With Custer on the Little Bighorn, A Newly Discovered First-Hand Account

Taylor, William O.; (foreword and notes by Greg Martin)

ISBN 10: 0670868035 / ISBN 13: 9780670868032

Published by Viking, New York, 1996

About this Item

New York: Viking, 1996. A beautiful, pristine, unread copy of the FIRST PRINTING. Brand New condition in a bright, shiny Brand New dust jacket. NO chips. NO tears. NO creases. NOT price clipped ($27.95). Clean, square, tight, and unmarked. Sharp corners. NOT a book club edition. NO owner's name or bookplate. NO remainder mark. Fresh and crisp -- obviously never read. 8.5" wide by 9.5" tall. Illustrated with vintage photos, many never before published, and facsimiles of Taylor's handwritten manuscript. Map endpapers. The author was assigned to Company M of Custer's Seventh Cavalry. From the Dust Jacket: "This moving personal and revelatory memoir [is] published here for the first time since its creation." At the Little Bighorn, Taylor's company and two others, in all 112 men, were put under the command of Major Marcus Reno. This previously unpublished account of the battle details not only Taylor's personal experiences, "but a complete history of the event, providing facts and observations never before revealed." Included are biographies of the Seventh Cavalry's officers, a suggested reading list, and copious annotations by Greg Martin. First printing with "First published in 1996" so stated, and complete number row (10 987654321) on the copyright page. Foreword by Greg Martin. At seventeen, Taylor enlisted in the army in 1872. He was assigned to the Seventh Cavalry and served in Custer's western campaigns from 1873-1876. Under the command of Major Reno, he fought for 36 hours against the Sioux at Little Bighorn. Only a short distance away, Custer's unit was annihilated. Private Taylor and the remnants of his regiments attended the burial of Custer's dead. The memories obsessed him for the rest of his days. "Better pens than mine may tell the story of the Little Bighorn but none will attempt it with a greater personal interest or a more sincere desire to truthfully picture the stirring events, the principal part of which has been and ever will be shrouded with a great veil of mystery, for the last rally and entire destruction of Custer's command on that barren ridge has no parallel in the annals of our Indian Wars." -- William O. Taylor. Jacket praise from Stephen Ambrose: "This book is a must for anyone interested in U. S. Western history. Reading it is like actually serving with Custer before his death. Highly recommended!". First Printing of the First Edition. Hardcover. New/New. xv, 207pp . Great Packaging, Fast Shipping.

Seller Inventory # 012532

Bibliographic Details

• Title: With Custer on the Little Bighorn, A Newly Discovered First-Hand Account
• Publisher: Viking, New York
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670868035
• ISBN 13: 9780670868032
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Printing of the First Edition.
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Autobiography
  • Indians / Native Americans
  • Western Americana

About this title

Synopsis

In 1872, seventeen-year-old William O. Taylor, barely five feet tall, enlisted in the army at Troy, New York. Almost immediately he was assigned to the Seventh Cavalry. At 12:30 p.m. on the fateful day, June 25, 1876, Taylor's contingent, under the command of Major Marcus Reno, was told to move forward "at as rapid a gait as prudent and charge afterwards." At the same time, General George A. Custer and his force left the trail and moved right. Suddenly, Taylor and his comrades were caught in a furious surprise attack by the Sioux. "The Death Angel," writes Private Taylor, "was very near."
For thirty-six hours, without water, Taylor's battalion was dug in until finally reinforced by other troops of the Seventh Cavalry. It was then they learned that only a short distance away, Custer's force had been annihilated.
Beginning at 5:00 a.m. on the morning of June 27, Private Taylor and the remnants of his regiment attended to the burial of Custer's dead.
"The most that could be done," writes Taylor in his extraordinary account of a military disaster that will never be erased from the American consciousness, "was to cover the remains with some branches of sagebrush and scatter a little earth on top, enough to cover their nakedness, a covering that would remain but a few hours at the most when the wind and rain would undo our work, and the wolves whose mournful and ominous howls we had already heard, would scatter their bones over the surrounding ground."
The memories of that singular event in American history obsessed William O. Taylor for the rest of his days. The result is this moving personal and revelatory memoir published here for the first time since its creation.

Synopsis

A corporal from the Seventh Cavalry recounts events at the Little Big Horn.