With Crook at the Rosebud

by J.W. Vaughn

1988 University of Nebraska Press trade paperback, J. W. Vaughn. The only comprehensive work on one of the most important battles of the Indian Wars of the West. The fight on Rosebud Creek took place just days before General George Armstrong Custer and his Seventh Cavalry was decimated by the same warriors that forced General George Crook to withdraw from the Rosebud. Here in the words of survivors of the Rosebud fight on both sides, is J.W. Vaughn's classic book on the battle. Abridged and annotated for a modern audience, this edition takes you into the fight from various points on the battlefield. - Amazon

Genres: History

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[John Smiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book if you are interested in the Indian Wars of the 1860-70's.

The book tells the story of General Crook's engagement with the Sioux at Rosebud Creek, which took place 2 weeks before Custer's Last stand.

The book describes the battle from a number of different perspectives, and sometimes the details are overwhelming, but if you are a student of battles, it's well worth it to take time to picture the battle.

Having been to the Rosebud Creek myself twice, I find the descriptions very useful to picture the battle.

Interestingly, the chapter in the book I found to be one of the most interesting, is a short one by the Indian survivors of the battle. Their synopsis is pretty brief, but it gives a nice overview, and I would recommend reading it first.

In the back of the book is a list of the US soldiers who took part in the battle---including my great grandfather, Joseph Hobson, who survived the battle (obviously, or I wouldn't be here.)

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good effort by the author to dig into historical files and military reports to piece together a partly forgotten battle. It was a very organized accounting, but as most history reading, I found it a little dry. I found it creative how he used a metal detector to verify where spent ammunition was located over the entire battlefield area to verify key locations of the battle.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

General Crook's command was to rendevous with those of General Terry and LtCol George Armstrong Custer at the Little Bighorn. But he ran into resistance from the Indians and this book describes his battles and hardships during that march.