With Custer At The Death

By Robert F. Burke

The fascination with Custer's Last Stand hasn't diminished in the decades since 1876. He led his regiment well ahead of the main body, only to run into an unprecedented gathering of Indians. The first accounts were pieced together by other soldiers arriving on the scene in the battle's aftermath, and by archaeologists in the generations since. To that information was added the reminiscences of the Indians who fought there.

Interleaving and cross-referencing all those accounts provides a minute-by-minute story of the fighting, as Custer desperately and expertly maneuvered his outnumbered troops to face repeated and well-coordinated assaults by bands of Indian warriors. The resultant narrative is supported by dozens of detailed maps and orders of battle for both sides.

This book is the final work of the late Robert F. Burke, who previously had authored meticulously researched articles on the Texas Revolution and the Alamo.

The final work of the late Robert F. Burke, With Custer at the Death is clearly a labor of love. Within its 99 pages is contained a meticulously researched, detailed account of the complex engagement between the 7th cavalry and a conglomeration of Sioux and Cheyenne along the bank of the Rosebud in June 1876. And complex it was. Those who have acquired their knowledge of the battle from TV and Hollywood will be surprised to learn how many moves and counter-moves were made by both sides over a period of seven hours across an area twenty-three miles across. Custer, for example, made no fewer than four major offensives to win the battle, at one point coming close to escaping with his command largely intact. (Nevertheless, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Custer failed to appreciate his peril- though others did so- until it was too late to extricate his command.)

The blow-by-blow account of the engagement is based in part on archaeological evidence, but to a larger extent on the testimony and reminiscences of survivors- soldiers, army scouts, and hostiles. For example, trumpeter John Martin, who survived because he was sent with dispatches to find the rest of the regiment, left some interesting glimpses of Custer as the action unfolded. No fewer than forty-eight full-page maps help the reader follow the action, and there are also photographs of many of the leading participants- soldiers, scouts, and Indian chiefs. The Prologue and Epilogue, drawn from a magazine article by Joseph Miranda, long-time editor of Strategy & Tactics magazine, provide the larger context in which the battle took place.

Reasonably prices at $29.95, this large format book is a must read for anyone interested in the Battle of the Little Big Horn or nineteenth century cavalry tactics.


--Keith Poulter
North & South May 2011