About book Crazy Horse And Custer: The Parallel Lives Of Two American Warriors (2003)
On July 4th 1876, the United States of America was celebrating its centenary while at the heights of influence and power. In the first one hundred years since its independence, the United States had fended off two British invasions, survived a brutal Civil War, and joined both its oceanic shorelines with a transcontinental railroad. Settlers were pushing westward and taming the vast wilderness in increasing numbers. Such expansion and the fulfillment of America’s Manifest Destiny seemed almost unstoppable like a rising water table. Yet on July 6th, the optimism and bonhomie of the recent days were soon crushed as word spread that George A. Custer and soldiers of the 7th Infantry were slaughtered by a league of Indian tribes in the northern Great Plains. The impact was concussive and shocked the nation. The illusion of their superiority and invincibility of American expansion was now shattered. If those same 19th century citizens were alive today, I am sure they would liken their visceral response to the massacre as their very own “9/11” despite the fact that at the Little Bighorn the United States were on the offensive.The noted historian and prolific writer Stephen Ambrose (author of Band of Brothers and consultant for the film Saving Private Ryan) has written a well researched book on Crazy Horse and Custer. Though his books are wildly popular, Ambrose often leaves the literary world with a trail of controversy as some question the veracity of his writing. One wonders how much of the details especially in describing certain events in Sioux history and battle details were embellished. If there were any embellishments, it is nothing Plutarch would have done to get the point across which Ambrose does as effectively as always in his easily flowing narrative.Yale history professor Dr. Donald Kagan remarked that great civilizations are defined by their military firepower, and both Crazy Horse and Custer were indicative of two cultures that had “war on the brain” even in peacetime. Crazy Horse and Custer both lived similar yet different lives. Both were tenacious, daring, and brave. While one man studied military strategy through observation and dogged practice, the other almost flunked out of West Point though fought bravely in the Civil War. One man shunned attention and the narcotic of self-promotion (Crazy Horse refused to have his photo taken), while the other embraced fame and through an enduring marriage union became a social climber of Himalayan capabilities. Stephen Ambrose demonstrates how Custer and Crazy Horse’s strong similarities as well as strong differences would ultimately propel them toward the infamous battle at the Little Bighorn.One strong impression from this book is that Custer and Crazy Horse were both creatures of two very sophisticated cultures that were imbued with a sense of order, peace, and unity. Despite what we think we know of the Lakhota Sioux, they were in many ways similar to the standard American culture. Like many other Indian tribes, the Sioux had a rich culture and a highly sophisticated social structure that would dictate almost every aspect of their life. Ambrose gives interesting details on the dominance of the Lakhota Sioux that had stretched as far as Wyoming and Montana in its heyday. Custer’s experiences at West Point were equally compelling. Custer lived on the edge. His pranks and escapades often rewarded him with demerits that threatened his prospects for graduation. But like many other officers of that prestigious military academy, Custer forged strong friendships that continued even after his friends joined either side of the Civil War. This book not only tells the story of these two men and their differences but also of their uncanny similarities that ultimately led them to the Little Bighorn battlefield in 1876. Both men were highly skilled fighters at the top of their game. Both were able to lead men into battle and juggle the manifold aspects of warfare. Like their own culture and civilization, they also had warfare in their blood.The survival of the Sioux people was dependent on protecting the northern Great Plains and most of all the sacred Black Hills. On the other hand, the survival of America as a nation was dependent on fulfilling their Manifest Destiny by extending their influence from the eastern seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. Over several decades, both the plains Indians and the U.S. government sought to settle these differences through a series of wars and broken treaties. By the mid 1870s, they had reached an impasse until gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the midst of a terrible economic depression. The white man’s want for gold and its discovery on land owned by the Sioux (promised to them by the Fort Laramie Treaty) became the unintended but necessary (for the U.S. government) moment critique to end the stalemate. The U.S. Army were eager to wage the last battle with the plains Indians even if their justification for war was flimsy. It therefore became inevitable that both cultures were on a deadly collision course toward one final battle. Forcing the Indians to the reservations to make way for the railroad was not only a physical relocation but a cultural one. Indians on the northern plains were traditionally nomadic. Acutely aware of their environment as well as its topographical contours, wildlife, and weather patterns, the plains Indians moved in search of food and resources primarily gleaned from the buffalo. By extricating them away from the buffalo herds, the U.S. government had essentially extricated the Indians from their core traditions and traditional way of life. On the reservation they were no longer on the move. Instead they were stationary both physically and culturally. On the reservation they now relied on the U.S. government for food and resources that were insufficient to support the growing