Keep The Last Bullet For Yourself: The True Story Of Custer's Last Stand

Plot

Marquis, a doctor (and an amateur historian) who lived near the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn, sought out the aged Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow veterans of the Custer fight in order to learn their side of the story. According to him Custer's last battle was not a "resolute and glorious death struggle", but a pitiable fiasco. The purpose of this book is to present the evidence behind that conclusion. Marquis argues that many of the soldiers may have committed suicide because they were mostly very young and inexperienced and many were overwhelmed by terror of being captured and tortured by the Indians. Marquis presents compelling and very interesting historical data to support his claim - including evidence of point-blank gunshot wounds to the head found on skulls of the troopers - plus much information to support that soldiers believed that prisoners would suffer agonizing deaths. Marquis uses his familiarity with the Sioux and Cheyenne cultures to add additional context to the battle.