Post by fred on Jan 2, 2006 16:50:14 GMT -6
Has anyone read this book lately? I mean really read it through & through?
I once read a thing called "Following the Custer Trail of 1876" by someone named Laudie J. Chorne. It was fascinating in that it gave a day-by-day account of the Terry/ Custer campaign up to the 22Jun76 move up the Rosebud. It wasn't a very well-written book & the author proved out to be something of a crank (in his writing), but it gave me information I couldn't get anywhere else.
One day, I casually mentioned the Chorne book to Richard Upton & he suggested I read Willert's. (The two books are remarkably similar!!!) So I ordered "LBH Diary," & wow! I started reading it before Christmas & I'm now about 200 pages along (40%). He gives a great synopsis of the Rosebud battle & he goes into such minutiae as the shortcomings of Terry's maps, the Indian TRAIL vs. the village sites, the various recons conducted by everyone... it's an amazing hunk of research & an invaluable trove of detail for the campaign. Just reading the business about the map Terry used explains why he wanted Tullock's Fork checked out.
Willert even discusses the whereabouts of the Indian's FIRST camp in the LBH valley, something I had never known. I always thought that where Custer fought them, that was IT. NO! He talks about the width & depth of their trails; the various agency departures, weather, temperatures, terrain... on & on. It's an amazing read. To me, an absolutely unvaluable book. I don't think anyone can fully understand WHY, until they read this book. It explains so much.
Warning: Willert writes like he was schooled 150 years ago & I think he Xeroxed the damned thing, then paid Upton to bind it. He's got 3 different captions under the same terrain picture (pp. 159, 161, & 176), & the pictures are grainy & dark; but his maps are first-rate & the schematic he's done for the Rosebud battle is marvelous. Beyond page 190-- at this time-- I cannot speak, but up to there, WOW, is the best word I can think of.
Best wishes,
Fred.
I once read a thing called "Following the Custer Trail of 1876" by someone named Laudie J. Chorne. It was fascinating in that it gave a day-by-day account of the Terry/ Custer campaign up to the 22Jun76 move up the Rosebud. It wasn't a very well-written book & the author proved out to be something of a crank (in his writing), but it gave me information I couldn't get anywhere else.
One day, I casually mentioned the Chorne book to Richard Upton & he suggested I read Willert's. (The two books are remarkably similar!!!) So I ordered "LBH Diary," & wow! I started reading it before Christmas & I'm now about 200 pages along (40%). He gives a great synopsis of the Rosebud battle & he goes into such minutiae as the shortcomings of Terry's maps, the Indian TRAIL vs. the village sites, the various recons conducted by everyone... it's an amazing hunk of research & an invaluable trove of detail for the campaign. Just reading the business about the map Terry used explains why he wanted Tullock's Fork checked out.
Willert even discusses the whereabouts of the Indian's FIRST camp in the LBH valley, something I had never known. I always thought that where Custer fought them, that was IT. NO! He talks about the width & depth of their trails; the various agency departures, weather, temperatures, terrain... on & on. It's an amazing read. To me, an absolutely unvaluable book. I don't think anyone can fully understand WHY, until they read this book. It explains so much.
Warning: Willert writes like he was schooled 150 years ago & I think he Xeroxed the damned thing, then paid Upton to bind it. He's got 3 different captions under the same terrain picture (pp. 159, 161, & 176), & the pictures are grainy & dark; but his maps are first-rate & the schematic he's done for the Rosebud battle is marvelous. Beyond page 190-- at this time-- I cannot speak, but up to there, WOW, is the best word I can think of.
Best wishes,
Fred.
