Custer and the Sioux, Durnford and the Zulus: Parallels in the American and British Defeats at the Little Bighorn (1876) and Isandlwana (1879)

by Paul Williams

Overview

In June 1876 the 7th U.S. Cavalry was savagely defeated at the Little Bighorn in the Montana wilderness during an attempt to seize Sioux and Cheyenne hunting grounds. Three years later redcoats mirrored this utter disaster with an equally high-handed grab for Zulu lands in South Africa.

Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and Lieutenant Colonel Anthony W. Durnford had much in common, from modes of dress to the way they died. This book interweaves the stories of the two soldiers and their final battles, revealing how, to an astonishing degree, similar personalities, aims, tactics, weapons, stupidity and a gross underestimation of the powers of the native people led to calamitous defeat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476620329
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	09/02/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
Sales rank:	928,155
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Paul Williams worked in the television and film industries as a writer, producer and director. He wrote several books about the American frontier and the Civil War. He lived in Melbourne, Australia.
The late Paul Williams worked in the television and film industries as a writer, producer and director. He wrote several books about the American frontier and the Civil War. He lived in Melbourne, Australia.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Prologue delete 1
1. Their Land Is Ours delete 3
2. Deception and Deceit delete 22
3. The Impossible Ultimatum delete 29
4. The ­Three-Column Plan delete 38
5. The ­Three-Column Advance delete 54
6. The Divided Command delete 79
7. The Last Man, the Last Bullet delete 99
8. Besieged delete 126
9. Finding the Dead and the Living delete 142
10. So Who Was to Blame? delete 156
11. The Fading Comet delete 166
12. Aftermath delete 178
Appendix A: Report on the Battle of the Little Big Horn (Reno)
Report (Benteen)
Appendix B: The Court of Inquiry (Isandlwana)
Chapter Notes delete 199
Bibliography delete 205
Index delete 207

Editorial Reviews

Paul Williams is to be commended for marshaling relevant sources and identifying key parallels between commanders and battles in his suggestive comparative study”—Michigan War Studies Review; “insightful...brilliantly reproduced photographs...the numerous maps are models of clarity and precision”—True West.

From the Publisher