The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer: The True Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

Most historians blame Custer for the 1876 massacre, but this energetic, intensely researched, and eccentric account from Hatch (The Last Outlaws) concludes that he was blameless. The author focuses on the years following 1874, when the Lakota Sioux refused to leave their Black Hills reservation after gold was discovered. Determined to eject them, several army units converged on what turned out to be a huge Sioux encampment. Arriving first, Custer split his regiment into three columns, a sensible tactic according to Hatch, to prevent their escape (as Custer was ordered). The first unit disobeyed his order to charge; the others disobeyed orders to join their commander after he was attacked. With Custer dead, the surviving commanders and superior officers hastened to blame him, and historians agree that the official inquiry was a cover-up. Hatch takes the bizarre position that the U.S. “had every right to expand its boundaries to include the Great Plains West” and disapproves of the Sioux’s violence in defending their land—which, he maintains, warranted military intervention to “restore peace.” Readers may find this unsettling (and arguably racist), but they will agree that he makes a reasonable case for Custer’s competence. (Feb.)