Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed

Rating:
Summary: A definitive book on the "Army" point of view about L.B.H.
Review: All the known testimonies from the "Army" (included the scouts) are here verified, examined in depth and placed in rigorous geografical and temporal perspectives. I'm waiting for a similar book with the Indian testimonies ("Lakota Noon", the book by MICHNO is helpfull) and - why not ? - with all the testimonies from both side. Maybe will I write it myself...

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating account of Custer's Last Stand
Review: Essentially a physicist's interpretation of the Battle of Little Bighorn, author John S. Gray's "Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed" is a fascinating account of one of the most storied battles ever to take place on American soil. And this was a battle, with more than 350 men, women and children killed in the span of two furious hours on the dusty slopes of 1876 southeast Montana.

This is not a book for beginners of Custer/Montana lore. It can be extremely tedious at times as Gray utilizes time-motion studies to piece together the puzzle of what happened during the Seventh Calvary's final minutes. Since every man of the U.S. Army was killed during this prong of the battle, there are no eyewitness military accounts. Yes, hundreds of Native Americans survived, but few spoke of this battle for fear of punishment and hatred of Anglo historians. Crazy Horse, one of the few Native American leaders during this confrontation, was assassinated a week after arriving on the reservation. So this very important man's account was never taken. Thus, we are left with a hodgepodge of hazy Native American reconstructions.

Visiting the battlefield today, which stretches over several miles, solemn white headstones mark the spot where bodies of the Seventh Calvary were found. The location of these stones are included in Gray's complex, mathematical equations. What he's intricately pieced together, with the help of eyewitness accounts, archaeological digs and his own analytical mind, is a realistic result of this unusual battle. His conclusions are perhaps outside of the realm of what people would consider today.

The myth surrounding Custer and Little Bighorn has been shaped by such matinee films as "They Died With Their Boots On," "Little Big Man" and television's "Son of the Morning Star." These films portray Custer as headstrong, vain, heroic and, in one case, a tad insane. But each version, thematically forged by the decade it was filmed, portrays Custer fighting gallantly to the last, standing alone in buckskins while angrily firing his pistol at the approaching Native American hordes. Custer, as if performing the concluding act of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," falls dead to the ground in bloody, poetic, slow motion. It makes for a great painting hanging above the neighborhood bar.

The reality, revealed by Gray's novel, is Custer did indeed have a battle plan rather than making a vain stab at glory. But his forces were simply overwhelmed, chaos ensued, and panicking men were run down like herds of buffalo. It's not very poetic, but has war truly ever been? To understand America's fascination with this battle, one must first read Evan S. Connell's "Son of the Morning Star," one of the greatest historical nonfiction novels ever written.

Gray discards such weighty wisdom like an old blanket, and scientifically gets to the root of what actually happened. A Last Stand does indeed take place on Custer Hill, where Custer's body was found. Survivors panic, some commit suicide, and Boyer and company frantically run west, fighting and killing in a froth-like animal panic. But west is towards the Native American village they were attacking in the first place. They are then desperately cornered in a ravine, a small gully which can be stared at to this very day.

When the U.S. Army rides into a primitive village, shooting defenseless women and children, the primitive man will fight back if for no other reason than to protect their families. Like poking a stick into an ant hill, Custer and his Seventh Calvary were overwhelmed, the sorry battle ending in a ditch. Men attempted to claw their way out, perhaps asking themselves how they ended up in such a remote location, dying the loneliest of deaths.

This battle haunts us for a number of reasons, mainly because of our inhumane treatment of the Native American people. So we obsessively analyze this epic Homerian battle, trying to find a moment of heroism, a brief glimpse to help salve our morally guilty wounds. But all we find in Gray's account is wide-eyed reality, and desperate men crying in a ditch. Gray's novel details these horrors in scientific fashion, and unknowingly provides a glimpse of the dangers of American warrior vanity.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating account of Custer's Last Stand
Review: Essentially a physicist's interpretation of the Battle of Little Bighorn, author John S. Gray's "Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed" is a fascinating account of one of the most storied battles ever to take place on American soil. And this was a battle, with more than 350 men, women and children killed in the span of two furious hours on the dusty slopes of 1876 southeast Montana.

This is not a book for beginners of Custer/Montana lore. It can be extremely tedious at times as Gray utilizes time-motion studies to piece together the puzzle of what happened during the Seventh Calvary's final minutes. Since every man of the U.S. Army was killed during this prong of the battle, there are no eyewitness military accounts. Yes, hundreds of Native Americans survived, but few spoke of this battle for fear of punishment and hatred of Anglo historians. Crazy Horse, one of the few Native American leaders during this confrontation, was assassinated a week after arriving on the reservation. So this very important man's account was never taken. Thus, we are left with a hodgepodge of hazy Native American reconstructions.

Visiting the battlefield today, which stretches over several miles, solemn white headstones mark the spot where bodies of the Seventh Calvary were found. The location of these stones are included in Gray's complex, mathematical equations. What he's intricately pieced together, with the help of eyewitness accounts, archaeological digs and his own analytical mind, is a realistic result of this unusual battle. His conclusions are perhaps outside of the realm of what people would consider today.

