General George Custer was ordered to the Dakotas in
the spring of 1873. Elizabeth Custer's Boots and Saddles (the
title comes from the bugle call for the cavalry to mount) chronicles their
life from that posting until the general's death in 1876.
A counterpoint to the purely military memoir, her account
provides details about everyday garrison life at Fort Abraham Lincoln,
including sketches of townspeople, Indians, camp followers, and soldiers, as
well as daily routines, and special amusements. The Custers lived in the
Dakotas when it was still the "Wild West" and western legends such
as Buffalo Bill and Rain in the Face also stride through the pages of this
book.
Elizabeth Custer arrived at the fort during a blizzard with
a seriously ill husband, frostbitten soldiers stumbling into the house, and
terrified animals howling outside -- and coped with it all. She also
traveled with Custer on scouting expeditions and visited Sioux villages:
The village was a collection of tepees of all sizes, the
largest being what is called the Medicine Lodge, where the councils are
held. It was formed of tanned buffalo hides, sewed together with buckskin
thongs, and stretched over a collection of thirty-six poles...The poles are
lashed together at the tops and radiate in a circle below. The smoke was
pouring out of the opening above, and the only entrance to the tepee was a
round aperture near the ground, sufficiently large to allow a person to
crawl in. Around the lodge were poles from which were suspended rags; in
these were tied their medicines of roots and herbs, supposed to be a charm
to keep off evil spirits. The sound of music came from within; I crept
tremblingly in after the general, not entirely quieted by his keeping my
hand in his and whispering something to calm my fears as I sat on the
buffalo robe beside him...
Compare this to her description of the General's library:
Over his desk, claiming a perch by itself on a pair of
deer antlers, was a great white owl. On the floor before the fireplace...was
spread the immense skin of a grisly bear. On a wide lounge at one side of
the room my husband used to throw himself down on the cover of a Mexican
blanket, often with a dog for his pillow. The camp chairs had the skins of
beavers and American lions thrown over them. A stand for arms in one corner
held a collection of pistols, hunting knives, Winchester and Springfield
rifles, shotguns and carbines, and even an old flintlock musket as a
variety. From antlers above hung sabers, spurs, riding whips, gloves and
caps, field glasses, the map case, and the great compass used on marches.
One of the sabers was remarkably large, and when it was given to the general
during the war it was accompanied by the remark that there was doubtless no
other arm in the service that could wield it. (My husband was next to the
strongest man while at West Point, and his life after that had only
increased his power.)...Large photographs of the men my husband loved kept
him company on the walls; they were of General McClellan, General Sheridan,
and Mr. Lawrence Barrett. Over his desk was a picture of his wife in bridal
dress...
Courage, grit, compassion, and humor...Elizabeth Custer had
them all, and they are evident here. Boots and Saddles is one of the
few books of military life in the 1800's from a woman's perspective and
invaluable for that reason alone, but it is doubly important for the light
it sheds on George Custer. Fun reading as well!
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