George Armstrong Custer (Compass Point Early Biographies) Book

A brief biography of the personal life, military career, and controversial accomplishments of this American legend.

Patricia Dole - Children's Literature

The famous United States Army general was born in Ohio in 1839 and worked as a teacher before attending West Point just before the onset of the Civil War. He performed so well in the Northern army that he was promoted to general at the age of 23. After the war he commanded cavalry troops whose main purpose was to round up Western Native Americans and confine them to reservations. Many Indians resisted. They resented gold miners invading the Black Hills of Dakota, a sacred area, and farmers occupying their ancestral lands. In 1876, when the overconfident Custer engaged a large army of Lakota and Cheyenne Indians, he and his men were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn River in Montana. The text is simple and readable, gently suggesting that Custer was actually a poor leader and that the Native Americans were justified in their resistance, contrary to the heroic legends that have developed over the years. Black-and-white photographs and colorful paintings illustrate the biography, which has a table of contents, time line, index, glossary, and sites to find further information. The series is "Compass Point Early Biographies." 2003, Compass Point Books, Ages 7 to 9.