One of Custer's Wolverines: The Civil War Letters of Brevet Brigadier General James H. Kidd, 6th Michigan Cavalry, and: At Custer's Side: The Civil War Writings of James Harvey Kidd (review)

The name James Kidd (1840-1913) is not altogether unfamiliar to Civil War aficionados, particularly to those with an interest in Union cavalry operations. A twenty-one-year-old University of Michigan student from Ionia, Michigan, Kidd enlisted in the federal army and managed to recruit a company of cavalry that was accepted as Company E, 6th Michigan Cavalry, with himself as captain. Brigaded with the 1st, 5th, and 7th Michigan cavalry regiments, the Michigan Cavalry Brigade distinguished itself under the leadership of its first commander, Gen. George Armstrong Custer. "Custer's Wolverines," as they were popularly known, gained renown as one of the finest volunteer cavalry units to serve in the eastern theater, fighting in more than sixty battles or skirmishes. By war's end, the Wolverines had served in the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac and under Sheridan in his Army of the Shenandoah. Kidd rose to colonel of his regiment, served briefly as brigade commander, and was eventually breveted brigadier general for his services. Following the war he returned to his hometown and became involved in journalism, eventually publishing his own newspaper. He was actively involved in veterans' affairs throughout the rest of his life and was a frequent contributor to their organizations as a speaker and writer. His Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman with Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War (published in 1908) remains a classic narrative of service in the cavalry, which has been reprinted several times since. Kidd remained active in military affairs, serving in the Michigan National Guard, from which he retired as a brigadier general in 1911. Until now Kidd's other Civil War writings were scattered among numerous secondary sources or languished among his papers in the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. Thanks to the efforts of Eric J. Wittenberg, an Ohio attorney and author of several books on cavalry operations in the eastern theater, a much wider audience will gain access to these unique collections.

The first of these two companion books, One of Custer's Wolverines, contains Kidd's letters home to his family as well as excerpts of letters he received during the war. Wittenberg supplements the letters with annotation and a brief narrative of Kidd's service during the war. There are numerous photographs of Kidd, his contemporaries in Custer's Wolverines, and both Union and Confederate cavalry commanders; however, a portrait of Union cavalry general John McIntosh is erroneously labeled as being Gen. Grenville M. Dodge. In spite of this minor error, Wittenberg rounds out his well-researched text with maps, appendices, endnotes, a bibliography, and index.

Originally intended to be included in an appendix to the letters, At Custer's Side presents Kidd's postwar narratives. Notable among these writings are addresses given at the dedications of monuments at Gettysburg for the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and for Custer's equestrian statue at Monroe, Michigan. The latter address is of particular importance as it gives one of the first revisionist views of the Little Big Horn tragedy by squarely placing the blame on Custer's subordinates, Maj. Marcus Reno and Capt. Frederick Benteen.

Wittenberg presents these works as they originally appeared, with the addition of some punctuation and annotations. Of particular note are the several maps accompanying the accounts of the cavalry actions of Custer's Wolverines at Gettysburg and Winchester and those that accompany the biographical sketch on Custer's career. Appendices detail the actions...