Custer’s Cavalier
At the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, General George Armstrong Custer begins his career as a leader of the Union cavalry. Lt. Colonel John Whyte serves under Custer, accompanied by his faithful Indian Sikh companion, Sergeant Khan Singh. A disgraced English lord who served in the British Army, he commands the 5th Michigan. He leads his cavalry troop from the Gettysburg Campaign into the 1864 Valley Campaign. Along the way, he falls in love with a plantation owner but is eventually captured after the Battle of Cedar Creek. Faced with a death sentence, he must devise a way to escape imprisonment.
Subtitled “A John Whyte Novel of the American West,” this novel is a prequel to Trouble in Texas. In this fast-paced, entertaining read, the author has developed an exciting character – a transplanted Englishman with an English military background forced into a life in America during the Civil War. The battle scenes are well researched while the author continues to place his protagonist in harm’s way. A very good Civil War novel! It’s part of a series but can be read as a standalone. Highly recommended.
