US soldier, born in New Rumley, Ohio, USA. The son of a blacksmith, he graduated last in his West Point class (1861) but went on to become a Civil War cavalry commander of deadly and aggressive efficiency. Often flamboyant in appearance and behaviour (like a circus rider gone mad! said a fellow officer), he participated in virtually every battle in N Virginia from First Bull Run to Lee's surrender. At the head of Sheridan's cavalry, he led the pursuit to Appomattox (Apr 1865), and the Confederate flag of truce, passing through the Union lines, came first to him. Although wounded only once, he had 11 horses killed under him, and his brigade sustained the highest casualties of any cavalry unit of the Federal army; he was made a brigadier-general by age 23. Returned to his rank of captain, and later promoted to lieutenant-colonel, he served on the frontier with the Seventh Cavalry Regiment. In 1867 he was court-martialled for leaving his post, but he was restored to duty (1868) and gained even more fame fighting the Plains Indians. A more thoughtful side of Custer emerged in his memoirs of war service and life on the plains (1874) and in his efforts to combat corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Participating in the government's campaign to force the Cheyenne and Sioux onto reservations, he came across a large encampment of Indians along the Little Bighorn River in Montana territory. Dividing his forces he ordered an attack (25 Jun 1876), but Custer and the over 200 men in his command were annihilated by the vastly larger force. The controversy that shadowed his military career has never truly subsided, as people debate the proportions of bravery, egotism, and folly to assign him.
For the town in South Dakota, see Custer, South Dakota.George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.
Birth and family
Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806-1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and Maria Ward Kirkpatrick (1807-1882). Through his life Custer was known by a variety of nicknames: Armstrong, Autie (his early attempt to pronounce his middle name), Fanny, Curley, Yellow Hair, and Son of the Morning Star. His brothers Thomas Custer and Boston Custer died with him at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, as did his brother-in-law and nephew;
Early life
Custer spent much of his boyhood living with his half-sister and his brother-in-law in Monroe, Michigan, where he attended school and is now honored by a statue in the center of town. A local legend suggests that Custer obtained his appointment to the Academy due to the influence of a prominent resident, who wished to keep Custer away from his daughter.
Custer graduated from West Point, last of a class of 34 cadets, in 1861, just after the start of the Civil War.
Civil War
McClellan and Pleasonton
Custer was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry (in 2005 the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment) and immediately joined his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run, where Army commander Winfield Scott detailed him to carry messages to Major General Irvin McDowell. Johnston up the Peninsula, on May 24, 1862, Custer persuaded a colonel into allowing him to lead an attack with four companies of Michigan infantry across the Chickahominy River above New Bridge. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, termed it a "very gallant affair", congratulated Custer personally, and brought him onto his staff as an aide-de-camp with the temporary rank of captain. On one occasion when McClellan and his staff were reconnoitering a potential crossing point on the Chickahominy River, they stopped and Custer overheard his commander mutter to himself, "I wish I knew how deep it is." Custer dashed forward on his horse out to the middle of the river and turned to the astonished officers of the staff and shouted triumphantly, "That's how deep it is, General!"
When McClellan was relieved of command, Custer reverted to the rank of first lieutenant and returned to the 5th Cavalry for the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Custer fell into the orbit of Major General Alfred Pleasonton, commanding a cavalry division. The general was Custer's introduction to the world of extravagant uniforms and political maneuvering and the young lieutenant became his protégé, serving on Pleasonton's staff while continuing his assignment with his regiment. Custer was quoted as saying that "no father could love his son more than General Pleasonton loves me." Custer distinguished himself by fearless, aggressive actions in some of the numerous cavalry engagements that started off the campaign, including Brandy Station and Aldie.
Brigade command and Gettysburg
Three days prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, General Meade promoted Custer from first lieutenant to brevet brigadier general (temporary rank) of volunteers. Custer lost no time in implanting his aggressive character on his brigade, part of the division of Brig.
Custer's style of battle sometimes bordered on reckless or foolhardy. At Hunterstown, in an ill-considered charge ordered by Kilpatrick (but one that Custer did not protest) against the brigade of Wade Hampton, Custer fell from his wounded horse directly before the enemy and became the target of numerous enemy rifles. He was rescued by the bugler of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, Norville Churchill, who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and allowed Custer to mount behind him for a dash to safety.
Possibly Custer's finest hour in the Civil War was just east of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Custer encountered the Union cavalry division of David McM. Custer led a bold mounted charge of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, "sabers flashing in the sun," breaking the back of the Confederate assault, foiling Lee's plan. Considering the havoc that Stuart could have caused astride the Union lines of communication if he had succeeded, Custer was one of the unsung heroes of the battle of Gettysburg. Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade.
