered. Having visited the battlefield, the 3-D presentation is important to understanding the battlefield. It is a very hilly area with major views obscured at many points and battle sounds cordoned off by hills and obstructions. The geography had a major impact on the fighting and outcome of this battle.
This is a thin book, but well worth the cost. Its value is in a thorough rendering and illustration of the essentials of the battle. A great start to understanding "Custer's Last Stand."
Excellent review of the Little Big Horn.......2005-07-22
The maps, narrative and pictures provide a concise outline of the battle. It does not provide much detail, however, as to how the authors reached the conclusions they did regarding the movements of and how the battle unfolded for the regiments that were completely wiped out (ie. it does not address battlefield archeology to any degree). Nonetheless, it is an excellent overview and should be read in conjunction with books that do address the archeology.
Condensed but Accurate History But Maps Are Killer: 3-D.......2003-12-14
I spotted Panzieri's book while on a tour of the Little Big Horn in the hands of a tour attendee and I had to have a copy. The best and most unique thing about this book are the maps. Large color overall campaign maps in several stages but the ultimate are the 3 dimensional maps of different phases of the Little Big Horn battle. These color topographical maps not only give you positions of the combatants with time interval notations but the terrain features are excellent. If you have never been there, you will now appreciate the difficulty of the terrian, the high bluffs, the coulees (large drainages) Weir Point etc. which contributed to the difficulty in communications, the effects it had on visualizing the village and the advantages it gave the Native Americans. You can hold the several 2 page maps in your hands at the battlefield and have one of the best guides literally in hand. Also, the condensed history is excellent with a wealth of pictures and it pretty much follows Fox's theory as well as heavy contribution apparently by Gray's time sequence estimates. Fox's theory that Custer was still in the offensive mode which was why his battalion was split with one wing waiting for Benteen when all hell breaks loose does make sense. This is the best condensed version of the campaign but it's all about the maps, they are the best, particularly the 3-D battle maps. The maps alone are worth the purchase.
A Fine Overview.......2003-09-14
Peter Panzeri's "Little Big Horn 1876 " presents a good solid portrayal of Custer's Last Stand. There are several high points to the author's work: The background to that fateful day is ably drawn indeed. We know why both sides met in Southeast Montana when they did. The replay of troop movements on both sides is presented well without losing the reader in detail. There are several good photos of the main characters, personalizing them. Most significantly, the MAPS are excellent. So many military books pay little or no heed to them. The maps here are of first rate full color quality. They are so good that LBH warrants 5 stars on this aspect alone! If LBH has a weak spot, it lies in the absence of any after the battle analysis. A chapter of Monday morning quarterbacking would have been the perfect complement to Mr. Panzeri's efforts. Since we now know that there were survivors from this battle, at least from Major Reno's and Captain Benteen's commands, opinions must abound on the engagement. This omission is insufficient to lowering the ranking of LBH. The maps save the day! REVIEWER'S NOTE: Since submitting this review to amazon, I have gone to Montana and visited the scene. It's impressive! The key point is to underscore the sheer size of the battle area.It's big!! One can quickly appreciate how hard it could have been for Benteen and Reno to come to Custer's aide. With the rolling hills,maybe they did not even see him. In any event the site is right off I 90 and close to the pleasant town of Billings, MT. Now I'm searching for another Custer story. A visit to LBH definitely enhances the printed word!
Good Overview of the Little Big Horn Campaign.......2002-08-02
Little Big Horn 1876: Custer's Last Stand by Peter F. Panzeri is a good overview of the Little Big Horn Campaign. It is written in the traditional Osprey style and in addition has excellent maps showing the troop movements.
The theme of the book appears to be the multiple mistakes made by Custer and his men, espically Major Reno, that led to the destruction of his cammand. The chief among these was over confidence. In this vien, the book is very good. This is a worthwhile read for one who wants to know the basics of an American battle where it is often times difficult to seperate fact from folklore.
