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

The Mystery of E Troop: Custer's Gray Horse Company at the Little Bighorn | Gregory Michno | Great research and logical reasoning

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The Mystery of E T...

	The Mystery of E Troop: Custer's Gray Horse Company at the Little Bighorn Gregory Michno Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1994 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

excellent read

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.

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Great research and logical reasoning

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.

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Mystery no more?

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.

Excellent read for history buffs.

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.

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Big Question???

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???

reviews: page 1, 2

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