
Defending General Custer's Legacy: Complete Illustrated Trilogy (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Boots and Saddles, Tenting on the Plains, Following the GuidonBy Elizabeth Bacon CusterLength33h 52m
About this audiobook
Defending General Custer's Legacy: Complete Illustrated Trilogy gathers Elizabeth Bacon Custer's three major memoirs—Boots and Saddles, Tenting on the Plains, and Following the Guidon—into a sustained act of remembrance and vindication. Written in a vivid, domestic yet martial prose, the trilogy blends frontier travel narrative, military chronicle, elegy, and personal testimony. Its literary context lies within nineteenth-century American memoir and post–Civil War mythmaking, where private grief becomes public history and the contested figure of George Armstrong Custer is recast through loyalty, anecdote, and carefully shaped memory. Elizabeth Bacon Custer, born in Michigan in 1842, married Custer in 1864 and accompanied him through much of his army career on the plains. After his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, she devoted herself to preserving his reputation against critics who saw recklessness and failure. Her proximity to army life, her experience of displacement on the frontier, and her widowhood all inform the trilogy's passionate authority. This volume is recommended to readers of American history, frontier literature, women's memoir, and Civil War memory. It is indispensable not because it is impartial, but because it reveals how legend is made.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length33 hrs 52 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 27, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Historical Context
4Synopsis (Selection)
5Defending General Custer’s Legacy: Complete Illustrated Trilogy
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6Boots and Saddles: Life in Dakota with General Custer
7Preface
8Chapter I. Change of Station.
9Chapter II. A Blizzard.
10Chapter III. Western Hospitality.
11Chapter IV. Cavalry on the March.
12Chapter V. Camping Among the Sioux.
13Chapter VI. A Visit to the Village of “Two Bears.”
14Chapter VII. Adventures During the Last Days of the March.
15Chapter VIII. Separation and Reunion.
16Chapter IX. Our New Home at Fort Lincoln.
17Chapter X. Incidents of Every-day Life.
18Chapter XI. The Burning of Our Quarters.—Carrying the Mail.
19Chapter XII. Perplexities and Pleasures of Domestic Life.
20Chapter XIII. A “Strong Heart” Dance!
21Chapter XIV. Garrison Life.
22Chapter XV. General Custer’s Literary Work.
23Chapter XVI. Indian Depredations.
24Chapter XVII. A Day of Anxiety and Terror.
25Chapter XVIII. Improvements at the Post, and Gardening.
26Chapter XIX. General Custer’s Library.
27Chapter XX. The Summer of the Black Hills Expedition.
28Chapter XXI. Domestic Trials.
29Chapter XXII. Capture and Escape of Rain-in-the-face.
30Chapter XXIII. Garrison Amusements.
31Chapter XXIV. An Indian Council.
32Chapter XXV. Breaking Up of the Missouri.
33Chapter XXVI. Curious Characters and Excursionists Among Us.
34Chapter XXVII. Religious Services.—Leave of Absence.
35Chapter XXVIII. A Winter’s Journey Across the Plains.
36Chapter XXIX. Our Life’s Last Chapter.
37Appendix.
38Letters from the Black Hills, 1874.
39Letters from the Yellowstone, 1876.
40Tenting on the Plains: General Custer in Kansas and Texas
41Chapter I. Good-by to the Army of the Potomac.
42Chapter II. New Orleans After the War.
43Chapter III. A Military Execution.
44Chapter IV. Marches Through Pine Forests.
45Chapter V. Out of the Wilderness.
46Chapter VI. A Texas Norther.
47Chapter VII. Life in a Texas Town.
48Chapter VIII. Letters Home.
49Chapter IX. Disturbed Condition of Texas.
50Chapter X. General Custer Parts with His Staff at Cairo and Detroit.