Average customer rating:
- A great amount of exhibits and primary sources - very valuable book
- Hard Hitting Account of the LBH: Reno and Benteen Skinned
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Abcs of Custer's Last Stand: Arrogance, Betrayal and Cowardice
Arthur C. Unger
Manufacturer: Upton & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0912783389 |
Customer Reviews:
A great amount of exhibits and primary sources - very valuable book.......2006-04-25
First of all, the author is one of the biggest Custeriana collector in the world. The book is full of exhibits (Maguire's first map ever drawn, original orders, original maps) and pictures of the men of the 7th cavalry you probably have never seen. The cover is also a great artwork.
This book is a deep, serious Inquiry about the battle full of primary sources. The result is a fascinating collect of evidences against Captain Benteen and Major Reno and the whole army, which built a big cover-up to hide the betrayal. The amount of testimonies, papers, orders by Native Americans and Americans about the battle and the responsabilities of the disaster make this book one of the best ever written on Custer's Last Stand.
You won't be disapointed!
Hard Hitting Account of the LBH: Reno and Benteen Skinned .......2005-01-04
This is a blunt straightforward account of the Little Big Horn with no holds bared. It reminds me a great deal of Graham's great work the "Custer Myth" which provided a ton or resource material from all sides of view, Indian, scout and military participants. But Unger uses more recently discovered material such as the famous Maguire (Gibbon's engineer) map that apparently was altered many times at the time of the Reno trial, new documents written by Benteen only discovered in the 1950's and many accounts of participants both Indian and military to show what happened on the day that a 1/3 of the 7th cavalry met their death. Utilizing Walter Camps extensive references, comments and map by Philo Clark the great Indian interpreter, the Reno trial transcripts, and various Indian testimonies, Unger makes one of the strongest cases that Reno and Benteen failed Custer and left his battalion to fight the Indians alone. Includes several new perspectives and questions such as Daniel Kanipe, the next to last messenger or deserter? Was Reno drunk during the battle? Did General Merritt allow the Reno trial to be a whitewash? Why did the pack train commander not know of Kanipe's mission? Why did companies
C and I wait on the ridges behind Custer's attacking column? Were they holding for Benteen who was given the last message? Unger makers a strong case that Custer did actually attack at Medicine Trail Coulee and that it was not a feint or just a change of mind to utilize a ford further down. Unger does an impressive chronology indicating where all Custer's units were at any one time and although suggesting that Custer was on the attack when he moved north as Fox suggests, he disagrees with Fox by stating that Custer was under great pressure from the start particularly when Reno abandoned the field. Unger even speculates on whom the Officer was that Indians say was shot at Medicine Trail Coulee's ford and he provides insight into what happened to several missing Officers' bodies. Unger gives you the whole campaign perspective including Crooks abandonment of the campaign and failure to notify his superiors timely, Sheridan's failure to notify the columns of numbers of Indians leaving the reservations timely, Reno's failure to hold his position or move to Custer after Benteen's arrival, Benteen's failure go to follow Custer's orders and his deference to Reno for convenience, Reno and Benteen's claim on not hearing Custer's firing and on. No one involved with the debacle is left out that may have had a contributing part. Unger even covers the details of cavalry organization, unit size, missing officers and who the survivors were and he speculates why and how they were not with Custer. The chapters on each subject are short, very direct and loaded with evidence and testimony. The book also has a large number of photocopied exhibits from a variety of sources. My only question is that Unger credits Reno's battalion with firing a lot of ammunition but some eyewitnesses indicated that Reno's battalion took few shells when the packs arrived. Also, the Nathan Short story of the escaping trooper has not had much recent support. The only negative is that I wish I could have read the maps a bit better as they are reprinted with no additional detail and its hard to find some of the lettering that references the fords
This book is a delight to read, full of information and points of view (even challenges Fox and Scotts' archeology digs). Any LBH historian will enjoy this book since all the primary participants are highlighted and detailed probably better than any other LBH book.
Average customer rating:
- If you wish your child liked history!
