In the spring of 1985, a unique group of volunteers found themselves with an unbelievable opportunity to assist archeologists conducting the second of two back-to-back field projects at Custer Battlefield National Monument near Crow Agency, Mont. People have wondered about the battle for the 110 years since George Armstrong Custer's defeat by a huge force of Plains Indian Warriors on June 25, 1876. No one, professional archeologists or volunteers, expected to solve all the riddles of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, but the task certainly was challenging and exciting.

Digging into Custer's Last Stand

Barnard, Sandy

AST-Press

Soft cover; Fine; Signed by Author; No Dust Jacket; 103 pp., references, endnotes, photographs, illustrations. In original wraps. A fine crisp copy. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR to Major General Hoyt S. (Sandy) Vandenberg, Jr. USAF retired. This pamphlet consists of six lectures given by prominent Custer/Little Big Horn historians. The lectures are well footnoted and referenced. Interesting reading.

Speaking About Custer: A Collection of Lectures

History

Americas

Revisionist history using latest data from archeological digs.

Digging Into Custer's Last Stand

This book contains the latter portion of the memoirs of George Custer's First Sergeant John Ryan, dealing with his service after the end of the Civil War. Ryan discusses serving with the Union Army during reconstruction, in numerous campaigns against the Western Indians, and in the Battle of Little Big Horn. The first 126 pages, dealing with his early life and Civil War days have been reserved for publication in another volume and this publication is a mixture of two different manuscripts that were found by the editor. Paragraphing has been changed, and spelling has been standardized. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ten Years With Custer: A 7th Cavalryman's Memoirs

In 1866, John Ryan, a 21-year-old Union Army veteran, enlisted in the new 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment. During two enlistments in the next 10 years, he took part in every action or campaign with this legendary Army unit under its celebrated commander, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. 
 With Custer, Ryan charged the village of Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle on the Washita River in November 1868 and took part in the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873 and the Black Hills Expedition of 1874. Between his Civil War service in the 28th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry Regiment and the 7th Cavalry, Ryan fought in some 45 military engagements and saw many “hard sights” on those battlefields, but it was his last one he recalled as the worst—the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25-26, 1876. First Sergeant with Company M, Ryan fought heroically in the Little Bighorn Valley and on the bluffs with the battalion under Major Marcus A. Reno. He survived this fighting, which he would talk and write about throughout the 50 years he lived after his final discharge. 
More important, he penned a 600-page memoir of his military career, providing extraordinary insight into not only the great experiences of the 7th Cavalry on the Plains but also into the everyday life of the Frontier Army. For many years, Ryan’s full manuscript had been missing, until it was located and purchased by author-researcher Sandy Barnard in April 2000. 
Some 475 of those pages dealt with his 7th Cavalry career and are published for the first time in this work. An extraordinary and important account, this document is unlike any other written by a 7th Cavalry officer or an enlisted man. Indian wars historians, Little Bighorn battle enthusiasts and reenactors all will find much to savor in this noteworthy new classic.

Ten Years With Custer : A 7th Cavalryman's Memoirs

Sandy Barnard

John Ryan, a 16-year-old laborer from West Newton, Mass., enlisted in the 28th Massachusetts on Jan. 1, 1862. From that date until 1876, except for several months, Ryan was an enlisted man in the United State Army. For 10 of those years, he served as a trooper in the 7th Cavalry, surviving the bat-tle of Little Bighorn. He returned to West Newton upon his discharge, enjoying a good life until his death in 1926.As a member of the 28th Massachusetts, Ryan participated in many of the major campaigns and battles in the East. In November 1862, the regiment joined the renowned Irish Brigade, taking the place of the non-Irish 29th Massachusetts. From then until December 1864, upon his discharge, Ryan served with the brigade. He ended his Civil War service with a six-month tour of duty with the 61st Massachusetts.A number of published diaries, letters, and memoirs of members of the Irish Brigade have appeared over the years. Ryan's memoir, evidently begun by 1887, joins that list. Ryan writes well and recounts in some detail the major actions of the regiment and of the brigade.His descriptions of camp life are particularly good, but there are lapses in his story. He left the regiment-for conflicting reasons-immediately after Gettysburg and did not return for nearly a year. His memoir covers those months with a sketchy account of his unit's operations.Sandy Barnard, who has written a biography of Ryan and has edited his memoirs of service in the 7th Cavalry, supplements Ryan's reminiscences with an excellent introduction, chapter summaries and notes. Barnard's editing enhances the book's worth and provides information on numerous members of the regiment.Ryan's memoir of his service in a fine Union regiment is a welcome addition to Irish Brigade books. It is not a classic work of a common soldier, but a good one.

Campaigning with the Irish Brigade Pvt. John Ryan, 28th Massachusetts

In late 1861, 16-year-old John Ryan of West Newton, Mass., enlisted in the 28th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, thus beginning a lengthy Army career that extended to December 1876 and included 10 years in the 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment on the Plains under the legendary Lt. Col. George A. Custer. But first came four years of Civil War service, starting with three years in the 28th Massachusetts, much of it while the hard-fighting unit was assigned to the Irish Brigade of Brig. Gen. Thomas F. Meagher. Another seven months followed late in the war in the 61st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Between his Civil War service in the Massachusetts regiments and the 7th Cavalry, Ryan saw many "hard sights" on some 45 battlefields. In the Civil War, he fought at Secessionville, S.C.; Manassas and Chantilly, Va.; Antietam, Md.; Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Va.; and Gettysburg, Pa. In his last battle with the 28th on Aug. 25, 1864, at Reams Station, Va., he was seriously wounded. Yet he survived the carnage of the Civil War as well as on the Plains against Indians at the Washita and Little Bighorn rivers. Returning in 1876 to West Newton, where he lived for 50 more years, he wrote a 600-page memoir of his military career, including 475 pages on his experiences in the Indian wars. Another 125 pages dealt with his Civil War career and provide an extraordinary look into the life of an enlisted man in the 28th Massachusetts, one of the hardest-fighting regiments in the Union Army. Civil War historians, Irish Brigade enthusiasts and reenactors all will find much to savor in this unique account. 6 x 9, 224 pages, 83 illustrations and maps

Campaigning with the Irish Brigade: Pvt. John Ryan, 28th Massachusetts

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

This is a biography of Mark H. Kellogg, a frontier journalist reporting for the Bismarck Tribune, who in May and June, 1876, accompanied the military column of Lt. Col. George A. Custer from Fort Abraham Lincoln to the Little Bighorn River, sending stories back to his newspaper along the way. On June 25, 1876, he remained with Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment as it attacked a large Indian village. All 210 men with Custer, including reporter Kellogg, were killed.

I Go With Custer: The Life & Death of Reporter Mark Kellogg

Pakkins Land Forgotten Dreams

rhoda-shipman

Summary of the major archeological projects at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, site of Custer's Last Stand, between the 1980s-2000s.

Military

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the AST-Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by AST-Press

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the AST-Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Digging into Custer's Last Stand

Speaking About Custer: A Collection of Lectures

Digging Into Custer's Last Stand

Ten Years With Custer: A 7th Cavalryman's Memoirs

Ten Years With Custer : A 7th Cavalryman's Memoirs

Campaigning with the Irish Brigade Pvt. John Ryan, 28th Massachusetts

Campaigning with the Irish Brigade: Pvt. John Ryan, 28th Massachusetts

I Go With Custer: The Life & Death of Reporter Mark Kellogg

Pakkins Land Forgotten Dreams

Digging into Custer's Last Stand