Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn

by Chris Enss, Howard Kazanjian, Chris Kortlander (Primary Contributor)

There weren’t many women in the late 1800s who had the opportunity to accompany their husbands on adventures that were so exciting they seemed fictitious. Such was the case for the women married to the officers in General George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry. There were seven officers’ wives. They were all good friends who traveled from post to post with one another along with their spouses. Of the seven widows, Elizabeth Custer was the most well-known. As the wife of the commanding officer, Libbie felt it was her duty to be present when the officer’s wives at Fort Lincoln were told their husbands had been killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The women were overwhelmed with letters of condolence. Most people were sincere in their expressions of sorrow over the widows’ loss. Others were ghoulish souvenir hunters requesting articles of their husbands’ clothing and personal weapons as keepsakes. The press was preoccupied with how the wives of the deceased officers were handling their grief. During the first year after the tragic event, reporters sought them out to learn how they were coping, what plans they had for the future, and what, if anything, they knew about the battle itself. The widows were able to soldier through the scrutiny because they had one another. They confided in each other, cried without apologizing, and discussed their desperate financial situations. The friendship the bereaved widows had with one another proved to be a critical source of support. The transition from being officers’ wives living at various forts on the wild frontier to being single women with homes of their own was a difficult adjustment. Without one another to depend upon, the time might have been more of a struggle. The Widowed Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn tells the stories of these women and the unique bond they shared through never-before-seen materials from the Elizabeth Custer Library and Museum at Garryowen, Montana, including letters to and from politicians and military leaders to the widows, fellow soldiers and critics of George Custer to the widows, and letters between the widows themselves about when the women first met, the men they married, and their attempts to persevere after the tragedy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Biography

208 pages, Hardcover

Published June 15, 2022

Reviews

[Sharon Huether · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of the War Widows of the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana.
Elizabeth Custer kept the memory of her husband General George A. Custer alive for more than fifty years after his death.
Elizabeth accompanied the officers when the widows were told of the death of all the Seventy Calvary
Officers. She comforted the woman and their children. She wrote letters of encouragement to the widows and helped them in every way she could.
Many of the letters were published in this book.

[Bethany Swafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

June 1876: The Battle of Little Bighorn, commonly known as Custer's Last Stand. General George Armstrong Custer and the forty men of his troop are slaughtered. More than two dozen women are left widowed, among them seven officers' wives who were friends before the tragedy. This is their story.

I have to admit I know little about the Battle of Little Bighorn, simply that it happened. The premise of the book, how the seven officers met their wives and what happened to those women after the battle, sounded fascinating and it was! The pictures included really helped me to see each couple in my mind.

It was interesting to see how many of these women remained single and raise their children. Jobs were scarce for women, so it wasn't easy. Elizabeth Custer spent the rest of her life defending her husband's reputation.

This was full of letter excerpts and contemporary articles of the time. Some portions are narrated as fiction to help connect with what was happening.

Readers who enjoy easy to read looks into the past will probably enjoy this one. I received an advance reader copy through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.

[MKF · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again we have yet another book that focuses on the life and loss of Elizabeth Custer. The few chapters on the other wives of officers just left me wanting to learn more. You see if you removed any mention the of the Custers then the bios of the wives would be very short. Because every chapter mentioned discussed the friendship with the Custers and almost everything they did. When not discussing the Custers the author adds events at the fort the wives may or may not have participated in such, such as bison hunts. It does show what life was like as military on the plains during the late 1800s. I had just hoped that the book wasn't just another book on Elizabeth Custer.

[James Zaksek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. The book cover intrigued me initially and I started this book last year. Due to circumstances that I couldn't finish the book, I picked it up again and enjoyed it fully. It provided a lot of different historical facts and cited several influences all around Elizabeth Custer about the death of General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. I thought it was well written and well researched throughout and I applaud Chris Enss for the amount of details within. I particularly enjoyed all the history about Montana too! I enjoyed this book and I'm glad I read it.

[Karen Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! The accounts of all that happened before and after the Battle Of Little Bighorn is so detailed and the author backs it up with documentation of said events. What the wives endured after the deaths of their husbands and strength to get through it all shows how strong we can be. I would of loved to have read this book when I was in college history classes or even my honors high school class. It gives you a little bit more truthful knowledge of what happened.

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
Initially I found the book to be difficult to parse through - the atrocities of war & the grief of the widows was palpable, combined with the modern lens of indigenous peoples & the rewriting of history, it became a struggle to feel compassionate to this history and the history in the media. No way can you slice it but that each side had its own brutalities. Neither side is at total fault nor total blame. Violent acts of war and senseless crimes were committed. Being relatively unfamiliar with the nitty gritty details of The Battle of Little Bighorn, there’s definitely research to be done outside this book to get a full picture of what happened. But the authors do a lovely job of compiling first hand accounts, newspapers, letters, and diaries of those who survived the outcome of that massacre.

It was great to read of the responsibilities which Elizabeth Custer took on as wife of deceased commanding officer - she delayed her own grief to care for those whose husbands also perished during Custer’s Last Stand, women and dependents who lost their stability in their homes. Although obviously not the most in depth book - it's a short little thing, it was a great introduction to the history of the Battle of Little Big Horn.

[John Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although I have read a number of books and articles about Custer and the Little Bighorn none of those focused on the emotional toll that accrued to the families left behind. This is something that I'd always imagined would have been devasting. In reading this extensively researched book I came away with a very detailed picture of the magnitude of the mental and physical effects upon the widows of Custer and his officers. For me the book was hard to put down. I highly recommend it.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, although it was overshadowed a bit. I was hoping for something a bit more robust in the pages, delving deeper into some of the other women's lives, and that of their husbands, but it was not meant to be.

Decent, but not my favorite read of the year.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this through the GoodreadsGiveaways. I was excited to read it but it just wasn't what I had anticipated and turned into a DNF.

[Dduker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. I love history and this book is full of human life and suffering. What hardships these women endured to keep their families together. Thank you for a good read.

[Tenison Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

[Dave Scrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read

The Widowed Ones is a wonderful read that was well researched and written. The authors reveal the aftermath of the massacre and the widows struggles with grief, loss,tragedy and finding a way to make a life without their loved one. I highly recommend.