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Andy & Mark and the Time Machine: Custer's Last Stand
Wilfred F. Reed
Manufacturer: Writers Club Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0595264964 |
Book Description
In the third book of the series, Andy unveils a scientific breakthrough that will make time travel practical. He and Mark, and new friend Amy, test the enhanced program and discover that something has gone wrong! The trio becomes separated in the past and returning home seems impossible. But the friends are determined to reunite, and the only way to accomplish their goal is to travel the roads that lead to the one place that they desperately wanted to avoid - the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Along the way the time travelers meet Sioux leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, ride with General George Armstrong Custer and the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, and become part of the history of Custer's Last Stand!
Customer Reviews:
If you wish your child liked history!.......2003-01-31
What a way to teach a disinterested child history! The facts are all there even better researched than those so-called textbooks our children use in school.
This style of writing involves your child into the lessons and I bet they won't even realize they are learning history by reading this book!
Now I am off to by the other one and look forward to the next book soon to hit the shelves I hope!
Average customer rating:
- Historically accurate, although conversations are fiction
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Custer's Last Stand
Will Henry , and
Clay Fisher
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0553255770 |
Customer Reviews:
Historically accurate, although conversations are fiction.......2005-03-13
Several things will always be puzzling about the battle that is universally referred to as "Custer's Last Stand." General George Armstrong Custer had an ego the size of the western prairie, yet he also had a great deal of respect for the Indians he was trying to hunt down and kill. I have visited the site of that battle and you can see for miles from that point. Therefore, it is hard to understand how he would have been so foolish to ride into a battle that he could not win. Yes, it is clear that he aspired to the presidency, but people don't achieve that office by losing battles, especially to the Indians.
Conversely, it is also strange that the Indians, who had achieved one of their few decisive victories against the white interlopers, would have disbanded so quickly. They still vastly outnumbered the American soldiers and could have pressed home an even greater victory. And yet, almost immediately after the victory, the Cheyenne left the war group, and a defeatist attitude set in among the Indians. When a small group of Cheyenne that refused to settle on a reservation tried to rejoin the Oglala, Crazy Horse refused their participation. Those Cheyenne then approached the American Army and offered to help them hunt down Crazy Horse and his band. Crazy Horse then chose to surrender and lead his group onto a reservation. Therefore, within a year of their great victory, the mighty Sioux nation was restricted to reservations and rapidly dying as a culture.
While there are some aspects, such as the conversations between the soldiers, that are fictionalized, the bulk of the story is historically accurate. The personalities of the principals are accurately captured, the speech attributed to Custer, his officers, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are all consistent with other biographical material that I have read. Henry tries to avoid making value judgements on the circumstances, although it is hard not to criticize the rapacious actions of the whites as they are destroying the Indian culture and largely exterminating entire villages.
This is an excellent description of one of the turning points in the Indian wars of the western expansion of the American nation. For in their great victory, the Indians found only defeat, effectively giving up the fight, although in their defense, had they not surrendered, they probably would have been exterminated as a people.
Customer Reviews:
His Very Silence Speaks: Comanche the Horse Who Survived.......2007-09-20
A wonderful accounting of the life of Comanche, the only horse to survive the battle at the Little Big Horn, and not be taken captive by the native Americans. Comanche became the mascot for the US Cavalry and lived to a ripe old age.
A must read for any fans of General George Armstrong Custer, Captain Myles Keog or the Battle at the Little Big Horn, or anyone who loves true horse stories.
Average customer rating:
- Interesting but unsubstantiated story
- Billy Heath: The Man Who Survived Custer's Last Stand
- Mystery is an Integral Part of the Battle of the Little Bigh
- Argument not supported
- Comments on Billy Health - Suvivor of Little Big Horn
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Billy Heath: The Man Who Survived Custer's Last Stand
Vincent J. Genovese , and
Brian C. Pohanka
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1591020662 |
Book Description
As the U.S. Army's Seventh Cavalry marched toward Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Seventh's fabled history was called to mind. From Vietnam back through two world wars, news broadcasters were quick to remind us that the Seventh Cavalry was none other than Gen. George Armstrong Custer's old command at the famous Battle of Little Bighorn. One hundred and twenty-seven years ago Custer led the men of five companies to their deaths at the hands of the Sioux. News of the slaughter that took place soon reached the rest of the nation as it kicked off its centennial celebration on July 4, 1876, in Philadelphia.
