Under Custer's Command: The Civil War Journal of James Henry Avery (Memories of War)

George Armstrong Custer’s fabled Fifth Regiment fought with great distinction throughout the war and suffered the thrid highest total of men killed in the entire Union cavalry. A twenty-four-year-old farmer and new father from Hopkins, Michigan, named James Henry Avery was one of Custer’s feared “Wolverines.” Besides eloquently describing his personal experiences, Sergeant Avery’s wartime journals and postwar reminiscences provide uniquely detailed descriptions of Civil War cavalry movements and the only known account that addresses the escape of elements of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry on the first day of the Battle of Trevilian Station.

Karla Jean Husby is James Henry Avery’s great-great-granddaughter. She lives in Marysville, Washington.

Eric J. Wittenberg is the author of Protecting the Flanks, Gettysburg's Forgotten Cavalry Actions (winner of the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award as 1998’s best new work interpreting the Battle of Gettysburg), and We Have it Damn Hard Out Here. In addition, he is the editor of With Sheridan in the Final Campaign Against Lee, Under Custer's Command (Brassey’s, Inc., 2000), and One of Custer's Wolverines. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.