The myth surrounding Custer and Little Bighorn has been shaped by such matinee films as "They Died With Their Boots On," "Little Big Man" and television's "Son of the Morning Star." These films portray Custer as headstrong, vain, heroic and, in one case, a tad insane. But each version, thematically forged by the decade it was filmed, portrays Custer fighting gallantly to the last, standing alone in buckskins while angrily firing his pistol at the approaching Native American hordes. Custer, as if performing the concluding act of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," falls dead to the ground in bloody, poetic, slow motion. It makes for a great painting hanging above the neighborhood bar.

The reality, revealed by Gray's novel, is Custer did indeed have a battle plan rather than making a vain stab at glory. But his forces were simply overwhelmed, chaos ensued, and panicking men were run down like herds of buffalo. It's not very poetic, but has war truly ever been? To understand America's fascination with this battle, one must first read Evan S. Connell's "Son of the Morning Star," one of the greatest historical nonfiction novels ever written.

Gray discards such weighty wisdom like an old blanket, and scientifically gets to the root of what actually happened. A Last Stand does indeed take place on Custer Hill, where Custer's body was found. Survivors panic, some commit suicide, and Boyer and company frantically run west, fighting and killing in a froth-like animal panic. But west is towards the Native American village they were attacking in the first place. They are then desperately cornered in a ravine, a small gully which can be stared at to this very day.

When the U.S. Army rides into a primitive village, shooting defenseless women and children, the primitive man will fight back if for no other reason than to protect their families. Like poking a stick into an ant hill, Custer and his Seventh Calvary were overwhelmed, the sorry battle ending in a ditch. Men attempted to claw their way out, perhaps asking themselves how they ended up in such a remote location, dying the loneliest of deaths.

This battle haunts us for a number of reasons, mainly because of our inhumane treatment of the Native American people. So we obsessively analyze this epic Homerian battle, trying to find a moment of heroism, a brief glimpse to help salve our morally guilty wounds. But all we find in Gray's account is wide-eyed reality, and desperate men crying in a ditch. Gray's novel details these horrors in scientific fashion, and unknowingly provides a glimpse of the dangers of American warrior vanity.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: For over 25 years, of his life, John Gray lived and breathed Mitch Boyer. Gray was driven to understand the scout who fell with Custer at the Little Bighorn. Gray spent that long writing the biography of Boyer and was almost on his last chapter when a monumental discovery was announced.

One evening I was lucky to sit next to John Gray in an auditorium on the Colorado State University campus in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Gray lived in this town not far north of me. He and I met in 1981 and we were catching up on things. We were waiting for a presentation by Douglas Scott, archaeologist for the National Park Service, about the 1984 archaeological dig at Custer Battlefield. Scott presented an incredible story of artifacts found on the battlefield, human remains and what this data might mean to the story of Custer's Last Stand.

Found near markers 33 and 34, along the Deep Ravine Trail, about 350 yards from Last Stand Hill were human remains including part of a jawbone, nasal cavity and eye orbit. Among the remains were found a mother-of-pearl button, soldier cartridges and warrior bullets. After extensive study of the remains, the forensic anthropologist determined that this person was of Caucasian-Mongoloid mix. The mother-of-pearl button suggested he was wearing civilian clothing. He was probably part of the Custer Battalion because of the solider cartridges and Indian bullets fired towards him. Only one person fit this picture, Mitch Boyer. Scott felt confident this was the case. After this announcement I turned to Gray and asked him how he felt now knowing Mitch Boyer was identified. Gray sat in awe and he said that now he could write the final chapter.

I recommend this book for many reasons. Most importantly, this is the result of nearly a quarter of Gray's lifetime. Not only does one learn about Boyer's life and his fate at Little Bighorn, but one also gains an incredible understanding of where people were and when and how that all fits in the timeline of the battle. All this is told in the narrative with the assistance of well-designed tables. It's a very complicated timeline, however, Gray spells it out clearly. His research is impeccable and meticulous.

This biography is a monumental work, one worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: A New Picture of Custer
Review: I absolutely agree with the other reviewers on the quality of Gray's work--it is astounding. I would like to emphasize what I took away from the book: a new picture of G.A. Custer. For a hundred years it has been the "customary wisdom" that Custer, being a flamboyant, egocentric, arrogant commander, rushed into battle at the LBH because he wanted the glory of defeating the Sioux all to himself, and met his doom because his hubris blinded him to the Indians' superior forces. Part of this "customary wisdom" came with an implied view that this hubris was due to a belief in racial superiority of the white soldier vs. the Indian. As is so often the case, the "customary wisdom" is superficial, and when held up to rigorous analysis, proves wrong. Gray's trenchant logic make it clear that Custer was attempting to follow his orders from Terry, found himself in a battle situation that was not favorable, but due to the perception that the 7th Cavalry had been discovered, had no alternative but to attack. His battle plan was improvised at the moment, and was thwarted not because of Custer's hubris, or his false belief that his soldiers were fighting "only Indians", but for the reason many battles are lost: the failure of one of his unit commanders (Benteen) to follow orders and coordinate his actions with the actions of the remainder of Custer's command. I expect, however, that the old, comfortable, politically correct view of Custer will die hard, if at all--to some, logic means naught.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent scholarship!
Review: Most historians would be happy, nay overjoyed, if they located a diary, a journal or a set of letters by a participant in some historical event. In tracing some relatively unimportant activities, Gray is not satisfied unless he can find three or four itineraries, four or five journals and diaries, and two or three sets of letters! Another reviewer commented that the writing of this book took 25 years! I can well believe it. With the well-known fallibility of eyewitnesses, this overwhelming mass of documentation is barely enough to allow Gray to sift event from confabulation.

