How does the author portray the real-life character, George Custer?

Haycox portrays George Custer as a complex man, who is driven to disaster by his "enormous ambitions." He is a man who scorns caution. Contemptuous of the advice of others or the ability of the Sioux, Custer's decision results in the unwilling involvement of his men who must share the disaster with him. Haycox shows that "the power of waiting was not in him," and that as a man he never grew up.