My Life on the Plains

George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 - June 25, 1876), one of the most mythologized figures in American history, was an United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. He eventually met his fate in the battle of Little Big Horn in one of the most notable defeats of American armed forces.

My Life on the Plains is an autobiographical first-hand account of the Indian Wars of 1867-1869, detailing the winter campaign of 1868 in which Custer led the 7th US cavalry against the Cheyenne indians. The book is a historical document of the perspectives and attitudes of it's age and author as well as an account of army life during the expeditions of the Indian Wars. Expect a fair amount of masculine bravado, historical fact-bending and quite a few stomach-turning descriptions of violence from both the indians and the cavalry. (Summary by Illiterati)