The Valley and Appomattox
When the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac was reorganized under Philip Sheridan in 1864, Custer retained his command, and took part in the various actions of the cavalry in the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness (after which he ascended to division command), the Battle of Yellow Tavern, where Jeb Stuart was mortally wounded, and the Battle of Trevilian Station, where Custer was humiliated by having his division trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the Confederates. Early moved down the Shenandoah Valley and threatened Washington, D.C., Custer's division was dispatched along with Sheridan to the Valley Campaigns of 1864.
Custer and Sheridan, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at Waynesboro, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day, received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force, and Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to Custer as a gift for his gallantry. Before the close of the war Custer received brevet promotions to brigadier and major general in the Regular Army and major general in the volunteers.
Indian Wars
In 1866, Custer was mustered out of the volunteer service, reduced to the rank of captain in the regular army. Sheridan, a bill was introduced into congress to promote Custer to major general, but the bill failed miserably. Custer was offered command of the 10th U.S. Cavalry (otherwise known as the Buffalo Soldiers) with the rank of full colonel, but turned the command down in favor of a lieutenant colonelcy of the 7th U.S. Cavalry and was assigned to the 7th U.S. Cavalry at Fort Riley, Kansas. On August 4, 1873, near the Tongue River, Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry clashed for the first time with the Sioux.
In 1874, Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood, South Dakota. In 1875, Custer swore by White Buffalo Calf Pipe, a pipe sacred to the Lakota, that he would not fight Native Americans again. Grant relieved Custer of command and ordered the expedition to proceed without him. Custer wrote to the president:
Grant relented and gave his permission for Custer to go. Crow Indian scouts identified to Custer what they claimed was a large encampment of Native Americans. Some sources say that Custer, aware of his great popularity with the American public at the time, thought that he needed only one more victory over the Native Americans to get him nominated for President of the United States;
Custer knew he was outnumbered, though he did not know by how much (probably something on the order of 3 to 1), but despite that knowledge he split his forces into 3 battalions: one led by Major Marcus Reno, one by Captain Frederick Benteen, and one by himself (this actually split his forces into 4 parts as Capt. Reno was ordered to attack from south of the village, while Benteen was ordered to go west, scouting for any fleeing Native Americans, while Custer himself went north, in what was intended to be a classical pincer movement. All of the Native Americans that had been facing Reno were freed by his retreat, and now faced Custer. It is believed at this point that Custer attempted a diversionary attack on the flank of the village, deploying other companies on the ridges in order to give Benteen the time to join him. Other groups of Native Americans made encircling attacks so that the cavalry companies on the hills collapsed and fell back together on what is now called "Custer Hill". The Sioux normally attacked in swift guerilla raids so perhaps Custer's actions can be attributed to the fact he was certain they would reatreat as they usually did. According to a reputed subsequent letter, Godfrey admitted mis-stating the condition of Custer's body to protect Custer's wife, Elizabeth.
Following the recovery of Custer's body, he was given a funeral with full military honors.
Controversial legacy
After his death, Custer achieved the lasting fame that eluded him in life. Custer's wife, Elizabeth, who accompanied him in many of his frontier expeditions, did much to advance this view with the publication of several books about her late husband: Boots and Saddles, Life with General Custer in Dakota (1885), Tenting on the Plains (1887), and Following the Guidon (1891). General Custer himself wrote about the Indian wars in My Life on the Plains (1874) and was the posthumous co-author of The Custer Story (1950).
Custer would be called today a "media personality" who understood the value of good public relations—he frequently invited correspondents to accompany him on his campaigns, and their favorable reportage contributed to his high reputation that lasted well into the 20th century. It is believed that Custer was photographed more than any other Civil War officer. After being promoted to brigadier general, Custer sported a uniform that included shiny jackboots, tight olive corduroy trousers, a wide-brimmed slouch hat, tight hussar jacket of black velveteen with silver piping on the sleeves, a sailor shirt with silver stars on his collar, and a red cravat.
The assessment of Custer's actions during the Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. For many critics, Custer was the personification and culmination of the U.S. Government's ill-treatment of the Native American tribes. Recent films and books including Little Big Man and Son of the Morning Star depict Custer as a cruel and murderous military commander whose actions today would warrant possible dismissal and court-martial.
Within the context of postbellum expansion, Custer's actions indeed differed little from the standard military strategy of the time, which ultimately fragmented Native American culture in the American West.
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