The Fights on the Little Horn Unveiling the Mysteries of Custer's Last Stand [Hardcover]

Winner of the 2014 John Carroll Award, presented annually by The Little Big Horn Associates, as their Literary Award for the best book/monograph during the preceding year.Winner 2014 G. Joseph Sills Jr. Book AwardThis remarkable book synthesizes a lifetime of in-depth research into one of Americas most storied disasters, the defeat of Custers 7th Cavalry at the hands of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, as well as the complete annihilation of that part of the cavalry led by Custer himself.The author, Gordon Harper, spent countless hours on the battlefield itself as well as researching every iota of evidence of the fight from both sides, white and Indian. He was thus able to recreate every step of the battle as authoritatively as anyone could, dispelling myths and falsehoods along the way. Harper himself passed away in 2009, leaving behind nearly two million words of original research and writing. In this book his work has been condensed for the general public to observe his key findings and the crux of his narrative on the exact course of the battle.One of his first observations is that the fight took place along the Little Horn Riverits junction with the Big Horn was several miles away so that the term for the battle, Little Big Horn has always been a misnomer. He precisely traces the mysterious activities of Benteens battalion on that fateful day, and why it could never come to Custers reinforcement. He describes Renos desperate fight in unprecedented depth, as well as how that unnerved officer benefited from the unexpected heroism of many of his men.Indian accounts, ever-present throughout this book, come to the fore especially during Custers part of the fight, because no white soldier survived it. However, analysis of the forensic evidencetracking cartridges, bullets, etc., discovered on the battlefieldplus the locations of bodies assist in drawing an accurate scenario of how the final scene unfolded. It may indeed be clearer now than it was to the doolCD