Even in 1876 there was close scrutiny of the battle plans, and questions arose regarding the rout at Little Bighorn. Since that day, despite all its victories in subsequent wars, the Seventh is forever identified as the regiment that was wiped out by Indians on June 25, 1876.
Although opinions vary on the details of the battle, virtually every book in the Custer literature agrees on one point: not a single soldier was alive after the dust settled in Montana that fateful day. However, recent facts uncovered by author Vincent J. Genovese bring the universally accepted conclusion of no survivors into serious doubt. Genovese has presented compelling evidence that one soldier, Pvt. William (Billy) Heath, the farrier for Company L, did manage to escape the carnage at Custer's Last Stand.
With all the drama and intrigue of a Hollywood movie, the story of Heath's survival is the substance of Genovese's controversial book, BILLY HEATH: THE MAN WHO SURVIVED CUSTER'S LAST STAND. Less than a year before the battle, twenty-seven-year-old Billy Heath strolled into the army's recruiting office in Cincinnati and joined up. The immigrant coal miner from Pennsylvania was on the run from death threats back in his hometown of Girardville, leaving behind his family. In a few short months he found himself in the midst of one of the most famous battles in U.S. military history.
Army records confirm Heath was in battle and list him as being killed in action. His name is carved into the battlefield monument where the U.S. Army says his remains lay. Not so, says Genovese. Somehow William Heath escaped death and was later found by a wagon of settlers migrating west. Nursed back to health, he eventually returned home to Pennsylvania. Genovese introduces proof showing that Heath lived for fourteen years after the battle.
Lavishly illustrated, this thought-provoking volume contains a foreword by noted Custer and Little Bighorn scholar Brian Pohanka, and an afterword by professor of political science and American history William Gudelunas.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting but unsubstantiated story.......2005-09-12
Custer's Last stand is one of the most famous events in American History. Supposedly all 210+ men in the five companies that accompanied him to attack the village on the Little Bighorn river died along with him, but legends have persisted ever since that there were survivors. The current book is an attempt to prove that one man did survive: William Heath, a farrier (horse handler) in Company L of the 7th Cavalry.
The difficulty is that the author has little proof for his story beyond the bare bones of tax records and army enlistment papers. Records don't always tell the whole story, and in some cases the facts they present are completely inaccurate. Here those records seem to show that Heath entered the USA in 1872 from England, enlisted in the army in 1875, fought at the Little Bighorn and was killed, and then reappearred the next year in Pennsylvania at his home and lived for another dozen or so years, fathering half a dozen children in the meanwhile.
The difficulty with the above is that there are major discrepancies which the author either ignores or unconvincingly explains away. For one thing, Heath was a coal miner for much of the period 1872-5, then became a policeman working for the coal company. In 1872 he was illiterate, and made his mark on his citizenship papers. In 1875 he signs his name (with a beautiful flowing script) on his enlistment papers. When did he find time to learn to read and write? Another circumstance which the author ignores is that Heath's reason for leaving his home and enlisting in the army was that the Molly Maguires (violent proto-Union coalminers) threatened him. A few pages later, the author tells you that the Mollies cut off the ears of those they wanted to threaten, but not kill. Later still, he tells you that Heath had part of one ear cut off during his service with the 7th Cavalry. However, he never makes the obvious conclusion that perhaps he lost the ear in a confrontation with the Mollies as opposed to a fight with the Sioux.
I think, from the available evidence presented by the author, that it's equally likely that Heath fled home after one of the Mollies cut his ear off, and that somehow someone else from the area took his name for some reason and used it when they entered the army. This would account for him learning to read, and explain how he could reappear after being killed at the Little Bighorn. He simply wasn't there. One thing the author doesn't explain at all: after the battle, Heath supposedly was found and nursed back to health by a family of settlers, and made his way home. The Mollies, in the meanwhile, had been broken up and sent to jail or the gallows. How did Heath, out on the frontier, receive word that it was safe to go home? My suspicion is he was holed up in Philadelphia or New York City, and read about it in the paper.