population. Instead, the Lakhota Sioux who were genetically coded to chase buffalo on the open plains were now expected to remain on the reservation to raise crops and cattle. As the culture stagnated, it slowly lost its vibrancy and potency. Even as the Indians moved to the reservations, some Americans still did not think it was fast enough once gold was discovered in the Black Hills. America wanted the Indians to relocate faster into the reservations and away from the plains and the Black Hills. In a last ditch effort to finally secure the Black Hills and send the Sioux to the reservations, Custer set off to crush the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians who were encamped along the Little Bighorn tributary in present day Montana. The expedition seemed simple enough but fresh off Civil War victories, Custer like many other soldiers in the U.S. army made the classic military blunder by underestimating their enemy even though the enemy was on their own turf. But even though the Sioux were victorious at the Little Bighorn, it also brought about the end of resistance by the Great Plains Indians. This book emphasizes Custer’s defeat was the result of hubris which had stalked him throughout his life. He was proud of his skills as a battlefield tactician and had envisioned that this one last victory would propel him towards the White House. Even on the eve of his last battle at the Little Bighorn, Custer glibly predicted that he would not only win but his battle “tactics would be studied in West Point classrooms.” After Custer was killed, his body was re-interred at the military cemetery at West Point. While Custer may have been correct in assuming that his battle would be studied at West Point, it was probably not with the end result he may have wanted.Crazy Horse’s life also has its share of cruel irony. Though he survived the battle, he resisted moving to the reservation. Eventually, he surrendered and was stabbed to death in the open doorway of the Fort Robinson jail.This book does more than describe a battle or the warriors and soldiers who fought at the Little Bighorn. The battle had national implications. After all, it was not the only battle fought by Crazy Horse and Custer. Nor was it the only battle that Crazy Horse led against the U.S. Army that resulted in victory. But it was a battle that would forever tip the scales against the Indian way of life. The book also exposes the faulty underpinnings of the American expansionist policy that was sanitized as their Manifest Destiny. It showed that unchecked feelings of entitlement to precious metals in the Black Hills were enough to ignore former promises made in peace treaties. It showed contempt for a culture that the other barely understood or deemed irrelevant in the face of progress. It showed unfettered ambition at the expense of those who wanted to continue to live in peace. When two distinctive cultures clash, expansionism becomes a zero-sum game. And at the Little Bighorn, there was exactly one winner and one loser where the victors in battle would ultimately lose the entire war.
Crazy Horse and Custer is a story of opposites and similarities. Two men from wildly different worlds collide as history forces them together. The book is fascinating as it explores the men's lives individually, and then, as they clash, collectively. The differences in the men's lives are apparent. Crazy Horse is a man living free and easy, close to the earth, nature-smart, and satisfied with the ordinary life of a young brave. Custer, on the other hand, a West Point grad, is a man of military discipline, and also a a man of society and a man who "could never stand to be second at anything..." Even in their similarities they are vastly different. Yes, both men were fearless (it might well be argued that they were reckless), but Crazy Horse was forced into fearless mode as his people were encroached upon, and often mercilessly attacked, by the U.S. government, while Custer was hell-bent on achieving personal glory, no matter the cost.Crazy Horse and Custer is also a tale of the bigger picture. Of an America groaning for expansion and "manifest destiny," and of the Indians, whose way of life was rocked, and who were forced into either capitulation or war. It is a tale of atrocities. Of the Indians regularly and repeatedly being lied to about various treaties offered by the government. And of massacres and brutality by both sides. (Government soldiers sensing eventual defeat would shoot and kill their own wounded, rather than have them face the inevitable torture that awaited them had they been captured alive.) It is a familiar story of endless, senseless retaliation. It is the story of war.And yet the story is broader than that. The Indian nation was living from day to day, depending on nature and their wits and courage to survive. While the white man, always seeking more, obsessed with expansion and the commercialism of the fur trade, envisioned the America of the future, stretching boundless from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And the only way the white man saw this happening was if the Indians embraced the white man's way of life—and that simply was not going to happen. Crazy Horse and Custer is the story as well of two women. Of Custer's beloved Libbie, who Custer idolized and broke rules for to be with in the wilderness. Crazy Horse, meanwhile, desperately in love with another man's wife, broke the rules as well and stole her away from the man. The carnage and folly of all that transpires in the book is hard to take. The stupidity and vanity. Custer comes to mind here—he would often initiate charges that he knew would result in unnecessary deaths to his own men, yet brought him glory. And the Indians, at a distinct disadvantage in terms of weaponry, were not short of displays of out and out savagery.Ultimately, though, it is the courage of the two men that cements their historical connection, and indeed this book. "He (Custer) was at the head of