Custer's Trials

this Army. He knew his accusation was shocking, but, he wrote to his wife, Lincoln was entirely too smart to give my correspondence to the public it would have ruined him & Stanton forever. His delusion was not tested. In Washington the telegraph supervisor excised that last sentence, and so McClellan s anger grew unchecked.

On July 8, in stifling heat and humidity, Lincoln came to Harrison s Landing. McClellan and staff, including Custer, met his steamer at the pier and conducted him on a review of the army. Afterward the general and the president sat together under an awning on the deck of Lincoln s vessel. McClellan handed the president a letter. Lincoln opened it and read as the general waited.

I earnestly desire . . . to lay before your excellency, for your private consideration, my general views concerning the existing state of the rebellion, McClellan wrote.

It should not be a war looking to the subjugation of the people of any State in any event. It should not be at all a war upon population, but against armed forces and political organizations. Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organization of States, or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment. . . . Military power should not be allowed to interfere with the relations of servitude, either by supporting or impairing the authority of the master.

He argued that the owners of contrabands should be compensated. And he backed his political lecture with an implicit threat: A declaration of radical views, especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies.

Lincoln said nothing, a silence that McClellan took as vindication. The general even

times. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Custer's Trials is exemplary in every way, replete with instances of detailed scholarship and compelling analysis, dense with psychological insight, and written in a tight, adroit style." The Wichita Eagle

"Custer was the product of an America which changed more dramatically during his brief life than at any time in its history, except for the present sorry epoch, and Stiles, who can write, and also research, recounts how those times shaped him and, in the process, demolishes some of the Custer despisers (there are many, and I am one) most cherished myths.... Terrific." Field & Stream

"Stiles portrays a complex and deeply flawed man... Stiles' biography is a long, detailed, well-researched but highly readable account." The Denver Post

Engaging A teeming portrait of the birth of modern America and a gripping account of Custer's role in it. San Jose Mercury News
 
A nuanced, complex and convincing portrait of the man. San Francisco Chronicle
 
Rousing An immersive, emphatic, bloody and very assured book. Newsday

A good and meaty biography. Christian Science Monitor

T.J. Stiles portrays Custer in the context of his time, and the man who emerges is much more than merely a martyr or a fool . [Stiles] goes furthest in exploring [Custer s] contribution to Union victory during the Civil War and the difficulties he faced adjusting to the world that he helped to create. The Daily Beast

"[Stiles's] biography is thorough, engrossing and fair. Custer is seen as a man wearing many faces, some good, some not. The author has done a commendable job drawing out from other sources to write a balanced account of a misunderstood historical figure. A+ read." San Francisco Book Review

"Well-written and engaging... Custer s Trials merits a place on the bookshelf alongside Robert M. Utley s Cavalier in Buckskin, Evan S. Connell s Son of the Morning Star, and other top Custer biographies." Civil War Book Review

Spectacular a satisfying portrait of a complex, controversial military man Confidently presenting Custer in all his contradictions, Stiles examines the times to make sense of the man and uses the man to shed light on the times.   Publishers Weekly *starred review*

"Stiles presents a much fuller picture of the tragic figure many of us know... Custer's Trials masterfully adds dimension to his life, helping us better understand the man behind the legend." BookPage
 
"Stiles doesn t disappoint with this powerful, provocative biography A highly recommended modern biography that successfully illuminates the lives of Custer and his family as part of the changing patterns of American society." Library Journal

"A warts-and-all portrait... Stiles digs deep to deliver genuine insight into a man who never adapted to modernity." Kirkus Reviews

T. J. Stiles has written a marvel of a book the best life of Custer right up to the moment he marched the 7th Cavalry out of Fort Abraham Lincoln while the band played The Girl I Left Behind, on their way to whip the Indians. Thomas Powers, author of The Killing of Crazy Horse
 
This magnificent biography lifts the shroud of myth that has long hovered over Custer. Well-written, exhaustively researched, and full of fresh insights, it does a superb job of re-creating not only his life but even more the world in which he lived. Building on the work of previous writers, Stiles surpasses them all with his breadth of detail and depth of analysis. Maury Klein, author, Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War
 
T.J. Stiles has done it again. With this searching, memorable portrait of George Armstrong Custer, Stiles recaptures the complexities of a man whom posterity has been content to caricature. Until now, in this wonderful book. Jon Meacham, author of Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George H. W. Bush

  T. J. Stiles has written another splendid book. He portrays a real Custer, full of flaws but possessed of outstanding combat skills and leadership. This biography easily overshadows its many predecessors, offering new facts and interpretations as well as a wonderful read. Robert Utley, author of Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier

Despite the numerous works on Custer, this thoroughly researched and riveting book is new.  It is the first to interpret him as a representative of his times. Shirley Leckie Reed, author of Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth
 
George A. Custer has proven an enduring metaphor for the American West, an exaggerated American seen as flamboyant military hero, icon of national expansion, or doomed oppressor of Native Americans. More even than his compelling portrait of this central figure of American history, T. J. Stiles brilliantly examines Custer within transforming national events civil war, slavery s end, and economic and social modernization that privileged the powerful under guise of democratic triumph proving yet again why he is this generation s finest biographer. Christopher Phillips, author of The Rivers Ran Backward: The Civil War and the Remaking of the American Middle Border

"In this definitive reconsideration of an icon, Stiles reminds us why Custer remains such a fascinating fixture in our national consciousness: To understand Custer is to understand a significant sequence in the American DNA. Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder and In the Kingdom of Ice