Ridgeline: A Masterful Battle Scene, A Thrilling Story, An Epic History
- Melissa Gouty
- 9 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Novel by Michael Punke, author of The Revenant
If you had told me that I would read a novel focused entirely on one epic fight in American history and love the book, I would not have believed you. While I enjoy knowing about the American West and its storied expansion, I am not drawn to military history or battlefield stories and would never have picked up Ridgeline, by Michael Punke, author of The Revenant, if a friend hadn't given it to me.
Had I not read this book, I would have missed an awesome historical novel, a recap of the sad, fraught relations with the indigenous tribes, an education in battlefield strategy, and a brilliant example of writing from multiple viewpoints.
The Lakota fight for their home
What would you do if a massive force of men and equipment moved into your homeland, started chopping down all your trees, hauled in big cannons, and then built a giant fort and filled it with soldiers?
You'd want to take decisive action to make them go away, right?
That's what Red Cloud, leader of the Lakota tribe who lived in the area, wanted. With the help of a visionary warrior named Crazy Horse, the Native American tribes banded together to plan and fight an unbelievable battle against the United States Army.
While many of us have heard about Custer's loss at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, many of us are not familiar with the Fetterman Massacre, the biggest defeat of the American military on the plains, occurring ten years before Custer's decisive loss. "The Battle of a "Hundred-in-the-Hands," as the Fetterman Massacre was known by the Lakota, was fought by tribes with no guns and no common language, banding together and battling soldiers with repeating rifles.
Big personalities. Multiple perspectives.
One of the things that makes Punke's book so readable is that he infuses each character with a vivid personality and bases each characterization on meticulous research. While one of the conundrums of historical fiction is that we can't possibly know the exact conversations uttered or the genuine emotions embedded in relationships, the author's investigation into the historical records creates a reasonable guess at the interactions that might have occurred.
Punke surmises beautifully, creating realistic conversations, relationships, and situations.
Michael Punke read many of the books written by Fetterman's contemporaries and a multitude of historical records. In fact, one of the best things about the book is Punke's historical notes at the end where he explains his sources and gives an accounting of various scholarly disagreements about what really happened. He also points out the few tweaks and adjustments he used to make the story flow.
Point of View is Everything in Ridgeline
This novel felt real to me, more truth than fiction. Perhaps it's because of the multiple perspectives.
Crazy Horse is one of the narrators, a key figure who appears throughout the book with his brother, Little Hawk, and his best friend, Lone Bear.
We hear from Jim Bridger, the renowned scout and explorer familiar with Indian ways. By this time, Bridger is an older man at the end of his career. He sometimes camps with another legendary scout, James Beckwourth, the former slave and black explorer who became a leader in the Crow tribe. The deep conversations between Bridger and Beckwourth lend an aura of humanity to the men who have achieved fame in the history of the American West.
The military men are well-represented. We get different viewpoints from the commanding officer at Fort Kearny, Colonel Henry Carrington, as well as a junior officer named Lieutenant George Washington Grummond (who has inflated visions of his leadership abilities). Captain William Fetterman, the man for whom the massacre is named, presents his bird's-eye view.
But perhaps even more powerful are the words of the lesser-known, lower-ranking, "average" people surrounding The Fetterman Massacre. There's Adolph Metzer, a lowly bugler. There's Janey White, one of the camp laundresses, and the wife of Lieutenant Grummond who keeps not one, but TWO journals, a public one and a private one. Each voice adds dimension and ethos to the events leading up to the massacre.
A Masterful Battle Scene:
As a writer, I am amazed by Punke's skill in laying out the battlefield. I wouldn't have had the patience to get so many details put in place without boring my readers. Punke did NOT bore me. Instead, somehow, my creative brain was able to grasp the complex plans of the Indians and the multitude of events that affected the outcome of the battle.
Western history comes alive:
If you like historical fiction heavily based on fact...
If you want to know more about the interactions between the native tribes and the military at the head of the expansion of Western "civilization"...
If you liked The Revenant...
If American history is your thing...
Don't miss Ridgeline, by Michael Punke!
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