'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. Promoted at an early age to a temporary war-time rank of Major General, and later made a permanent Lt. Colonel, he was a flamboyant and aggressive commander during numerous Civil War battles, known for his personal bravery in leading charges against opposing cavalry. He led the
Michigan Brigade whom he called the "Wolverines" during the Civil War. He was defeated and killed at the
Battle of the Little Bighorn, against a coalition of
Native American tribes comprised almost exclusively of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe warriors, and led by the Sioux chiefs
Crazy Horse and
Gall and by the Hunkpapa seer and medicine man,
Sitting Bull. This confrontation has come to be popularly known and enshrined in American history as
Custer's Last Stand.
Birth and family
Custer was born in
New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806-1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807-1882).
[1] Through his life Custer was known by a variety of nicknames. Among Whites he was called alternately Autie (his early attempt to pronounce his middle name), Armstrong, Fanny, or Curley. When he went west the
Plains Indians whom he encountered called him 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. His other two full siblings were
Nevin and
Margaret Custer, and he had several other half siblings. Custer's father's family originally came from Westphalia in West Germany. They emigrated and arrived in America in the 17th century. The original family surname was "Küster". He was a fifth-generation descendant of the
German, Arnold Küster from
Kaldenkirchen,
Duchy of Jülich (today
North Rhine-Westphalia state), who later immigrated to
Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Custer's mother's original maiden name was Marie Ward. In 1823 she married Israel Kirkpatrick who died in 1835. Being a widow, she then married Emanuel Henry Custer in 1836. Marie Ward's grandparents George Ward (1724-1811) and Mary Ward (nee Grier) (1733-1811) were born in
County Durham,
Northern England and emigrated to the United States. Their son James Grier Ward (1765-1824) was born in Dauphin, Pennsylvania and married Catherine Rogers (1776-1829), and their daughter, Marie Ward, was Custer's mother. Catherine Rogers was the daughter of Thomas Rogers (born in England in 1742) and Sarah Armstrong, which is the source of George Armstrong Custer's middle name.
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.
[2] Before entering the
United States Military Academy, Custer attended the McNeely Normal School, later known as Hopedale Normal College, in
Hopedale, Ohio and known as the first coeducational college for teachers in eastern
Ohio. While attending Hopedale, Custer was known to have carried coal together with classmate William Enos Emery to help pay for their room and board. Custer graduated from McNeely Normal School in 1856 and taught school in Ohio. 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.
[3] Ordinarily, such a showing would be a ticket to an obscure posting and career, but he had the fortune to graduate just as the war caused the army to experience a sudden need for new officers. His tenure at the academy was a rocky one and he came close to expulsion each of his four years due to excessive demerits, many from pulling pranks on fellow cadets. But he began a path to a distinguished war record, one that has been overshadowed in history by his role and fate in the Indian Wars.
Civil War
McClellan and Pleasonton
George Armstrong Custer
Custer was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry 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. After the battle he was reassigned to the 5th U.S. Cavalry, with which he served through the early days of the
Peninsula Campaign in 1862. During the pursuit of
Confederate General
Joseph E. Johnston up the Peninsula, on
May 24,
1862, Custer persuaded a colonel to allow him to lead an attack with four companies of Michigan infantry across the
Chickahominy River above New Bridge. The attack was successful, capturing 50 Confederates. Major General
George B. 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. In this role, Custer began his lifelong pursuit of publicity. 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 in November 1862, Custer reverted to the rank of
first lieutenant. Custer fell into the orbit of Maj. Gen.
Alfred Pleasonton, who was 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." After the
Battle of Chancellorsville, Pleasonton became the commander of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac and his first assignment was to locate the army of
Robert E. Lee, moving north through the
Shenandoah Valley in the beginning of the
Gettysburg Campaign. In his first command, Custer affected a showy, personalized uniform style that alienated his men, but he won them over with his readiness to lead attacks (a contrast to the many officers who would hang back, hoping to avoid being hit); his men began to adopt elements of his uniform customization. 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 Pleasonton promoted Custer from captain to
brevet brigadier general (temporary rank) of volunteers. Despite having no direct command experience, he became one of the youngest generals in the
Union Army at age 23.
