Lancaster, CA: MojaveWest Publishing, 2007 Pp. iii, 285, contents, preface, appendices, bibliography, index, soft cover, $18.00

Besides George A. Custer and Marcus A. Reno, the most controversial military personage in the Battle of the Little Bighorn drama is Captain Frederick W. Benteen.

Like Custer, Benteen had a distinguished Civil War career and was a born soldier whose courage under fire was striking. Yet he was also a man who could harbor deep resentments towards superiors as well as fellow officers and enlisted men.

Despite the voluminous literature on the Little Bighorn, a full biography of Benteen was not published until 1985, Harvest of Barren Regrets: The Army Career of Frederick William Benteen, 1834-1898 by Charles K. Mills. Unfortunately this book was issued in a limited run and is thus difficult to find and quite expensive. Also published in 2007 was another biography, Custer’s Thorn: The Life of Frederick W. Benteen by J.C. Ladenheim.

Brazen Trumpet makes available much of the information in the Mills biography. Beyond these details, the book contains an interesting evaluation of Benteen’s actions on June 25-26, 1876, notably his alleged "tardiness" in following Custer’s order to "Be quick" with the pack train.

The author devotes many pages to Benteen’s background and career. Born in Virginia in 1834, his father moved to St. Louis. Although his father was a Southern sympathizer, Benteen served in the Union army during the Civil War. He saw action in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas as well as Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

Besides combating Confederates, Benteen was often in the midst of the internal conflicts of the regiments in which he served—a trait that would follow him in the frontier army.

After the war, Benteen would join the newly formed 7th Cavalry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. From the beginning of their service together, the relationship between these two officers was often marked by conflict. Benteen was publicly as well as privately critical of his commander.

Donovan obviously analyzes Custer from this more negative perspective. Still he adequately describes the regiment’s activities during the ill-fated 1867 Hancock campaign, which led to Custer’s court-martial and suspension and his return to lead the regiment in the controversial Washita campaign a year later.

A result of the Washita battle was the deaths of Major Joel Elliot and his detachment. Benteen allegedly wrote a letter charging that Custer had abandoned Elliot. The publication of this accusation would lead to confrontation between the two men that solidified Benteen’s hatred of Custer, a feeling that Custer does not seem to have reciprocated—a fact glossed over by the author.

The bulk of the book deals with the Little Bighorn. Donovan covers this event well. However, one might argue with some of his "facts" such as the assertion that Col. John Gibbon fully reported to Gen. Alfred Terry that he had located and attempted to attack the village of Sitting Bull before meeting the Dakota Column.

The obvious focus is on Benteen’s role in the battle, that is, his role as a battalion commander sent to the left to scout the valley and the captain’s compliance with the order from Custer to "bring packs."

This is where I find that Donovan fails to make his case.

No one can doubt that Frederick W. Benteen showed valor in assuming de facto command of the combined battalions after encountering Reno on the bluffs. Although quoting numerous sources, the author does not adequately analyze the discrepancies between Benteen’s letter to his wife soon after the battle; his official report; his testimony during the Reno Court of Inquiry and his personal correspondence.

Reconciling such discrepancies as well as studying them would have been helpful.

Furthermore, Donovan uncritically accepts several episodes and conversations alleged in Benteen’s letters to Theodore Goldin in the 1890s. He defends Benteen through a complex time-motion study to prove that this officer did not delay his march after he received the order from Custer to "bring packs." While useful to some, this reviewer thinks that such studies should be viewed in the larger context of the Little Bighorn.

The author should have better explored how Benteen’s vitriol towards Custer shaped his attempts to defend himself after the battle when he was often blamed for the disaster.

Moreover, there should have been better proof reading. Custer’s wife, for example, is named "Libby" and later (correctly) "Libbie." The footnotes are not consistent nor are they in proper form. Some citations are not correct. Another limitation is the absence of an index.

The book demonstrates scant evidence of primary source materials. The bibliography lists Evan Connell’s popular Son of the Morning Star, which is not footnoted and thus a questionable source.

Even with these flaws, Broken Trumpet is an interesting attempt to explore chartered territory on the Battle of the Little Bighorn and to place much of what has been written about Benteen under one cover, particularly his Civil War and his post-Little Bighorn service. This alone makes it a valuable contribution to the Little Bighorn debate.

Thus the debate continues regarding Custer’s actual orders to Benteen: to keep moving into the Little Bighorn Valley or to return to the main trail? (I believe that Custer presumed the latter when he dispatched Trumpeter Martini with the message.)

Also unanswered is the question as to whether or not Benteen actually fulfilled his orders by ultimately getting the packs to at least Reno Hill, if not to Custer.