Red Sabbath

[markland]

Saw this book by author Robert J. Kershaw yesterday and picked it up. I have only gotten through the first 30 pages and I will honestly state that the writing in his prologue is some of the most vivid descriptions of the hell that the troops in Custer's command faced that I have ever read, including fictional accounts.

The prologue takes the point of view of a "C" troop soldier, one Nathan Short and uses him as the focal point of the disaster which occurred. This works well as a hypothetical, and likely true, description of what "C" troop (and other troops) experienced but there is one major, discordant flaw. Perhaps it is an editing mistake, proofreading mistake or simply a brain-fart on the part of the author; whichever, the author's credibility is ruined when one reads about Short on the firing line and sees this sentence: "Who was directing fire, Short may have considered as he slid round after round into the increasingly hot and powder-pitted chamber of his lever action .44 Springfield carbine." (p. 11) Two errors, of major caliber, well, for those who are only neophytes on the battle such as I, this throws out credibility issues on every subsequent statement by the author.

The author goes on in chapter one to the basics, Red Cloud's War and the Fetterman battle. Just from reading the bit that I have, he considers the Fetterman and Custer defeats of the Army by the Indians as having many of the same characteristics, i.e., both commands too separated for mutual support, stuck on ridge tops were they made obvious targets. Well and good, however, he goes one further and attributes the defeats to the Indian's training in hunting, especially animals who moved along ridge-tops....I am not a wild-life specialist but to my recollection, animals take the easiest way to get where they are going, which rarely involves paths along ridge-tops. Someone more conversant of animals will have to help me on that.

All in all, for $40.00 US, well, wait for the paperback and hope the author corrects the brain-farts.

Just my $40.00 worth!

Billy

[bubbabod]

Billy, I went online to check the book out. Found it for $29. I also checked the reviews. One guy really, really panned it for its inaccuracies. I'm not smart enough to know if he's right, but you folks can read what he says. There's also a review by Bruce Trinque, whom many of you know. Anyway, here it is:

Reviewer: naiche (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
I'm only 79 pages into this book and there are too many errors making this a very difficult read because everything must be checked and verified (it takes away from the pleasure of having faith in the author and just being able to read and enjoy).
Error 1: p. 10 - Quote attributed to White Bull (Cheyenne) is really Young Two Moon
Error 2: p. 10 - Quote attributed to Red Horse is really She Walks with Her Shawl
Error 3: p. 36 - soldiers were paid $13/month, not a day
Error 4: p. 37 - Lt. James Sturgis graduated West Point on June 16, 1875, not May 1867
Error 5: The author consistently refers to Phillip Henry Sheridan as Phillip N. Sheridan
Error 6: Although Shoshones participated in the Battle of the Rosebud, Washakie was not one of them
It's not too good when you lose faith in the author, especially when it pertains to relaying accurate information.
And these are the errors I caught, there might be others.

January 1, 2006
There are numerous errors throughout this book, but I must add the following one to my earlier review:
Kershaw relates the following story on page 178.
[John] Stands In Timber sees Standing Bear get too close to the soldiers and killed. Wow!!! First of all, John Stands In Timber was a Cheyenne tribal historian and born eight years after the battle. Secondly, the warrior killed was named either Breech Cloth or Long Road. Standing Bear survived the battle and his narrative can be found in The Sixth Grandfather by DeMallie. I have to wonder if Kershaw actually read his source books or just skimmed through them looking for information. This book has potential but the author needs a lot of help in revising it and cleaning up all the errors. I'm available.

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

A study of Indian warfare in the western plains 1866-1876..., September 15, 2005
Reviewer: bookholic "ADB" (Andorra la Vella ANDORRA) - See all my reviews
This book is much more then it's title reveals... and this is a big bonus as it puts the reader into the big frame...
You start (well, not you the writer does it!) zooming from very far in time and space... The Fetterman Massacre, The Wagon Fight, Beecher's Island are all covered MUCH TO THE POINT! to make you understand how the indians learned from their mistakes and the cavalry (and the Army) was slow to follow the Indian change of tactics... and how a good strategy (if a "kill them all" can be considered "good") was marred by bad tactics and much OVERCONFIDENCE in superior technology...
The account of the LBH is fairly classic but very well detailed, well reasoned (south skirmish line or not...) and substantivated by the long intro.
AN EXCELLENT BOOK TO START ON THE TOPIC. (or even the only one needed if not obsesive on the thing... as I am guilty of being).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

ADB

PS: For alternative historical accounts try the small but excellent DEATH OF A MYTH... or... well, there are so may of them!... you can consult my "So you'd like to..." guide about it if really interested.

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5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

A very good summary of the Little Big Horn campaign, July 3, 2005
Reviewer: Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews

My compliments to Robert Kershaw for writing a short but comprehensive -- and well-reasoned -- study of one of the most controversial episodes in American military history: the Battle of the Little Big Horn. I don't know that Kershaw has pioneered any particularly startling new interpretations of the battle, but he has synthesized a solid account of the battle, enlivened by focusing his narrative at many points upon individual experiences, drawn from both white and Indian primary sources. I think it can be well appreciated by someone as yet unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Little Big Horn affair, yet it still offers food for thought for those of us who have spent years pondering those events.