Two captains—
Wesley Merritt and
Elon J. Farnsworth—received the same promotion along with Custer, although they did have command experience. Custer lost no time in implanting his aggressive character on his brigade, part of the division of Brig. Gen.
Judson Kilpatrick. He fought against the Confederate cavalry of
J.E.B. Stuart at
Hanover and
Hunterstown, on the way to the main event at Gettysburg.
Custer's style of battle sometimes bordered on reckless or foolhardy. He often impulsively gathered up whatever cavalrymen he could find in his vicinity and led them personally in bold assaults directly into enemy positions. One of his greatest attributes during the Civil War was luck and he needed it to survive some of these charges. 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. In conjunction with
Pickett's Charge to the west, Robert E. Lee dispatched Stuart's cavalry on a mission into the rear of the Union Army. Custer encountered the Union cavalry division of
David McM. Gregg, directly in the path of Stuart's horsemen. He convinced Gregg to allow him to stay and fight, while his own division was stationed to the south out of the action. At
East Cavalry Field, hours of charges and hand-to-hand combat ensued. Custer led a mounted charge of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, breaking the back of the Confederate assault, foiling Lee's plan. Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade.
[4]
Marriage
He married
Elizabeth Clift Bacon (1842–1933) on
February 9,
1864. She was born in
Monroe, Michigan, to Daniel Stanton Bacon and Eleanor Sophia Page. They had no children together. Following the
Battle of Washita River in November 1868, Custer was alleged to have had a sexual relationship for three months during the winter of 1868-1869 with
Monahsetah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock (killed in the Washita battle) by Captain Frederick Benteen, chief of scouts Ben Clark, and Cheyenne oral tradition.
[5] Cheyenne oral history also alleges that Monahsetah bore Custer's child, and possibly a second child in late 1869.
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. When Confederate General
Jubal A. 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. They pursued the Confederates at
Winchester and effectively destroyed Early's army during Sheridan's counterattack at
Cedar Creek.
Custer and Sheridan, having defeated Early, returned to the main Union Army lines at the
Siege of Petersburg, where they spent the winter. In April 1865 the Confederate lines were finally broken and Robert E. Lee began his
retreat to
Appomattox Court House, pursued by the Union cavalry. Custer distinguished himself by his actions at
Waynesboro,
Dinwiddie Court House, and
Five Forks. His division blocked Lee's retreat on its final day and received the first flag of truce from the Confederate force. Custer was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House and the table upon which the surrender was signed was presented to him 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. As with most wartime promotions, these senior ranks were only temporary.
Indian Wars
On February 1, 1866, Custer was mustered out of the volunteer service and was reduced to the rank of captain in the regular army, assigned to the Fifth U.S. Cavalry. Custer took an extended leave, exploring options in
New York City,
[6] where he considered careers in railroads and mining.
[7] Offered a position as adjutant general of the army of
Benito Juárez of
Mexico, who was then in a struggle with
Maximilian, Custer applied for a one-year leave of absence from the U.S. Army, but his appointment was blocked by U.S. Secretary of State
William H. Seward, who feared offending
France.
Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress and took part in public discussion over the treatment of the American South in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation.
In September 1866 he accompanied President
Andrew Johnson on a train journey to build up public support for Johnson's policies towards the South. Custer denied a charge by the newspapers that Johnson had promised him a colonel's commission in return for his support, though Custer had written to Johnson some weeks before seeking such a commission.
[8]
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 newly created
7th U.S. Cavalry,
[9] headquartered at
Fort Riley,
Kansas.
[10] As a result of a plea by his patron General
Philip Sheridan, Custer was also recipient of a brevet rank of major general.
He then took part in General
Winfield Scott Hancock's expedition against the
Cheyenne in 1867.
His career took a brief detour following the Hancock campaign when he was
court-martialed at
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for being
AWOL, after abandoning his post to see his wife, and was suspended for duty for one year. He returned to duty in 1868, before his term of suspension had expired, at the request of General
Philip Sheridan, who wanted Custer for his planned winter campaign against the Cheyenne.
