That's true. I suspect thats because he syruggled with the fact that after taking command of the regiment, some of hos orders were either mis-delivered or mis-interpreted and many men were killed or wounded as a result. Also one of his best friends in the regiment, Captain Edwin A. Brown, was killed instantly right in front of Dawes as he was carrying out another of Dawes's orders.
I recently finished the book. It is by far the best accoun t of the cornfield fighting available -- lots of tactical and personal details. I'm not sure if I agree with everything the author says -- but the cornfield fighting is so confusing that I think I will need to read the book again to get a true to get a really good feel for it.