Riding With Custer: Recollections of a Cavalryman in the Civil War

by James Harvey Kidd, Gregory J.W. Urwin (Introduction)

Years before his fateful stand at the Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer fought in the Civil War, a bright and shiny brigadier general of volunteers in the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. Riding with Custer and his “Wolverines” was Captain James H. Kidd, who saw action extending from the raid on Richmond to Appomattox.  Riding with Custer is a rousing and vivid illustration of the tactical worth of cavalry in the army. Kidd raised his own company, engaged in more than sixty battles, rose to colonel in 1864, and after conspicuous valor in the Valley Campaign of that year succeeded Custer as commander of the Michigan Brigade. When he wrote these memoirs several decades after the war, his recollections were sharp and indelible—among them the experience of fighting with Custer at Gettysburg, Falling Waters, the Wilderness, Yellow Tavern, and Cedar Creek. He describes life on the move in all kinds of weather and terrain, the sensation of combat, the pleasure of a cup of coffee, and, besides Custer, such famous generals as Judson Kilpatrick, Phil Sheridan, and Wesley Merritt. A reprint of the original 1908 edition, this Bison Book features a new index.

Genres: Civil War, American Civil War

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jim]

James H. Kidd enlisted as a Captain in the 6th Michigan Cavalry Regiment. By the end of the war he commanded the regiment and, for awhile, the Michigan Brigade (1st, 5th, 6th & 7th Michigan Cavalry Regiments). Their first fighting was in the Gettysburg campaign, where they helped stop Jeb Stuart from getting behind the Army of the Potomac during Pickett's Charge.



He provides great descriptions of the cavalry battles at Gettysburg, Trevilian Station, The Third Battle of Winchester & Cedar Creek. This is a well written book and worth reading.