every charge, never faltered, and always kept his head no matter how deadly the hail of bullets. Like Crazy Horse, Custer lived his life to the full; again like Crazy Horse, he was so involved with living that he did not have time to fear death."The end, while tragic, seemed inevitable. "Custer's Last Stand" for Custer. "Yellow Horse said that 'Custer fought and Reno did not; Custer went in to die, and his fighting was superb; I never saw a man fight as Custer did.'" Two hundred and twenty-five government soldiers died along with Custer on that bluff. There are many versions of Custer's last moments, but the author is convinced that the most reliable was delivered by Sitting Bull to a newspaper reporter.Reporter: When did he (Custer) fall?"Sitting Bull: He killed a man when he fell. He laughed.Reporter: You mean he cried out.Sitting Bull: No, he laughed. He had fired his last shot.The book winds down with Crazy Horse resisting till the very end. Trapped, his arms pinioned by government soldiers, he is thrust through twice with bayonets."Crazy Horse fell to the ground. Little Big Man and some soldiers reached for him, grabbed his arms again, but he said, 'Let me go, my friends. You have got me hurt enough.' And suddenly it was deathly silent again, down there on the parade ground, beside the White River, as the sun set over the surrounding buttes. A passing hawk, on his way to his roost, screamed."Have a little spare time? I've free flash fiction (all stories under 1K) at my website greggbell.net
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No matter how much you think you know about these two characters, you'll learn something from this book. Evenly divided between the history of both men, Ambrose does his best (and I think quite admirably) to do the storytelling without prejudice or bias. He both builds up and tears down both men equally. I learned alot about the men, but far more importantly, about the cultures of the men. The actual way of life for both. That's what I read history for - to learn about the way people lived. We love to think our times are unique and so are our problems - they aren't. Every thing, well, every thing not tied to products or inventions, is and has been the same. History teaches that every time you read it. And, contrary to popular belief, history does not repeat. Ever. Situations repeat but history is linear. It goes from somewhere to the future. Reading history teaches that, too. But I've digressed and this book deserves better. A couple of caveats. This is Ambrose's first book. It shows. The writing is uneven at times, especially in the beginning. There's not a lot, in many cases, of 'real' information and so he's forced to take some creative license. That would be true of someone writing about something that happened yesterday. Time, perception, perspective all change what really happened. So perhaps that's not so much a caveat as an expectation. OK, so the only negative here is that it's his first book. I enjoyed the heck out of it, enough so that his book on Lewis and Clark is up on my Kindle now.
—Al Swanson
This is an earlier work by Stephen E. Ambrose. It is not written in the easy to read, story telling style of his later works, but in a more detailed and academic presentation. It is well documented with numerous notes including numerous map, photographs and drawings.The book is divided into four parts. Part One is about the early years for both men. It covers Custer's life from his upbringing as Autie in Ohio to his colorful years and graduation from West Point. It also covers Crazy Horse's development as Curly into a brave and leader within his tribe.Part Two covers the gueriila warfare among the Oglalas and Custer's experience in the Civil War. It outlines the early leadership development and style of both individuals.Part Three addresses the action on the plains and Custer's arrival in the west in the years immediately after the civil war. It addresses the battles, broken treaties and the truce that developed during this time.Part Four deals with the years and circumstances leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It includes the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, the Panic of 1873 and the political atmosphere at the time both in Washington and in the field. It also covers the events surrounding the death of Crazy Horse and wat happened to the other primary players in the events of that time - Sitting Bull, Libbie Custer, Major Reno, etc.I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in american western history or the lives of Custer and/or Crazy Horse. A good companion read is The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick.
—Casey Wheeler
Crazy Horse is as known as he will ever be, unless we manage to find his grave or a contemporary observation hidden in someone's old trunk. All the books I read about him go over the same ground, the difference being the perspective taken by the author. And of course, some writers are better than others. Ambrose is easy to read and brings his subject matter alive. However I am always aware that he is making most of it up. How can we know what Crazy Horse was thinking, or if he actually went into his parent's tipi to sulk after being dumped by Black Buffalo woman? When Ambrose talked about Crazy Horse, I was unable to suspend my disbelief, and found later that he is considered somewhat of a loose cannon where Crazy Horse facts are concerned.He did a much better job with Custer, where he certainly had more to go on. It made me into a Custer fanatic, in fact. Not that I supported the stupidity and arrogance of the man, but he was a phenomenon of the age. Of any age.The best work on Crazy Horse is written by a Lakota, Joseph M. Marshall. His book, "The Journey of Crazy Horse: a Lakota History" has taught me more about Crazy Horse and the culture that created him than anything I've read so far. It's a quiet book, but by the end, you will feel Crazy Horse finally come alive.
—Lorena