Under Sheridan's orders, Custer took part in establishing
Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868 as a supply base for the winter campaign. Custer then led the 7th U.S. Cavalry in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of
Black Kettle - the
Battle of Washita River on
November 27,
1868. Custer reported killing 103 warriors, though estimates by the Cheyenne themselves of the number of Indian casualties were substantially lower; some women and children were also killed, and 53 women and children were taken prisoner. Custer had his men shoot most of the 875 Indian ponies the troops had captured. This was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the
Indian Wars, helping to force a significant portion of the Southern Cheyennes onto a U.S. appointed reservation.
In 1873, he was sent to the
Dakota Territory to protect a
railroad survey party against the
Sioux. On
August 4,
1873, near the
Tongue River, Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry clashed for the first time with the Sioux. Only one man on each side was killed. 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. A medicine man then told Custer that if he ever broke his promise he would die on that day. Forgetting his promise, Custer attacked the encampment of Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux at the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876 and he died on that day. To the Native Americans, "the inevitable outcome -- Custer's personal annihilation ... -- was proof of the working of great spiritual power."
[11]
Battle of the Little Bighorn
In 1876,
Hiester Clymer, Chairman of the House Committee on Military Expenditures, commenced an investigation of various acts of
Secretary of War William W. Belknap. Custer was called to testify in the proceedings, despite his statement that what he knew was only by
hearsay. But his testimony seemed to confirm the accusations not only against Belknap, but also against
President Ulysses S. Grant's brother Orville Grant. The president ordered Custer placed under arrest. This delayed a scheduled expedition against members of the Lakota,
Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations who resisted being confined to their designated reservations, in which Custer was to be involved. Grant relieved Custer of command and ordered the expedition to proceed without him. Custer wrote to the president:
: As my entire Regiment forms a part of the expedition and I am the senior officer of the regiment on duty in this department, I respectfully but most earnestly request that while not allowed to go in command of the expedition I may be permitted to serve with my regiment in the field. I appeal to you as a soldier to spare me the humiliation of seeing my regiment march to meet the enemy and I not share its dangers.
Grant relented and gave his permission for Custer to go. The 7th Cavalry departed from Fort Lincoln on
May 17,
1876.
Crow Indian scouts identified to Custer what they claimed was a large encampment of Native Americans. Following the common thinking of the time that Native Americans would flee if attacked by a strong force of cavalry, he decided to attack immediately.
An 1899
chromolithograph entitled ''Custer Massacre at Big Horn, Montana — June 25, 1876'', artist unknown.
Custer knew he was outnumbered, though he did not know by how much (probably something on the order of 3 to 1). His Crow scouts, however, had a good idea, and when they saw that Custer was determined to attack, they rode off. Custer had already weakened his command earlier in the campaign by leaving behind a battery of
Gatling Guns, which would certainly have changed the outcome of the battle, and now, despite the knowledge of the superior Indian force, 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. Thomas M. McDougall and Company B were with the pack train). The fighting opened when advanced units of Custer's force came upon some five Indian boys who had been sent on the routine task of rounding up the camp's horses. One of these boys was shot outright and the rest rode back to warn the camp. At this moment, the element of surprise had been lost.
Still, Custer pressed recklessly ahead. He ordered Reno to attack the eastern end of the village with approximately 142 men, and Benteen to go west, scouting for warriors or the Indian village, while Custer himself circled around toward to the north end of the camp, in what was intended to be a
pincer movement. Reno’s attack met with stiff resistance and after Reno's own Indian scout was hit in the face by a rifle round, splattering brains and blood over the side of Reno's face, Reno panicked and fell back in a disorganized retreat in the face of stiffening Indian resistance. His troops first attempted to take cover in the trees along the river, but were eventually forced into a bloody retreat up onto the bluffs above the river, where they made their own stand. This, the opening action of the battle, cost Reno a quarter of his command.
