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With Custer on the Little Bighorn: A Newly Discovered First-Person Account by William O. Taylor
In 1872, seventeen-year-old William O. Taylor, barely five feet tall, enlisted in the army at Troy, New York. Almost immediately he was assigned to the Seventh Cavalry. At 12:30 p.m. on the fateful day, June 25, 1876, Taylor's contingent, under the command of Major Marcus Reno, was told to move forward "at as rapid a gait as prudent and charge afterwards." At the same time, General George A. Custer and his force left the trail and moved right. Suddenly, Taylor and his comrades were caught in a furious surprise attack by the Sioux. "The Death Angel," writes Private Taylor, "was very near."
For thirty-six hours, without water, Taylor's battalion was dug in until finally reinforced by other troops of the Seventh Cavalry. It was then they learned that only a short distance away, Custer's force had been annihilated.
Beginning at 5:00 a.m. on the morning of June 27, Private Taylor and the remnants of his regiment attended to the burial of Custer's dead.
"The most that could be done," writes Taylor in his extraordinary account of a military disaster that will never be erased from the American consciousness, "was to cover the remains with some branches of sagebrush and scatter a little earth on top, enough to cover their nakedness, a covering that would remain but a few hours at the most when the wind and rain would undo our work, and the wolves whose mournful and ominous howls we had already heard, would scatter their bones over the surrounding ground."
The memories of that singular event in American history obsessed William O. Taylor for the rest of his days. The result is this moving personal and revelatory memoir published here for the first time since its creation.
For thirty-six hours, without water, Taylor's battalion was dug in until finally reinforced by other troops of the Seventh Cavalry. It was then they learned that only a short distance away, Custer's force had been annihilated.
Beginning at 5:00 a.m. on the morning of June 27, Private Taylor and the remnants of his regiment attended to the burial of Custer's dead.
"The most that could be done," writes Taylor in his extraordinary account of a military disaster that will never be erased from the American consciousness, "was to cover the remains with some branches of sagebrush and scatter a little earth on top, enough to cover their nakedness, a covering that would remain but a few hours at the most when the wind and rain would undo our work, and the wolves whose mournful and ominous howls we had already heard, would scatter their bones over the surrounding ground."
The memories of that singular event in American history obsessed William O. Taylor for the rest of his days. The result is this moving personal and revelatory memoir published here for the first time since its creation.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1996
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 23, 2013
This is one of the first books I read that made me sit up and say "Holy crap! THIS is history?!" I read the whole thing first in 2000, cover to cover, in one sitting. I visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield a few years later and read the book again.
I was amazed by how much I didn't know about Custer's Last Stand, about the men and women who were involved, and the ugly, non-Hollywood reality of battle and slaughter as described by W. O. Taylor, allegedly one of the survivors of the failed campaign.
The book is presented as Taylor's first-hand journal account of the campaign. It also includes photos and scraps of papers and articles he collected in his life that related to this event. Perhaps he is ahead of his time (or perhaps not) when he ends one chapter with the following:
"In times past I have wondered how a man felt, when he believed that almost inevitable, sudden death was upon him. I knew it now, for our escape was little less than miraculous when one considers the overwhelming number of Indians... (who pursued us), a howling mass of red warriors, naked to the waist, who, maddened and desperate by the terrified cries of their wives and children whose lives were put in jeopardy for the third time within a few weeks, rushed from their camps and, caring nothing for their own lives, were determined to save their families, or die.
They seemed to us, in all their hideousness of paint and feathers, and wild fierce cries, like fiends incarnate, but were they?"
I was amazed by how much I didn't know about Custer's Last Stand, about the men and women who were involved, and the ugly, non-Hollywood reality of battle and slaughter as described by W. O. Taylor, allegedly one of the survivors of the failed campaign.
The book is presented as Taylor's first-hand journal account of the campaign. It also includes photos and scraps of papers and articles he collected in his life that related to this event. Perhaps he is ahead of his time (or perhaps not) when he ends one chapter with the following:
"In times past I have wondered how a man felt, when he believed that almost inevitable, sudden death was upon him. I knew it now, for our escape was little less than miraculous when one considers the overwhelming number of Indians... (who pursued us), a howling mass of red warriors, naked to the waist, who, maddened and desperate by the terrified cries of their wives and children whose lives were put in jeopardy for the third time within a few weeks, rushed from their camps and, caring nothing for their own lives, were determined to save their families, or die.
They seemed to us, in all their hideousness of paint and feathers, and wild fierce cries, like fiends incarnate, but were they?"
May 29, 2016
Probably the best and most factual book published on the battle.
Written and compiled by a survivor of the battle and never published before he died. This memoir with all its notes were packed away by family and found its way to a small museum and forgotten. In 1984 the museum was purchased by a Greg Martin who came across the memoir and published it.
This is one of the best nonfiction western reads I have found to date.
Written and compiled by a survivor of the battle and never published before he died. This memoir with all its notes were packed away by family and found its way to a small museum and forgotten. In 1984 the museum was purchased by a Greg Martin who came across the memoir and published it.
This is one of the best nonfiction western reads I have found to date.
May 7, 2008
Great that we have an actual eyewitness account from this defining moment in American history. I think we all know by know that it was no epic battle with gallantry and hard resolve to the bitter end but rather an HALF AN HOUR of slaughter, for encroaching on land that they were not supposed to be on, with men running away and crawling on all fours like dogs as they were hacked to bits.
May 10, 2023
This was very insightful into the mind of someone who was under General George Custer. I would have like to hear more of the battle itself and the discovery of Custers men. But it was a good book. 3/5 stars.
August 22, 2022
It has a '90s feel to the writing. 1990s not 1890s. Native Americans were apparently all Mensa candidates and The US Calvary were a little more inept than the Keystone Cops.
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January 25, 2024SM
Want to read
October 26, 2024January 1, 1996
November 2, 2025
This book kept my attention from the time I picked it up. I enjoyed the first hand accounts and respect to all participants by the author.
February 7, 2021
I have the hardcover of the same book regardless of which one you own or buy it's the same sad outcome, well-writren,graphic violent end of a great man's goof or stubnorness and the warriors who fought with him and against him. Recently rediscovered in the 1990s when book was done, it has some black and white archival pictures.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews