Customer Reviews

Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877: The Military View

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Greene is a very knowlegeable historian of the Sioux Wars. In this work, he has edited and commented upon reports of Officers and others who were participants in this monumental struggle between the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies and the White soldiers of the frontier army. A great book to assist the historian in understanding the hardships of a winter campaign against hostiles on the northern plains.

Another excellent volume, a superb companion piece. jerome A Greene has, in this book, put the mirror image to his other volume with as much care, scholarship and honesty as the other. From the point of view of the soldiers and their commanders this time - a truly spectacular achievement.Greene has created a perfect matching set of volumes that encompass a fascinating, exciting and terrible part of American history. Thank you Amazon for making me aware of both volumes. To any scholar of history thinking of only buying one viewpoint, I would say - dont! You cant find better than these two books to take you back to those amazing days.

This book brings together 15 first-hand accounts of the major military engagements of the Sioux War, 1876-77. Most of the essays first appeared in newspapers of the day; others were excerpted from books and memoirs. Included are Indian scout William Jackson's highly personalized account of the Little Big Horn battle; Robert Strahorn's record of the Battle of Powder River on March 17, 1876; Tilton and Butler's rendering of the Wolf Mountain expedition and battle in early 1877; Henry Bellas's chronicle of the Crook-Mackenzie campaign and the Dull Knife battle in November 1876; and Oskaloosa Smith's letter describing the Spring Creek encounters of October 1876, to give just a brief listing.

All of them are written by participants from the army and present the military's point of view (a subsequent volume from the Indian's side has also been published). Greene has not "sanitized" any of the essays, so they retain the flavor (and prejudices) of the individuals writing them. Most of the records include a good map of the event being described. The only thing missing is editing by Greene that could have identified or amplified better things mentioned or corrected mistakes. Other than that the book is an excellent source for gaining underived versions of events during the Sioux War written by participants.