Lakota Strength, but James Ayers.
This thing happened on Thursday evening. Boy was it fun. I could sit around a campfire and talk frontier history with Michael Punke for hours. Maybe days.
Really enjoyed this, and pretty proud of the way it came out.
Y’all really should pick up this book. You’ll dig it.
John Bullard says
I enjoyed it. Y’all did a good job on the conversation. I was a little angry I couldn’t get my question to him to go through the interface for some reason, so perhaps you could answer my question since you’ve read the book and I just got my copy yesterday:
Does he go into the hostilities/conflict between Carrington and his junior officers due to their fighting in the Civil War and Carrington being a REMF, and also Carrington’s experience with dealing with the Indians from his pre-war duties versus their not having dealt with the Indians at all?
JimC says
Yes, there’s a fair bit of interplay re: Carrington’s lack of combat experience. It’s just mentioned in passing in the novel, but WT Sherman really failed to grasp the nature of the mission. Carrington was there to build a fort. Sherman encouraged the accompaniment of the women — and for them to write journals on their experiences. It seems that Sherman and the rest of the U.S. command thought they could simply overawe the tribes, which obviously didn’t work. Shades of Braddock back in 1755 saying that the Indians could not make any impression on British Regulars.
John Bullard says
Thanks, Jim. I’m enjoying the book so far. Yes, that underestimating the “primitive” opponent did seem to almost be a requirement in the British army officer corps for the 18th and 19th centuries.
David Wrolson says
Great Stuff-I really enjoyed hearing my “thing” about the battlefield discussed at some length. Where (and how) in the world did the indians and the horses hide? It is one of those questions that comes to mind as you look at the battlefield.
JimC says
Glad you enjoyed it.
Jerry Nunnally says
I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. I’m with you Jim, I could have sat around that fire a bit longer myself. I was hoping you were going to get a chance to jump in on my question about Carrington’s competence and what I think was a lack of confidence by his junior officers in his leadership.