Book excerpt: In the spring of 1876, the U.S. Army was ordered to round up Sioux Indians who had left their reservation in Dakota Territory to join other Northern Plains Indians in southern Montana. By mid-June, General George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry Regiment had located a fresh Indian trail, and the Seventh went into fast pursuit. Late on a hot, Sunday afternoon, Custer led five companies of the Regiment to their doom at the hands of the Indians he had so aggressively chased down. They died on high ground overlooking the Little Big Horn River and a large Indian encampment on its far floodplain. Custer supporters, in shock and disbelief, stung by the unacceptable possibility that Custer may have blundered, were convinced that the Civil War boy general was abandoned to his fate by his subordinate commanders who despised him. Allegations soon flew that Captain Frederick W. Benteen tarried on the trail behind, disobeying a written order to come to Custer quickly. The question has remained: did Benteen tarry on the trail? In this book, the author takes an analytical look at the existing evidence and comes to a remarkable conclusion.