Frederic C. Wagner, III

Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn b Frederic C. Wagner III is a compendium of those who fought in the battle which ended George Custer's career and left many in his command dead. Following the Introduction a chapter describing the origins of the Seventh Cavalry and it's history. Countering popular thought the whole regiment was not desroyed in the battle, many survived, but those around Custer were all killed. A description of the battle included here discusses the division of forces and how that division ultimately lead to a weakening of the force available to fight. Consistently thoughout this segment the author reviews how Custer failed to suppress the Indian threat. Custer had been a hero during the Civil War where traditional warfare was the rule. However, the Planins Indians did not war in that way, but had a more geurilla warfare tactic. The author makes an effort to explain that many of the events and decisions of that day are unknown or being argued even today.

The next chater is a compendium of participants in the battle. The name, date of birth and where and death and where he died. Information about where he was during the battle and other specifics about him. The following chapter does the same for the Indians involved in the battle. Finding the Indian and where he died was a much more difficult task as records were not kept for them as they were for the Seventh Cavalry

This book is listing of those involved in the battle, where they were and how they died. Many survived this battle, but were not involved in the main battle. Because this is a dictionary of the participants in this battle it does not tell a story. But it does give an idea of how bloody this battle was.

I learned about the battle and about those who died there. I missed seeing a map of the events of those two days, that would be the only improvement I would ask of the author, since directions of the forces and locations of march are difficult to visualize. This book is a listing and meets it's goal admirably. I give it five stars.… (meer)

This book is, as the title states, a dictionary of the 'Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.' While this is not a book that a typical person would want to sit down and read from cover to cover, I can see several beneficial uses for it. 1) It could be very beneficial for scholars or researchers interested in the study of the Battle of Little Big Horn. 2) It might be a keepsake for someone studying genealogy who may have had a family member involved in the battle. 3) It would be useful for anyone interested in the re-enactment of the battle.

Wagner not only gathered together the names of the known and/or assumed participants, but he included what information he could of each person. In addition, he included some information about the Seventh Cavalry, and each of the Indian tribes represented at the battle, along with details about uniforms, weapons, horses, and various estimates of the number of Indians who were actually involved in the battle. He did a wonderful job compiling and organizing this information.… (meer)