Hero’s Triumph and Tragedy

In his spirited retelling of George Custer’s dramatic Civil War career, Thom Hatch pulls out all the stops in favor of the hero of his tale in Glorious War: The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer.

From West Point graduate to aide-de-camp for George McClellan to boy brigadier and Gettysburg hero all the way to division commander under Phil Sheridan, Custer experienced a success in the Civil War that has sometimes been obscured by what happened at Little Big Horn 11 years after Appomattox.

Hatch’s account often echoes Jeff Wert’s account of that 1876 battle, which brought Custer fame and national attention. One should know, however, that Hatch’s enthusiasm for Custer sometimes outruns evidence that points to a more tempered treatment.

—Brooks D. Simpson, author of The Civil War in the East: Struggle, Stalemate, and Victory