Another difficulty of the book is that since there's so little evidence, the author feels the need to pad things with extraneous information, to flesh out his story. As a result we get a painfully amateurish history lesson, replete with politically correct silliness and psychohistory. Everything from a half-baked psychoanalysis of Custer to Andrew Carnegie's nickname for John D. Rockefeller is included. Not exactly what I was expecting or looking for.
All in all, this is an interesting theory, but it's far from fully supported by the meager documentation the author has. He only has one photograph of the man (only reproduced on the front cover of the book) and hardly anything else about him is available. This leaves the premise way more thin than it should be for the author to make such a claim with the certainty that he exhibits.
Billy Heath: The Man Who Survived Custer's Last Stand.......2004-02-01
This is a gem of a book that not only relives, but provides new information about the fascinating and horrifying battle of Little Big Horn -- Custer's Last Stand. Contrary to common belief among scholars that no white man survived the battle, this book provides solid evidence that one white man actually did survive -- Billy Heath, the Seventh Calvary's farrier (person responsible for the well being of the company's horses). The author, Vincent J. Genovese, supports this startling claim by providing us with photocopies of birth, army, tax, and funeral records. Genovese also enlivens the text with photographs of the key participants (both White and Native American), and important locations. The background information makes interesting and exciting reading -- the harsh life of making a living in the coal mines of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; the Molly Maguire episode; the biography of George Custer; the balanced presentation of the plight of the Indians; the shocking battle of Little Big Horn itself; and the daring, but necessarily hypothetical, means of escape by Billy Heath. I think this book provides lively and fast-paced reading for the general public and provides ample groundwork for scholars.
Mystery is an Integral Part of the Battle of the Little Bigh.......2003-09-24
I don't know if Billy Heath survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but as a student of the battle and of Custer, I enjoy considering the "what ifs" of history. For a long time History (with a capital H) was only about the great, a contradiction to the principles of our democratic society. Now we have in addition the recuperation of the lives of others, such as the enlisted man Billy Heath. I find his life as a nineteenth-century working man fascinating, above and beyond whatever role he may have played on June 25, 1876. As for the negative portrait of Custer, this is more in keeping with the view of a 7th cavalry enlisted man than a privileged officer (or reader!). See for comparison Private Theodore Ewert's sour view of the Black Hills expedition. Many historians have put stock in the oral tradition of Native American accounts of the battle--why not in the oral tradition of a soldier's family? The detail that William Heath was unmarried can be just as inaccurate as his name being erroneously placed on the battlefield monument. Information about enlisted men is notoriously slippery. As for Frank Finkel and other fraudulent "sole survivors," they have already been written about by others. This is Billy Heath's story, as reconstructed by a determined and intrepid researcher. Was Heath in reality a deserter? History never gives us all the information we want, and that's its challenge.
Argument not supported.......2003-09-15
Ever since Custer's debacle at Little Big Horn numerous stories about survivors have popped up. This is another one of those stories. While on the surface this book may seem compelling, the author's argument is not. The author's lack of notation and sources creates numerous problems for serious historians. A glimpse through the slightly less than two page bibliography reveals that the author, who identifies himself as "an amateur historian," has not done exhaustive primary research. The sources that he lists are generally secondary and there is a sprinkling of published primary sources.
The authors lack of documentation also does not bode well for this book in academic circles. Suggesting that Heath was the sole survivor and not providing one footnote is a poor methodological practice.
In all this book offers nothing more than another "survivor story." This book is of no great historical significance because nothing is substantiated.
Comments on Billy Health - Suvivor of Little Big Horn.......2003-09-02
Although not an historian of the Battle of Little Bighorn, the author does offer compelling evidence that there was a survivor. In addition, the book provides interesting information on the Pa. coal region, Custer, Little Bighorn, etc. The information appears to have been thoroughly researched and well written. It's very evident that the writer believes that Billy Heath is, in fact, the sole suvivor of the Battle of Little Bighorn.
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