Rosebud, June 17, 1876

Prelude to the Little Big Horn

By: Paul L. Hedren

Narrated by: Douglas Rye

Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Battle of the Rosebud may well be the largest Indian battle ever fought in the American West. The monumental clash on June 17, 1876, along Rosebud Creek in southeastern Montana, pitted George Crook and his Shoshone and Crow allies against Sioux and Northern Cheyennes under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. It set the stage for the battle that occurred eight days later when, just 25 miles away, George Armstrong Custer blundered into the very same village that had outmatched Crook. Historian Paul L. Hedren presents the definitive account of this critical battle, from its antecedents in the Sioux campaign to its historic consequences.

Rosebud, June 17, 1876 explores in unprecedented detail the events of the spring and early summer of 1876. Drawing on an extensive array of sources, including government reports, diaries, reminiscences, and a previously untapped trove of newspaper stories, the book traces the movements of both Indian forces and US troops and their Indian allies as Brigadier General Crook commenced his second great campaign against the northern Indians for the year. Both Indian and army paths led to Rosebud Creek, where warriors surprised Crook and then parried with his soldiers for the better part of a day on an enormous field. Describing the battle from multiple viewpoints, Hedren narrates the action moment by moment, capturing the ebb and flow of the fighting. Throughout, he weighs the decisions and events that contributed to Crook’s tactical victory, and to his fateful decision thereafter not to pursue his adversary. The result is a uniquely comprehensive view of an engagement that made history and then changed its course.

The book is published by University of Oklahoma Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

“With Rosebud, Paul Hedren further cements his place as the leading historian of the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877.” (Nebraska History)

©2019 University of Oklahoma Press (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks

A strained effort, for battle planning nerds only

Long and drawn out much longer than it needs to be, while not entirely a whitewash of history, this book is just too eager to affect an objective sensibility to be a useful resource. To his credit, the author freely acknowledges the causes for the conflicts know as the Great Plains Indian Wars as being 1) "gold in the Black Hills", 2) "a Northern Plains Railroad intent on spanning Sioux country", and 3) "the ultimate control of a land and its people". (All the author's own words). Implicit in these motivations is the avaricious and aggressive actions of the U.S. military and government. With this backdrop, it seems a bit foolhardy to continue the pretense of presenting a balanced account to which all can agree. While there is no doubt there were honorable members in Crook's Army, the enterprise itself was odious and immoral. The author offers a caveat that a fuller understanding of the motivations, both of the Cheyenne and Lakota, as well as the American military can be found in a previous book of his dealing with the Powder River battle. Admittedly a better book.