Custer and the Great Controversy: The Origin and Development of a Legend

by Robert M. Utley, Brian W. Dippie (Introduction)

Custer and the Great Controversy was the first book to focus on the origins of what has come to be called the Custer myth. The Battle of the Little Bighorn has always been wrapped in mystery and controversy because none of Custer’s men survived to tell what happened, because press accounts circulated much misinformation and editors politicized the event, because popular writers repeated the errors of journalists, because a court of inquiry issued in bitter debate, and because Indian testimony was hard to gauge. This book, originally published in 1962, helps the reader understand the sources of the confusion and controversy surrounding the Custer fight and the beginning of the legend. Custer and the Great Controversy was Robert M. Utley’s debut, coming after six years of service as a ranger-historian at the Little Bighorn National Monument. His distinguished career as a historian has produced many books, including Frontiersmen in The United States Army and the Indian, 1848–1865 and Frontier The United States Army and the Indian, 1866–1891 , both available as Bison Books.

Genres: American History

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

A specialist in Native American history and the history of the American West, Robert Marshall Utley was a former chief historian of the National Park Service. He earned a Bachelor of Science in history from Purdue University in 1951, and an Master of Arts in history from Indiana University in 1952. Utley served as Regional Historian of the Southwest Region of the NPS in Santa Fe from 1957 to 1964, and as Chief Historian in Washington, D.C. from 1964 until his retirement in 1980.

Reviews

[Robert Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even as the bodies were being buried upon Custer Hill the multiple stories began and now 142 years later the sides of the controversy are alive and well. Then as now there are those who believe that George A. Custer could do no wrong and castigate those who served under the sainted leader and survived. On the other side are those who find Custer to blame and defend Marcus Reno and Frederick Benteen. How did we get here?

Robert Utley's seminal 1962 work, "Custer and the Great Controversy", is not the last word on what happened to the Seventh US Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, but it is an excellent starting point for anyone who is interested in the battle and the legends that grew out of it.

In this brief study, Utley sketches the bare bones of the battle itself, then narrates how various accounts reached the American public through the press, and military men and book authors printing their opinions, often uninformed yet very biased. These accounts generated a great debate inside and outside the Army about what really happened at Little Bighorn and why.

Utley's account is clear, logical, and even-handed. It is telling of the quality of this book that the additional information available since 1962 has added detail but not necessarily resolved any more of the controversy. I found “Custer and the Great Controversy" highly readable and informative. I highly recomend this book to everyone that reads about or seeks to study the battle.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, an early one from later major historian Robert Utley, was a study of how history turns into legend, as well as the ways that one biased "history" work can affect others.
In this case, there is an overview of the actual military campaign that led to the disaster in which George Armstrong Custer died. Then, there are the things which created the many different versions of just HOW he died, as well as the arguments about what went wrong. After all, while Custer was known as an aggressive military leader, he hadn't usually acted like a total idiot, and separating your command in the face of a seemingly huge enemy force would appear to be just that, an idiotic move. Thus, the arguments began about what happened, and whether it really should have happened. Oddly, few of the historical arguments hinged on whether General Crook turning back affected things at all, but more of the blame was placed on Major Reno, whose withdrawal of his forces from the battle allowed the tribes to focus on Custer and his segment of the 7th Cavalry.
The real story contained in this book, though, is the way in which rumor, innuendo and outright lies influenced generations of histories and pseudo-histories, and how the longevity of Custer's widow may have influenced things as well.
While dry, this is a short work, and a very interesting one, with lots of bibliographical notes for anyone wishing to learn more about the early writings about Custer.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A study of LtCol. George Armstrong Custer as well as his personality and tactics. While a general during the Civil War, he was only the executive officer of the seventh Cavalry and was in in command at the Little Bighorn as the commanding officer was away on detached duty.