After a terrible summer of blood and fire, scout Seamus Donegan finally has reason to rejoice: his wife, Samantha, has given birth to his first son. But the time to celebrate new life is short . . . for the old business of death continues. Phil Sheridan has gathered his officers at Fort Laramie for a war council to prepare the winter campaign. His objective: capture Crazy Horse, the elusive Sioux warrior chief whose exploits have put the U.S. cavalry to shame. Sending his scouts ahead--men such as Seamus Donegan and the legendary Yellowstone Kelly--Sheridan will march his armies north into the valley of the Red Fork of the Crazy Woman Creek . . . and into a battle that will prove as brutal and bitter as the killing winter winds. Praise for Terry C. Johnston "Johnston is an authentic American treasure."--Loren D. Estleman, author of Edsel  "Terry C. Johnston has emerged as the great frontier historical novelist of his generation."--Paul Andrew Hutton, author of Phil Sheridan and His Army