Boots and Saddles or, Life in Dakota with General Custer - Softcover

Custer, Elizabeth B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803234562 ISBN 13: 9780803234567

Publisher: Bison Books, 2010

Synopsis

The honeymoon of Elizabeth Bacon and George Armstrong Custer was interrupted in 1864 by his call to duty with the Army of the Potomac. Her entreaties to be allowed to travel along set the pattern of her future life. From that time onward, she did indeed accompany General Custer on all his major assignments except the summer Indian campaigns, “the only woman,” she said, “who always rode with the regiment.” This is the story of Elizabeth B. Custer (1842–1933), told in her own words. She was not only a housewife on the Plains; she was whatever the occasion demanded: nurse to a group of frostbitten soldiers; any-hour-of-the-day hostess to the regiment, since her husband was not fond of entertaining; the garrison’s favorite confidante (and many an interesting story she has to tell); and would-be Indian fighter whenever the women of the regiment had to be left alone. Boots and Saddles also offers a gentle, loving portrait of George Armstrong Custer, husband and man, by the person who knew him best. Elizabeth Custer’s absolute devotion to him is revealed in every line of her story, which ends, appropriately enough, with the day on which she received the news of the disaster at Little Big Horn.

About this title

About the Author:

Louise Barnett is a professor of American studies at Rutgers University and the author of numerous books, including Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer, available in a Bison Books edition, and Atrocity and American Military Justice in Southeast Asia.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

General George Custer was ordered to the Dakotas in the spring of 1873 and Elizabeth Custer's Boots and Saddles (the title comes from the bugle call for the cavalry to mount) chronicles their life until the general's death in 1876.

A counterpoint to the purely military memoir, her account provides details about everyday garrison life at Fort Abraham Lincoln, including sketches of townspeople, Indians, camp followers, and soldiers, as well as daily routines, and special amusements. The Custers lived in the Dakotas when it was still the "Wild West" and western legends such as Buffalo Bill and Rain in the Face also stride through the pages of this book.

Elizabeth Custer arrived at the fort during a blizzard with a seriously ill husband, frostbitten soldiers stumbling into the house, and terrified animals howling outside - and coped with it all. She also traveled with Custer on scouting expeditions and visited Sioux villages:

"The village was a collection of tepees of all sizes, the largest being what is called the Medicine Lodge, where the councils are held. It was formed of tanned buffalo hides, sewed together with buckskin thongs, and stretched over a collection of thirty-six poles...The poles are lashed together at the tops and radiate in a circle below. The smoke was pouring out of the opening above, and the only entrance to the tepee was a round aperture near the ground, sufficiently large to allow a person to crawl in. Around the lodge were poles from which were suspended rags; in these were tied their medicines of roots and herbs, supposed to be a charm to keep off evil spirits. The sound of music came from within; I crept tremblingly in after the general, not entirely quieted by his keeping my hand in his and whispering something to calm my fears as I sat on the buffalo robe beside him..."

Compare this to her description of the General's library:

"Over his desk, claiming a perch by itself on a pair of deer antlers, was a great white owl. On the floor before the fireplace...was spread the immense skin of a grisly bear. On a wide lounge at one side of the room my husband used to throw himself down on the cover of a Mexican blanket, often with a dog for his pillow. The camp chairs had the skins of beavers and American lions thrown over them. A stand for arms in one corner held a collection of pistols, hunting knives, Winchester and Springfield rifles, shotguns and carbines, and even an old flintlock musket as a variety. From antlers above hung sabers, spurs, riding whips, gloves and caps, field glasses, the map case, and the great compass used on marches. One of the sabers was remarkably large, and when it was given to the general during the war it was accompanied by the remark that there was doubtless no other arm in the service that could wield it. (My husband was next to the strongest man while at West Point, and his life after that had only increased his power.)...Large photographs of the men my husband loved kept him company on the walls; they were of General McClellan, General Sheridan, and Mr. Lawrence Barrett. Over his desk was a picture of his wife in bridal dress..."

Courage, grit, compassion, and humor...Elizabeth Custer had them all, and they are evident here. Boots and Saddles is one of the few books of military life in the 1800's from a woman's perspective and invaluable for that reason alone, but it is doubly important for the light it sheds on George Custer. Fun reading as well!

About this edition

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0803234562
• ISBN 13: 9780803234567
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 342