Seeing History Clearly

I picked up a used hardcover copy of Nathaniel Philbrick's The Last Stand at a used bookstore in Daytona Beach, mainly because I wanted to buy something to show my support but also because I knew very little about General George Custer and his infamous last stand. What they taught us in school was that he was a hero who stood up to overwhelming forces and refused to back down, dying in the end along with his men.

If Philbrick is to be believed, nothing could be further from the truth.

A couple disclaimers upfront before I get into my opinion of the book: I think history is always a matter of perspective, and definitely influenced by the opinions and beliefs of those who write about it. There is a lot of assumption-making in this story because of the lack of records and evidence, but I came away thinking it was more accurate than not because the author flagged passages with his own disclaimers. There are over a hundred pages of notes explaining why the author wrote what he did in painstaking detail, which I deeply respect.

The material point: Everyone with Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn died with him, so no eye witnesses survived to testify about what happened. We will never know.

I deeply admire Nathaniel Philbrick, as I believe he's one of the fairest and most accurate historian writers alive. I will read anything he writes, but I think after this book I will wait until I feel strong enough again to confront the past through his view. Custer's story was extremely upsetting for me.

This is a terribly difficult book to read for any sensitive person. Women and animals are treated abominably throughout, and in one case I almost stopped reading the book because of how Custer treated captive Native American women. Yet this was common at that time period to abuse, rape and kill these women. Also, the lack of respect for animal life in Custer's day was repulsive and thoroughly disgusting. Example: he insisted on taking his pet dogs with him on maneuvers, and yet killed them quite cruelly when he thought by barking they might give away his battalion's position. These many incidents are described with the bare minimum of detail, but be aware that they may be triggering for some readers.

I had no opinion of George Custer before I read The Last Stand. I knew a little about him from some books on the Civil War I've read in the past, and of course the complete nonsense they taught us in school. He was very much like a particular politician whose name I will not mention under any circumstances, which also contributed to making it a very hard read for me. It was, in fact, very eerie that I kept thinking of that present-day politician as I read about George Custer. They share a love of self-aggrandizement, a painfully obvious contempt for women, a venomous hatred for people of color, a complete lack of ethics, zero compassion for the needy, and a disastrously inflated ego that led/leads them to make very poor decisions. I'll let you deduce which politician I'm referring to -- shouldn't be difficult.

If you want to know the truest story about Custer and his death, I think The Last Stand will serve. It will also upset you, distress you and disgust those who care about everything that this monster did not. You've been warned.