Most of my recreational reading is history and biography. One of my favorite writers is Tom Clavin. I just read his new book “Vengeance: the Last Stands of Custer, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull.” I had been reading about Custer’s Last Stand since I was a little boy, and this book taught me a few things I didn’t know.
It turned out that the fierce Crazy Horse took his time getting to the battle. Writes Clavin, “According to Thomas Powers in The Killing of Crazy Horse, ‘Without his medicine and time for a prayer or song, he would be weak. A 17-year-old Oglala named Standing Bear reported that after the first warnings Crazy Horse had called on a wicasa wakan (medicine man) to invoke the spirits and then took so much time over his preparations’ that many of his warriors became impatient.”
Clavin doesn’t dwell much on weapons versus weapons. The old saw that the “blue coats had guns and the Indians only had arrows” doesn’t stand up here. The cavalry had single shot Springfield rifles (and there were allegations that spent casings were jamming in the chambers when the guns heated up) while as Clavin notes, “Troopers on the high ground were being targeted and were trapped by the firing of Winchester and Henry repeating rifles.” Moreover, when cavalrymen went prone behind dead horses for cover against straight-in rifle fire, the opposing warriors arced arrows over the barricades of horseflesh and into the soldiers.
There were many lessons from this incident. There is such a thing as payback. Massacre of innocent Indian women and children prior had aroused a burning hatred for the US Cavalry among the tribes. There’s a reason the historian titled this book “Vengeance.” Don’t rush into the unknown if you don’t need to. Never underestimate a foe. If you can’t outnumber the enemy, you can at least hope to outgun him. (Custer had reportedly left multiple Gatling guns behind, reasoning that the heavy weapons would slow down his troops.)
Crack open this new Clavin book. I found it a fascinating read.
