Troopers with Custer: Historic Incidents of the Battle of the Little Big Horn

by Earl Alonzo Brininstool

No one survived in Custer's immediate command, but other soldiers fighting in the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25-26, 1876, were doomed to remember the nightmarish scene for decades after. Their true and terrible stories are included in Troopers with Custer. Some of the veterans who corresponded with E. A. Brininstool were still alive when his book first appeared in a shortened version in 1925. It has long been recognized as classic Custeriana.

More incisively than many later writers, Brininstool considers the causes of Custer's defeat and questions the alleged cowardice of Major Marcus A. Reno. His exciting reenactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn sets up the reader for a series of turns by its stars and supporting and bit players. Besides the boy general with the golden locks, they include Captain Frederick W. Benteen, the scouts Lieutenant Charles A. Varnum and "Lonesome Charley" Reynolds, the trumpeter John Martin, officers and troopers in the ranks who miraculously escaped death, the only surviving surgeon and the captain of the steamboat that carried the wounded away, the newspaperman who spread the news to the world, and many others.

Genres: History

343 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1925

Reviews

[Andrew McAuley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, let's start of by saying this book was written in the 1950's, and the opinions therein as expressed by the author are a product of his time. That said, the author is clearly very biased against the Native Americans and would likely by today's standard be considered a massive racist.

The book is an invaluable source on the Plains Indians Wars, and definitely required reading for students of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. We have interviews with several key figures such as Captain Benteen and Orderly Martini and some information lifted from the Reno court of inquiry. However, rather than print the interviews as directly told to the author he seems to have preferred his own narration and then including lines or paragraphs from the interviewee- therein lies one of the main issues with the book-

the author is very, very pro-Reno and Benteen. He doesn't say much against Custer, but in pretty much every chapter he recites the same lines about how Reno and Benteen couldn't have done any more than they did and it was all Custer's fault. Although I expect most of the content to be truthful as the combatants saw it, Benteen's gross exaggerations of the numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors are laughable. As is the repeated asseration that Reno's rout accross the river to his hilltop were a 'charge'. No mention is given to the contradictory orders Reno gave to the effect of 'Mount... dismount... mount... any man who wishes to live- follow me!' That's not an order to charge, especially when a bunch of his men were left behind to fend for themselves. That said, I do buy into the author's repated assertion that Reno wasn't drunk- enough witnesses said they didn't see him drink anything for it to have likely been one of the aggrived mule packers who made a false accusation.

The other part I had an issue with was that there were no interviews with any Native American. Sure, the title is 'Troopers with Custer' but we have a photo of the author standing next to the 'sole survivor of the Custer fight' - native scout Curley. Surely we could've heard his side- instead, the author includes but a single line to the effect of slating Curley's story as a fabrication- which it may be, but I don't entirely believe all of Benteen's story or parts of the other officers of the 7th Cavalry. The stories of the enlisted men seem to me to be generally more reliable as they aren't trying to cover for themselves where some of the officers seem to be doing just that- defending their part in the story. It would be interesting to read what Captain Weir would've said about it all if he'd lived longer than he did.

In summary, it's (by today's standard) a badly written book by a guy who-though he makes some comments about the wars being the fault of whites, is clearly very much biased in their favour. It does however contain some riveting accounts which you probably wouldn't find elsewhere. If you can get past the author repeatedly trying to bash you over the head with his opinion, it's probably one of the most valuable accounts of the Plains Indian Wars- and that's why I give it four stars.

[Drpsychorat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories in this anti Custer book. But at any point the author usually brings in, whether it goes along with the story or not, the point that Custer supposedly disobeyed orders and that he was responsible for what happened at the Little Big Horn. Still, it is considered to be a classic and Custer historians should reed it!

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Error on page 14

There is a typo on page 14. The word typed in alter should be after.

Other wise a good book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of primary and secondary source material on The Battle of Little Big Horn - fascinating to read collected recollections of those present.

[James Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is somewhat remarkable is it not, that I should grow up obsessed with Custer, the Lakota and the Little Big Horn. When I was 3-4 years old my mu bought me a western soldier figure in white plastic from the newsagents on Coronation Drive. I was thrilled with him and as I walked the rest of our journey home to fairway North, and the house where I was born, my mu told me about the legend of this buckskinned warrior- George Armstrong Custer. Hie heroism and his terrible death filled my young life and I often thought about those events in far way Montana, back a hundred years before my birth. Later in life, I went on to live with native Americans- the wonderful Haida people- and I learned to love them as brothers and sisters. I came to regard Custer as a creature of his time, a man caught in a dilemma- desirous to move on and up, to the top job in the US, yet also compelled to fight an enemy he admired and respected in order to get there. It left me conflicted. I found the whole Manifest destiny programme revolting and truly nauseating, and yet there was Little Big Horn. it was the epoch-defining day- the last-stand, not of Custer, but of the free men of the West. This book really puts things in perspective for me. Like myself, 40% of Custer's command who died along with him, were born in Europe. They were immigrants, some fresh off the boat. All were average age just 22 years old. It is a sad fact that they were conscripted to fight this vile offensive, much like Marley's musings on Buffalo Soldiers would later reveal. A horrible irony. This book gives those troopers a name, an identity and a history. A life apart from Custer's doom. It gives them back the dignity of their individuality while paying respect to the myriad reasons that led them all to this mad tumult on the hills. It is a profoundly moving and sad book.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Information gathered from survivors of the Seventh Cavalry that is not very flathering to Lt.Col. {Bevert General} George Armstrong Custer and the engagement at the Little Bighorn.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interviews and letters and testimony of survivors of the Custer campaign against the Sioux June 25, 26, 1876 on the Little Big Horn River in southeast Montana. You oughta read it for the true story.