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-4

[markland]

Error 3: p. 36 - soldiers were paid $13/month, not a day

Yep, spotted that one last night between reading and watching Chelsea destroy Man. U.

The others are a bit too much for me as a neophyte but I will take the reviewer's word on them.

Hmmmm...$29? Bless it, not only did I get stuck with an inacurate book but overpaid for it also.

Talk about adding insult to injury!!!

Be good,

Billy

[markland]

I recently picked this book up and again tried to read it. I have not given up yet but there are many better books out there to spend time on rather than this.

Frank, did you catch the "fact" that the 7th charged at Washita using Springfield carbines?

Also, he goes into the paucity of forces on the frontier for the job required, then he blows it by stating that chances of death were greater, and I paraphrase, from snake-bite and climatic conditions. That is a subject I do know a bit about and is totally bogus. Of the 6,081 regular army personnel that I have so far inventoried as having died on the Western frontier, I have at this time only found three who died of snake-bite or effects of snake-bite (One each in Arizona Territory, New Mexico Territory and Kansas.) Climatic conditions? 115 men (so far) positively died from various climatic conditions such as exposure, sunstroke, lightning, frostbite or being frozen to death.

Grrrrrrr.....

Frank, I hope he takes up your offer to edit his next edition!

Billy

[fred]

So, what you're telling me here is, I've wasted my money.

It's a pity. This clown is supposed to be a professional soldier. How does a book like this get published? Don't they vet these things?

Best wishes,
Fred.

[markland]

fred said:

So, what you're telling me here is, I've wasted my money.

It's a pity. This clown is supposed to be a professional soldier. How does a book like this get published? Don't they vet these things?

Best wishes,
Fred.

Fred, I honestly believe that he would have been better served with an editor conversant with the Indian War period and Custerania in general specifically. Some of the things he has in the book are interesting and, in my case to me, thought provoking. For instance, his mention of the regiment's being separated in different locations makes me want to look at the regimental returns to see if that perhaps had an influence on the battalion make-ups by GAC. Also he brings up a very good point in Sheridan not having an advanced base with the Army maneuvers such as he did at Camp Supply during the Washita campaign. I wonder what, if any, influence that Sheridan's direct over-sight would have made upon Terry or Crook?

Be good buddy,

Billy

[bubbabod]

Billy, regarding Fetterman and "stuck on ridge tops were they made obvious targets," if memory serves, after they crossed the ridge they were basically led by the decoys along the ridge, and the attack was sprung on them at the far north end near Peno Creek. When attacked, they retreated back the way they came. Many were the infantry on foot, and the ridge had 80 or so men spread out covering a good part of the ridge in retreat, with Fetterman and Brown found at the rocks where the monument now stands. Regarding the game taking the easiest route, you'd think the same with the wagon trains, yet this route follows the Bozeman Trail. You've been there before and probably saw the sign denoting the Bozeman Trail, and if you look hard enough you can find the ruts. So this ridge was part of the Bozeman Trail.
You know how Highway 87 runs at the western slope of the ridge? I had just assumed for many years that was the route of Fetterman, but it wasn't. They were led the way they were because the warriors were hidden along both sides of the ridge. I often wondered how they could have been hidden, but you have to see the terrain to see it was easy. So Fetterman had to be led across the ridge or he'd have seen the warriors. Fred, you'll be able to see this more easily in June. If I can remember how to post photos here, I'll post a couple, especially from the west looking east, and you can see how they could be hidden.

[markland]

bubbabod said:

Billy, regarding Fetterman and "stuck on ridge tops were they made obvious targets," if memory serves, after they crossed the ridge they were basically led by the decoys along the ridge, and the attack was sprung on them at the far north end near Peno Creek. When attacked, they retreated back the way they came. Many were the infantry on foot, and the ridge had 80 or so men spread out covering a good part of the ridge in retreat, with Fetterman and Brown found at the rocks where the monument now stands. Regarding the game taking the easiest route, you'd think the same with the wagon trains, yet this route follows the Bozeman Trail. You've been there before and probably saw the sign denoting the Bozeman Trail, and if you look hard enough you can find the ruts. So this ridge was part of the Bozeman Trail.
You know how Highway 87 runs at the western slope of the ridge? I had just assumed for many years that was the route of Fetterman, but it wasn't. They were led the way they were because the warriors were hidden along both sides of the ridge. I often wondered how they could have been hidden, but you have to see the terrain to see it was easy. So Fetterman had to be led across the ridge or he'd have seen the warriors. Fred, you'll be able to see this more easily in June. If I can remember how to post photos here, I'll post a couple, especially from the west looking east, and you can see how they could be hidden.

Frank, you mean this view? To the left (out of view) would be the state road. The picture was shot from the northern-side of the Fetterman memorial and I believe that the second hill in front is where the 2d Cav. made its last stand. Somewhere around the house are more but it takes a braver man than me to go scuffling through the wife's booby-traps...errr, organization, to discover them.

Billy

[bubbabod]

Yeah, Billy, that's essentially the view. With the soldiers basically following the path in your picture, the warriors secreted down each side of the ridge were hidden very well. I have a picture taken on the road towards Story looking back east towards this ridge that shows how well they could be hidden. It' sbeen a while since I've posted a photo and will have to mess around to figure out how to do it. In fact, I might have already posted the picture. I know I've at least emailed it to some of my Indian Wars friends. Great picture. Thanks.