A Review of Stephen Ambrose’s Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
Stephen E. Ambrose’s Crazy Horse and Custer: the Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors compares the lives of the two men, from childhood, until the climactic moment for both: the Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876. For Crazy Horse, the battle was a great victory; for Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Cavalry, it was more than a defeat – his entire unit was annihilated. Although Ambrose gives an overview of the events that transpired at the Little Bighorn that day, the focus of the book is clearly elsewhere. He presents a description of the cultures that gave rise to both men, and describes both their personal lives and their lives as warriors and leaders. Ambrose reaches into the past and retrieves the personalities of the long-dead men at the center of the Great Sioux War, clearly showing what motivated each man but also showing the shortcomings that led to the early deaths that awaited both.
Crazy Horse and Custer, as a dual biography, shows the almost eerily similar paths taken by the lives of its subjects. Not far apart in age, both men rose from obscurity to become famed warriors at a strikingly young age. Both were seemingly invincible in battle. Crazy Horse’s “invincibility” was seen by his people as the result of a vision he’d had in his youth, which provided him with specific instructions about how to conduct himself in battle. Custer forged his reputation in the Civil War, where he led charge after charge, had over a dozen horses shot from under him, and saw scores of his men die, but somehow he always came away unscathed. Custer’s bravery, coupled with what the nation dubbed “Custer’s Luck,” led to his meteoric rise through the ranks of the army, culminating with his promotion to the wartime rank of Brigadier General at the age of twenty-three – the youngest general in the history of the United States Army. Although the Sioux had no formal organization, Crazy Horse distinguished himself in battle against rival Indians and whites on the frontier and was awarded the position of shirt-wearer, which provided him with recognition and responsibility, but little real power. By the time they met at the Little Bighorn, both men had fallen from the height of their careers. At the end of the Civil War, Custer had been given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, the field commander of the 7th Cavalry. The man who had been the Army’s youngest general would hold the rank of Lieutenant Colonel for the rest of his life. He was eventually court-martialed and suspended from duty for a period of one year. His offense was disobeying orders and abandoning his command – both of which he had done in an effort to be with his wife. Crazy Horse had been stripped of his position of shirt-wearer, also over a woman. He had run off with Black Buffalo Woman, the wife of another man. No Water, the cuckolded husband, retaliated by attempting to murder Crazy Horse, shooting him in the face with a revolver. Crazy Horse survived, but he had caused unrest in the tribe, a violation of the rules that he and the other shirt-wearers had sworn to live by.
Both men were far removed from the height of their military power. Custer, who had once commanded an entire division of cavalry, now had only one regiment, fraught with desertion and poorly trained soldiers. Crazy Horse, who had been Red Cloud’s chief lieutenant in the Red Cloud War, in which the Sioux had been victorious, had been driven into the
Dakotas
, and found himself allied with Sitting Bull and the “wild” Hunkpapa Sioux, who had remained isolated from the conflicts between the United States Army and the Sioux for many years.
A brief description of the events leading to the Battle of Little Bighorn concludes the biography of Custer. Ambrose leaves an in-depth description of the battle to books devoted purely to that subject. He does show several key mistakes made by Gen. Custer and his staff that led to their defeat. He does speculate on the debate that has circled among historians since Custer’s death – could his staff officers, Major Reno and Captain Benteen have saved the 7th Cavalry by following Custer’s orders? Ambrose offers his opinion – Custer had driven his men too hard, and
Reno
couldn’t have possibly come to Custer’s aid. Benteen and his men wouldn’t have reached the battlefield in time. In Ambrose’s view, Custer could not have won the battle.
The book also describes the far less glorious death of Crazy Horse. After Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse had been pursued by a far larger
force. His followers continually dwindled, until he had finally resorted to threats to keep them in his camp. He eventually surrendered to the Army, being led to a reservation by his old ally Red Cloud. When he refused to travel to
Washington, D.C.
, he was arrested. Before he could be put into a cell, he pulled a knife and attempted an escape. He was stabbed to death with bayonets while his arms were pinned behind him by Little Big Man, another old ally.
Crazy Horse and Custer provides a brilliant description of the rise and fall of two prominent leaders in the war for the control of the
Great Plains
. The strengths of both men play a big part of the book, but Ambrose does not shy away from expounding on their tragic weaknesses. He brilliantly portrays two men who arose from completely different backgrounds to lead very similar lives until their inevitable clash led to the early death of both.
