An Aide to Custer: The Civil War Letters of Lt. Edward G. Granger ed. by Sandy Barnard (review)

On August 16, 1864, George Armstrong Custer’s aide-de-camp, Lt. Edward G. Granger, frantically rode his horse through the heat of battle to deliver orders to the Seventh Michigan Cavalry Regiment. Granger’s remains would never be found and his legacy almost forgotten. In An Aide to Custer, Sandy Barnard attempts to resurrect his story using two objectives: first, by using Granger’s letters, his stories share a glance at a “maturing young man as he meets the ever-challenging experiences of the Civil War” (xv), ranging from prior to enlistment to his eventual death. Second, Barnard examines how, and if, Custer’s infamous ruthlessness against indigenous people had roots in his Civil War tactics.

Barnard’s commentary follows a rigid chronology. She provides a thoughtful introduction and epilogue to the volume, as well as a brief piece to accompany each collection of letters thereafter. The core of the volume comprises four chapters that trace Granger’s life before and during his army service. Each chapter’s introduction shares the life and experiences of Granger, as well as how he interpreted the politics and fighting of the Civil War. Throughout An Aide to Custer, Granger’s motives for enlisting are somewhat unclear. Barnard states that politics weighed heavily on Granger’s mind before and during the Civil War, but the volume offers limited discussion on how the young officer felt about slavery and the politics that surrounded that institution (39). Barnard devotes more energy to Custer’s modern-day perception instead.

Students of Great Plains history know George Armstrong Custer as the leader who died in combat against Lakotas at the Battle of Little Big Horn. However, this new collection of letters by one of his subordinates during the Civil War, long before Custer met his infamous fate, adds nuance to a renewed discourse on Custer and his more personal dealings with soldiers under his command. Barnard’s editorial prowess places Granger at the heart of a more sympathetic image of Custer, from Gettysburg and Grant’s Overland Campaign to Sheridan’s 1864 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, directly challenging the scope of scholarship that only demonizes the infamous general. Granger’s correspondence, above all, then, offers a new understanding that Custer “had a heart,” even though modern discourse is mesmerized by his ruthlessness and relentless sacrifices for glory (203). An Aide to Custer will help those interested in Great Plains history understand Custer’s Civil War backstory from the perspective of one of his previously understudied (heretofore unknown) subordinates, Edward Granger. Readers should come away from the volume with a more complicated portrait of one of the region’s enduring characters.