BK316
Custer's Best: The Story of Company M, 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn
By Colonel French L. MacLean
Product Description:
‘This is the story of George Custer’s best cavalry company at the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn – Company M. With a tragically-flawed, but extremely brave Company Commander and a no-nonsense First Sergeant, Company M maintained a disciplined withdrawal from the skirmish line fighting, saving Major Marcus Reno’s entire detachment and possibly the rest of the regiment from annihilation. Presented here is the most-detailed work on a single company at the Little Bighorn ever written – the product of multi-year research at archives across the country and detailed visits to the battlefield by a combat veteran who understands fields of fire, weapons’ effects, training, morale, decision-making, unit cohesion and the value of outstanding non-commissioned officers.’
Review:
Tough Men -- with a Wild Side
Reviewed by French L. MacLean (author)
This review is from: Custer's Best: The Story of Company M, 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn
As I am the author of this book, I cannot in good conscience tell you that the prose in the work is Shakespearean, but I can say it's a fun read, full of facts that you haven't read elsewhere, 15 full-color maps and several hundred photographs, and a book you will return to time and time again when you are studying the Little Bighorn. So for that and much more, I have to give it five stars. For example, inside you will not only learn what Company M did at the Little Bighorn, but how they were recruited, where they came from, their experiences as new recruits, what they ate in the Army (does slumgullion stew sound tasty?), and how they were supposed to be trained with their weapons. Concerning the initial fight of Company M with Major Reno's detachment in the Little Bighorn Valley, you will be able to use the maps, description and photographs to actually go to the valley and see the exact terrain - a portion of the fight that most visitors to the park normally do not visit. You will read about acts of valor in Company M and why ten soldiers should have received Medals of Honor but didn't, as Reno was no fan of the company commander and Captain Benteen disliked the company first sergeant even more.
The book follows the 45 Company M survivors of the fight (12 died) through the rest of their careers and lives. Many were later buried at the Old Soldiers' Home in Washington DC; their gravestones are shown in the book and can also be used as a quick guide to that cemetery, when you are next in the nation's capital. Simple forensics makes an appearance in the book, with detailed photographs of cartridges at the Company M valley positions that show that at least one trooper experienced jamming of rounds in his carbine, and that First Sergeant John Ryan fired his distinctive Sharps telescopic rifle there. A small piece of dark blue cloth, a trouser button and carbine casings found together show where there may have been a hasty grave after the battle for a Company M soldier, and this study narrows that down to one of two men.
The troopers of Company M were a rowdy lot, with an average of over one court-martial conviction per man. Two troopers earlier picked a bar-fight with a man who turned out to be Wild Bill Hickok - with bad results. After accessing their medical records in Washington, DC, the study is able to report who was kicked by a mule, who was in the riot in Company M two months before the 1876 campaign and who caught a social disease in the bordellos and hog ranches of the West, where the whiskey served was some of the meanest on earth.
So saddle up and join Company M; "we're burnin' daylight!"
It's a FUN read!
Saddle up and join Company M; "we're burnin' daylight!"
BK316 - Custer's Best: The Story of Company M, 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn
Details: Hardcover, 272 pages, approximately 9 x 11 inches, English text.
= English
$70.00 +s/h
|