The Real Custer takes a good hard look at the life and storied military career of George Armstrong Custer -- from cutting his teeth at Bull Run in the Civil War, to his famous and untimely death at Little Bighorn in the Indian Wars. Author James Robbins demonstrates that Custer, having graduated last in his class at West Point, went on to prove himself again and again as an extremely skilled cavalry leader. Robbins argues that Custer's undoing was his bold and cocky attitude, which caused the Army's bloodiest defeat in the Indian Wars. Robbins also dives into Custer's personal life, exploring his letters and other personal documents to reveal who he was as a person, underneath the military leader.

Part I. Beginnings -- "My voice is for war!" -- Custer the goat -- The brotherhood broken -- Part II. Custer goes to war -- "A slim, long-haired boy, carelessly dressed" -- "I promise that you shall hear of me" -- The boy general -- Part III. The boy general -- Gettysburg -- The "daring, terrible demon" of battle -- The Buckland races -- The Dahlgren Affair -- Little Phil -- Into the Valley -- "Let the sword decide the contest" -- Custer's counterinsurgency -- "Custer is a trump" -- "Fighting like a Viking" -- "Custer against the world" -- "Like the charge of a Sioux chieftain" -- Part IV. Fall from grace -- The "long-haired hero of the lash" -- The "swing around the circle" -- Court-martial -- Part V. Redemption -- Washita -- Custer on the plains -- The great buffalo hunt -- Battle on the Yellowstone -- Part VI. The final act -- Custer's Gulch -- Custer vs. Grant -- "Don't be greedy" -- A ridge too far -- "He will never fight anymore.".