Customer Reviews

The Mystery of E Troop: Custer's Gray Horse Company at the Little Bighorn

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michno is one of the best writers on the battle of the Little Bighorn, and every student of that battle should read his books. But as I said in my review of "Lakota Noon," he mixes good ideas with bad ideas. I only give this book three stars because its main thesis - that the 28 soldiers thought to have been killed in Deep Ravine were really killed in Cemetery Ravine - is self-evidently wrong. What he does is he recapitulates all the accounts that have bearing on the problem, then decides whether they say CR or DR was the ravine in question. As you can imagine, he decides mostly in favor of Cemetery Ravine. Among the latter he incredibly places Sgt. Knipe as one of the guys who support Cemetery Ravine for the scene of the slaughter, even though Knipe was the man who walked with Walter Camp, pointed to Deep Ravine, and said that is the place where all the men were. Other men said the same. Michno often engages in sophistry, as in his analysis of Flying By's account. Flying By said that at the end of the battle soldiers broke from Custer Hill but only 4 made it to the "gully toward river," obviously Deep Ravine - ergo, the other 40 soldiers (which Flying By doesn't mention) must have died "along the banks of Cemetery Ravine"! What he doesn't say is that there were two exoduses (supported by Indian accounts) toward and into Deep Ravine. One of mostly Company E men (said to be about 40), before Custer Hill had fallen, and another, smaller group (said to be about 15), by Custer Hill survivors after that hill had fallen. Other Indians say that the second group was trying to join the first group in the ravine. Michno conflates the two exoduses to force Flying By's DR account into a support for CR. What then did happen to the 28 men in Deep Ravine, who definitely do not appear to be there any longer? I suggest that they were carried out by the burial details. Some will say that the burial details say that they did not move any of the bodies, but the burial details on the Reno battlefield also said the same, even though archaeological work has proven that Sgt. O'Hara, and possibly Pvts. Drinan and Meyer, who were killed in the valley fight and bluff, were later moved and buried on Reno Hill. The survivors' accounts make no mention of these battlefield transfers. I suggest that the same thing happened in Deep Ravine, and I think there would be a good reason for taking the trouble. In William O. Taylor's memoir he recalls an officer riding among the bodies on Calhoun Hill looking for the body of Lt. Sturgis, the son of the 7th's colonel. He was even feeling the hands of the corpses to see if they were soft and possibly the colonel's son. The desperation in this action is obvious. So I think that after it was realized that most of Sturgis's company was in Deep Ravine, all the bodies were carried out onto the ridge for closer inspection to try to identify Sturgis. It was a failure, but I think it would explain how markers #7-28 are in a rough line. #7-19 may have been laid out from the lower reaches of DR, while 20-28 from the upper.

This book is well researched and well written. However, if you have just a passing interest in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or have just begun your reading on the subject, this is not for you. In an effort to solve the mystery of 28 troopers who apparently died in Deep Ravine, but whose bodies are said to have never been found, Michno provides innumerable eye-witness accounts both white and Indian. In the beginning I tried to follow all of them, especially since I had just been to the battlefield, but I soon found it far too cumbersome. Mr. Michno has put alot of work into this, and he deserves recognition for it, however I would recommend this book only for people who already have a very detailed knowlege of the subject. END

Michno has performed a meticulous analysis of all available evidence about the fate of one company of the Seventh Cavalry during the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Many students of this famous Indian fight have contended that these soldiers had been killed in the bottom of a narrow ravine on the Custer battlefield, their remains now either buried by erosion or washed away. Michno presents a convincing case that this view is erroneous due to mis- interpretation of the evidence and makes a persuasive arguement that these graves are in fact well-marked on another part of the battlefield. Michno has made an important contribution to the tactical understanding of this most famous of the Indian Wars battles.

I have only recently begun reading on Custer and the Little Big Horn. I started with Dr. Fox's work and I have been reading backwords as much as I can. Michno's work is excellent and offers many new views on Custer and the battle and I am sure his views will stur up some thought. I strongly suggest everyone read this work and his others. I am convienced he is correct in his views, and his conclusions I completely agree, no other Custer work has been as good as this one. I am an ex combat soldier and served in many a scrap, I can readdly se and understand the mess Custer got himself into. I hink you will really enjoy this read.

Gregory Michno began with a history of the growth of the U.S. Army with emphasis on the 7th Cavalry development, and then progressed to an exciting account of the battle itself. He added backgrounds of the soldiers into his narrative as to where they came from and thoughts and conversations they may have had which created a good picture of each one of them in my mind. But throughout it all, he emphasized that his writing was primarily concerned with uncovering why initial accounts said twenty-eight bodies were found in a deep ravine, thought by all to be a ravine called Deep Ravine, while subsequent investigations failed to uncover any artifacts in this particular ravine. By conducting and reporting thorough investigative diggings meant to uncover any such artifacts, and judiciously compiling Indian and white people's accounts, some from survivors of the battle itself, he finally came to the conclusion that none of the soldiers had actually died in this ravine. His assumption was that all through the years, this ravine was mistakenly identified.

I thought the book very well written but did find the Indian and white accounts of the battle perhaps a bit repetitive and long. This is probably because I am not a true historian at heart particularly seeking out this kind of documentation. For this reason, I believe a serious historian would especially find this book an excellent reference source. I believe it also makes for just good reading for anyone else who has interest in the battle of the Little Big Horn.

Gregory Michno has shown time and again that he will follow the evidence in a logical way, and will not let emotions or current fashion get in his way. This book is a great example of his methods, as he uses Indian accounts and Soldier accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn to discover where the bodies of E Troop fell. The controversy is about whether the bodies were found in Deep Ravine or in what is known as Cemetery Ravine, and it involves how accurately the white stone markers are placed throughout the battlefield, especially in the area of these two Ravines. The beauty of the book is that although Michno is focusing on the whereabouts and demise of a certain group of soldiers, (E Troop), the first hand accounts and research give the reader a unique insight into the whole battle from start to finish, and a good understanding of how the battlefield was preserved in the months and years following the fight. This book is a very important addition to my western library concerning the history of George Custer.

It seems the real mystery is where are the other missing bodies? Maybe lost in the river, or did any of Custer's party reach the river? If the Cemetery Ridge theory is unsupported, clearly, by eye-witness testimony how does one rectify the lack of archeological evidence to support the Deep Ravine Theory. It seems there may never be definitive agreement as to what happened to E Troop. However I think Michno's overview of the battle has credibility and should not be overlooked, or dismissed.

In this precursor to his outstanding Lakota Noon, Michno has the courage to challenge the methods and conclusions of a number of respected LBH writers. He points out weaknesses and inconsistencies, and supports his challenge with evidence and witness statements. The structure of this book allows him to construct a point of view then and build a compelling momentum from chapter to chapter. A very strong addition to my Custer shelf is recommended to yours.

This is a great book to start a study of Custers Last Stand. However the author jumbles a few key references together and then makes an enormous miscalculation that ignores all the indian accounts as to the fate of the 28 men in DEEP RAVINE. It still is a good starting point and contains a wealth of good information

When describing the movement of Custer's battalion, the author states that Custer lead the right wing up to Calhoun Hill and did not go with the left wing down Medicine Tail Coulee to the river. How did he come to this view???