What we have here are two books in one. The first book, in 180 pages, traces the life and career of guide and translator Mitch Boyer. At first one might dismiss such a goal as impossible, but Gray is equal to the task, and Boyer emerges as a convincing, consistent and competent historical personage.

The second book, in about 200 pages, uses what Gray calls "time-motion studies" to trace the troop movements from June 9, 1876 to and through the culminating Battle of the Little Bighorn. His "time-motion patterns" are what physicists call "world lines," with one space dimension as the vertical axis, and time as the horizontal axis. Where these diagrams indicate the interactions between a dozen separated groups they virtually amount to the classical equivalent of Feynman diagrams--- tools used by theoretical physicists to disentangle the various processes occurring in the realm where relativistic quantum physics hold sway.

The Mitch Boyer connection between the first and second parts of the book occurs because Boyer was the only scout who chose to stay with and die with Custer's columns. Much of Gray's reconstruction of Custer's movements and strategy depends upon Gray's extraction, from the mass of confused interviews with Curley, the 17-year-old Indian scout who was the last to get away alive from Custer's troops, of a fairly consistent and highly plausible set of events.

There is one place, at the book's end, where Gray's thought patterns betray him. With no documents to guide him, he chooses a completely absurd counterclockwise movement of Army forces, from Calhoun Ridge, to Custer Ridge, to Custer Hill (where Custer was found), on to the "South Skirmish Line" (where Mitch Boyer's body was found) and thence to the "West Perimeter," where the last survivors (Gray assumes) died. But this movement actually takes the troops TOWARD the river and the Indian camp, from which braves and even squaws were literally boiling, like thick clouds of hornets from a disturbed nest, in the last half of the battle!

In this case, I think the reconstruction by Gregory F. Michno, based on a collation of a vast number of Indian accounts, is infinitely more plausible. It shows Custer's surviving companies driven roughly northwest, parallel to the river, along Battle Ridge to Custer Hill, with companies on Finley Ridge and Calhoun Hill being cut off and quickly destroyed, leading to a traditional "Last Stand" indeed being made on Custer Hill. See Michno's LAKOTA NOON for details. I might mention that comparison of all accounts of troop movements in the six or so "Little Bighorn" books I have read is made incredibly difficult by a complete lack of consistent nomenclature for the topographic features of the battleground!

Grey is remarkably even-tempered in his discussion of the many command problems and highly questionable command decisions that arose in this campaign, including the inexplicable behavior of Gibbon and Benteen. Somewhat ironically, it is Custer who comes off best from this all-around debacle. He was about the only commander who made any effort to follow orders, and about the only commander who tried to strike a balance between total inaction and suicidal total commitment of his forces.

I can't praise this book highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Accurate History with Elaborate Time Motion Studies
Review: Outstanding detail on the LBH battle. References cover virtually all the important facts associated with the campaign. Extraordinary study of movements by all those key participants associated with the battle and timing of such. An example is the study of Benteen's movements (3rd wing). Boston Custer leaves the pack train, passes Benteen watering his horses and joins his brother in death as Benteen remains over an hour behind. Great detail on Custer's final battle and possible plan. The first half of the book is dedicated to Mitch Boyer, the half Sioux and white scout who was adopted by the Crows. He elects to stay with Custer until the final end and the story of his life is told in admirable detail. Boyer was quite a brave an independent man who expertly knew the plains and Indians. Perhaps the best book on the LBH.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Reconstruction of Custer's Stand
Review: The reader becomes mesmerized and impressed by the thorough and meticulous process of constantly checking witness testimony with known topography and horse/walking/etc. mph rates, then time/motion studies with all possible data examined to see what plausible explanations can be more pushed forward as likely scenarios.

At the center here is the infamous Indian scout, Mitch Boyer and the testimony of the young Curly, survivor with Custer.

Amazing how the evidence Gray presents turns Custer 180o around from what is historically bantered, an aggressive disobiendent hawkish leader. Gray's reconstruction reveals soldier who emphasized and implemented what orders were given to him, to pin the Indians from left flank escape, and all the time awaiting Benteen's company and ammo train, which never arrived in time.

Disappointed that no chronology chain here shown how the followup takes place to discover the battlefield. Possibly Gray's other books on this subject cover that.

Remarkably well written, able to keep this reader's attention easily even with all the careful calculation checks, etc.