priwlte collections， semi-private and public repositories for Custer<br >manuscripts include the Custer Battlefield National Monument，<br >the United States Military Academy， the National Archives， the<br >Library of Congress， Yale University Library， Detroit Public<br >kibrary， Lincoln Memorial University， the Monroe County His-<br >torical Society， and the New York Historical Society.<br > Manuscripts， books， monographs， periodicals， and newspapers<br >by tile hundreds have been consulted over the past twelve years.<br >A selected bibliography of important books will be found at the<br >end of this volume. Vitl~. the exception of letters， hithcrto unpub-<br >lished manuscript material is indicatcd by a footnote.<br > Since Civil War events are so controversial， some explanation<br >must be made for the narratives found in this biography. They<br >encompass tl~e best t~f each account， to form a representative<br >+--ix----><br >