Glorious War: The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer

Thom Hatch does a superlative job describing the brave feats and importance of George Armstrong Custer to the Union cause during the Civil War.If not for his daring charge incredibly outnumbered on Jeb Stewart at Hanover during Gettysburg Robert E. Lee would have pulled off the victory and probably ended the war in the South’s favor.

This is a great book on Custer's Civil War Career. Hatch does a fantastic job showing why Custer was considered at the time probably the best cavalry commander alive. He also explains why Custer was also probably the most popular person that came out of the civil war. His descriptions of the battles are great and also shows Custer was superb under pressure during battle and that he wasn't this always charge first glory hound. Custer's men in the civil war worshipped him to the point of actually dressing like him. Custer also had more men that wanted to transfer to his command than the rest of the army combined. Both of those things wouldn't have happened if his men thought of him as some kind of crazed glory hound like some historians want you to think of Custer as. Look at General Killpatrick the soldiers actually started calling him Killcavalry. Custer's division and the troops under him captured more prisoners, battleflags and guns than any other general. The truth is if Custer would have been killed during the end of the civil war he would have went down as one of the great hero's of the war. He still should be considered that as he actually was during the civil war and when the war was over.

I pre-ordered GLORIOUS WAR many moons ago and was truly and anxiously looking forward to it. I couldn't wait to read it! Unfortunately, after having now done so, I must say how severely disappointed I am. Perhaps the lead-off in the Advance Praise on the back cover should have been a red flag to me. Yes, Larry McMurtry (author of arguably the worst book ever written about Custer, his risible, should-never-have-been-published CUSTER) leads the blurb charge. Then there is a paragraph by a New York Times bestselling author who writes "Finally,...we are treated to a wide-angle portrait of Custer the Civil War hero." "Finally"? It seems many writers' memories are often short, perhaps conveniently so when pushing hot off-the-press books by their brethren. "Finally"???First published in 1983 and still in print is CUSTER VICTORIOUS by Gregory Urwin. If you want to learn about the Civil War Custer I cannot recommend this earlier book enough. GLORIOUS WAR - instead of being an educated extension of that earlier volume - is simply a diluted distillation, a pale imitation of Urwin's grand and epic work.Apart from Urwin's book being fantastically illustrated with myriad photos, maps, period drawings of battles - compared to the current work's trifling photo insert - the book itself is rich in detail and scope. Two examples of what I am talking about should suffice. In the new book we are told of Private Huff's being the man who fired the fatal shot that brought down the "Invincible" Jeb Stuart. By contrast, in Urwin's much more in-depth treatment, we learn that things aren't as cut and dry as to who actually brought down Old Beauty. Three possibilities are discussed. Another example of a sparsity of detail in Thom Hatch's approach: on page 257 we learn that the Rebels had mined a road that the Union needed to use. It reads: "The Rebels had mined the road, and Sheridan ordered twenty-five prisoners to crawl on hands and knees in front of the column to alleviate the threat." In reading that one might think the prisoners were being used by Sheridan to trip their own booby-traps. Talk about Total War! I had to refer back to Urwin's text to learn more of this seemingly horrendous use of prisoners-of-war. Firstly, I discovered that they were "trip-wire torpedoes" and then that "Sheridan put twenty-five of his prisoners on hands and knees in front of the van and forced them to crawl over his projected line of march and remove the rest of the bombs." Very informative! And quite a different picture!There are other troubles. On page 221, in wondering on Custer's "dark moments", Thom Hatch tells us that "No clinical explanation has ever been given for the dark moments in Custer's life." Au contraire, Charles Hofling wrote a "Psychobiographical Inquiry" entitled CUSTER AND THE LITTLE BIG HORN in 1981 and it makes for very interesting reading. It goes into those "dark moments" in detail. Also, for some reason, Hatch is hell-bent on calling Front Royal...Fort Royal. Once might be a typo. Many times is...simple ignorance. Front Royal, Virginia was where six of Mosby's Rangers were supposedly executed by order of Custer. In all probability Custer didn't order the executions - but the story deserved much more detail than the blink-and-miss it approach found in this book.Actually, that is a big problem with Hatch's book: it seems writ in a whirlwind hurry. Speed works in a cavalry charge - but not in a written historical work. Stylistically the writing is also quite blase. Names and places are trotted out for our edification with little or no enthusiasm or color or panache. Much of the book reads like matter-of-fact, extended wikipedia entries. Another thing: how many times did this author need to write out the entire "Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer" or "George Armstrong Custer" as the beginning to an overwhelming number of paragraphs? If - as has been said of Dickens - our author were being paid by the word this repetitiveness might be understandable, if not entirely excusable. But as it is now, the overuse becomes rapidly tedious and tiresome.Anyway, "Finally" happened back in 1983 with the publication of Gregory Urwin's in depth and richly illustrated CUSTER VICTORIOUS, subtitled THE CIVIL WAR BATTLES OF GENERAL GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER. Thankfully, it is still in print for those seeking a much fuller accounting of the Boy General's true glory days!

I am always hesitant about books online. However Amazon gave a good review and I read the book. And the review dis great, the book was excellent.

A great read, and a refreshing look at Custer's career in the Civil War, which has long been ignored by his disaster at the Little Big Horn. Admittedly, he was a man who took many risks to achieve his goal, so much so that his men referred to his ability to pluck success from looming disaster as Custer's luck. Unfortunately, he pushed his luck just one time too far in 1876, but that failure shouldn't entirely overshadow his earlier successes. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Civil War and Custer's part in it.

Having heard the story of "Custer's Last Stand" as a boy, and having visited Little Big Horn 50 years later, I still lacked a true picture of the this boy general's exceptional service to his country. His remarkable strength of personality, on the battlefield as well as as a suitor of the love of his life, were revealed to me as shockingly inconsistent with his popular legacy. Thank you Mr. hatch for helping me find my newest hero.

What a OUTSTANDING book Glorious War was. So easy to read. A book that I could not put down. I have read a lot of books about CUSTER at the Little Big Horn. However I knew very little about the Civil War. Just prior to reading this book I was given two old VHS tapes from the civil war. they were good,not patch on this book bIut. Glorious War in my mind was stacked with the truth as far as we can know. So well researched so well written. I am a bloke from Boyup Brook in Western Australia who loved the Western Movies and the $2:00 cowboy books. This book is a must have. From the tapes and Glorious War it appears to me that the South had the best Generals and had war in their blood. The North had more men but poor Generals. Thank the Lord that they released CUSTER- and Sheridan Loose otherwise the war would have went on for ever. CUSTER and SHERIDAN and maybe GRANT won the war for the Union. If you love IF YOU LOVE A GREAT READ THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.

I found the book supported my belief that Custer was a good soldier who did his job well. His military career was greater than the Big Horn, or he never would have been given the opportunity to lead his men on that field. This book gives a perspective of Custer's heroic stature in his times, and it makes the white man's reaction to the defeat at the Little Big Horn more believable. He and Mrs. Custer were rock stars in their day.

excellent well written work. would highly recommend it to any western enthusiasts.

A good evaluation of the much maligned George Armstrong Custer

EXCELLENT. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE BOOK. DELIVERY AND [ACKING VERY GOOD