Being there . . . . for one of the saddest days in American military history (25 June 1876, Bighorn
Territory, Montana). Then, a century and a half later, be there for Pen & Sword’s publication of
a two-volume resplendent read, the first, as the Midwest Book Review, October 2023, Vol. 33,
No. 10, put it best, “Iconoclastic history writing at its best, ‘THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE
BIGHORN: A NEW APPRAISAL’ (Vol. One), an inherently fascinating, thoughtful and thought-
provoking read from start to finish.”
NOW, AN ORIGINAL AND GROUND-BREAKING SECOND VOLUME, “THE AFTERMATH OF THE
BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN” (Vol. 2), VIA AUTHOR WENDY ANN WALLACE’S 30-YEAR ASSIDIOUS
RESEARCH, HAS BEEN RELEASED PRESENTING A NEW TRUTH ABOUT THE GROUND-BREAKING
HISTORY WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE. SAY THE AUTHOR, PUBLISHER AND EDITORS OF PEN and
SWORD, “UNMISSABLE AND SHOCKING, WE DARE YOU NOT TO READ WENDY’S SURPRISING
REVELATION.”
Reviewed and highly, highly recommended by Don DeNevi
“THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN”, by Wendy Ann Wallace. Pen and
Sword MILITARY Books Limited, dist. by Casemate in America in 2024; 176 pages, 6 ½” x 9 ¼”,
portrait-photos hitherto unseen by this reviewer, $34.95. E-mail, uspen-and-
sword@casematepublishers.com, and visit www.penandswordbooks.com.
“I regard Custer’s massacre as an unnecessary sacrifice of troops brought on by Custer himself”,
President U.S. Grant (1822 – 1885)
The Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 was the second defeat under that title for Crook’s
Column at the Rosebud eight days before the Custer (1839-76) slaughter. The U.S. Army had
been ordered to trap rebellious Sioux, Lakota and Arapaho/Cheyenne warriors on their
Montana hunting grounds. On June 25, George Armstrong Custer sent part of his 7 th Cavalry
under his Second in Command, Major Marcus A. Reno (1834 – 1889), to “beat” the hostiles out
of their river encampment. According to the priceless “Oxford Companion to Military History”
(2001), Reno, led by Crow scouts, hooked his 7 th contingent around to drive off the
irreplaceable pony herds of the defiant Sioux and Lakotas, thus enveloping their horses, a la
traditional Indian style. That day, the 25 th , Reno found himself outmaneuvered and his
detachment of 215 men decimated on the Hunkpapa Gall (swelling) when he tried to retreat
away but was cut off by a head-on mounted collision led by the Oglala “Crazy Horse”. The rest
of the 7 th regiment lost an additional 100 men when Reno was forced back under U.S. Bvt
Brigadier General Frederick Benteen (1834 – 1898) in the low rolling hills along Custer’s line of
advance where they were besieged for 36 hours. The horrific carnage, the butchery, that
followed occurred only nine days before the 100 th birthday of our country. The site where
Custer’s good men fell remains today among the most visited sights in America’s National
Parks.
“THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN”, as the flap of the cover jacket
announces, is the second of two books dealing with the enthralling minutia and hard thinking
that arose that led the Lakotas and allied Indian tribes to the unfortunate head-on crash with a
third of the 7 th and, later, the deaths of several hundred American heroes who didn’t need to
fight and die that day. Now, thanks to Wendy’s resoluteness we have newly uncovered
evidence of intrigue, collusion, scheming going on to place Custer in a field position where
opposing Sioux and Cheyenne would be stronger to deliver a “Coup de Gras” to any presential
hopes Custer had for the forthcoming national elections. Remember: the public across the
nation loved Custer; his superiors (and Wendy names them) were jealous of his popularity.
In short, America, from her birth and beginning, has always been a nation of readers. A third
of the luggage of the Pilgrim Fathers were books. In the 1990s, the American Library
Association, in a national ad, echoed what our loving parents ordered us since our births,
“Mumble less, study and try to understand words more.” Later, how often, like this reviewer,
did we hear mom and dad constantly reverberate, “Talk less, read more. If you enjoy the sound
of your voice, read aloud – – read to expand your horizons, read for fun, read for information,
before dinner, after dinner, then read in bed? Who knows? You may meet lovely Wendy Ann
Wallace, an established military historian known worldwide, with hitherto unconsidered
insights, perceptions, and perspectives, destroying myths, cautiously adding new facts for
keener discernments and understanding of origins long forgotten. For all of us, stuff the noise
and enjoy the quiet of printed words, i.e., “THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN” and “THE
AFTERMATH OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN”, email: uspen-and-sword@casematepublishers.com.