Meanwhile, unaware of Reno's failure, Custer had located the main encampment and attempted to ford the river at the northern end of the camp. This move appears to have been a classic "hammer and anvil" maneuver, by which Custer intended to drive south through the camp, sandwiching the Indians between his attacking troopers and Reno's command. The action was probably intended as a general massacre. Thus, when Custer saw the immense size of the village he sent a second message to the rear: "Benteen, come on, big village, be quick, bring packs, p.s. bring pac(k)s!". He had no way of knowing, however, the Reno's attack had failed and that the Indians were already counterattacking.
At the same time, Captain Benteen had assessed the situation grimly and was retreating when he halted to help Reno in a defensive position on the bluffs above the Little Big Horn river. Many of the Indians that had been facing Reno were freed by his retreat, and were now able to concentrate on Custer's battalion.
[12] At least one of the Indian accounts describes the bucksin-jacketed leader of the cavalry force attempting to cross the river at the north end of the camp being unhorsed on by a shot from an Indian sharpshooter on the other side of the river. A soldier dismounted and helped this man back onto his horse, after which the command retreated back up to the ridge above the camp. At this point, the entire Indian camp was in an uproar, and men who had just been bathing in the river ran naked back into the camp where their wives, mothers and sisters handed them their weapons as they mounted their horses without paint or regalia.
Sitting Bull, recognizing the intended massacre for what it was, exhorted the men to fight to protect their women and children, but took no part in the battle himself. Instead, he led the non-combatants out of the camp and over the hills to the south to avoid being slaughtered.
[13]
Custer, driven from the fords by the increasing numbers of Indians, retreated up onto the ridge and set up a long, over-extended defensive perimeter to await Benteen's expected relief column. Calhoun's company held the front (south) of this ridge (Calhoun's Ridge), Capt. Keogh the east end, and Custer and his two brothers were at the far (west) end. Keogh's and Calhoun's men fought as they had been trained, with one of every four-six men holding the horses, and the others kneeling on one knee and firing with their heavy .45-70 carbines.
For their part, the Indians fought from the heavy brush below the ridge, lobbing arrows from cover at the puffs of smoke coming from the soldiers' rifles. Their accounts -- oral, written, and preserved in art -- belie the traditional White claims that Custer's men were overcome because the Indians used repeating rifles, while the cavalry had only single-shot, breach-loading carbines. The soldiers' fire was stiff but was ineffective in producing casualties among the Indians who could fire their arrows from cover. Worse, many of the soldiers' carbines may have malfunctioned on account of copper cartridges that swelled and jammed the firing chambers as the rifles got hot. For their part, the Indians began by fighting in traditional plains style, dismounted and from cover. In what may have been the critical turning point in the battle, the sixteen year-old sister of the boy killed while rounding up horses that morning rode up to the center of the cavalry's picket line and shook her brother's spear at Keogh's men. At this point, Crazy Horse and his fifty or so warriors could not hold back in the face of such a display of courage from a mere girl. So they defied the rifle fire and rode right through the cavalry's picket lines, breaking their defensive perimeter and initiating a general rout. Many of the panicking soldiers threw down their weapons and either rode or ran towards the knoll at the far end of the ridge where Custer, the other officers, and about 40 men were making a stand. The Indian accounts describe this part of the battle as a "buffalo run", where the warriors simply rode down the fleeing troopers, whacking them with their lances and coup sticks and "counting" coup. Those troopers who could get to their horses rode for Custer's position, firing their pistols behind them. Almost none of these men made it to Custer's position and they died strung out along the ridge. Where Custer stood and fought, although he may already have been wounded while attempting to ford the river, the survivors of the command exchanged fire with the Indians and fell to the last man. One troop did manage to escape on his horse, according the Indian accounts, but then drew his pistol and shot himself in the head. A few others were found dazed and alive after the battle, and were tortured and killed by the women. Some of the Indian witnesses said that if all of Custer's men had fought as those around him did, they never would have been wiped out.
Still, the Indian assault tactically should have been expected. Since Custer fought without the support of Benteen's battalion, and since Reno's assault on the eastern end of the camp had failed, the Indians were free to deal with Custer's command, which they outnumbered by 8 or 9 to 1. Custer had 208 officers and men under his command, with an additonal 142 under Reno and just over a hundred under Benteen. The Indians fielded over 1800 braves, and since Custer's action followed Reno's repulse and Benteen's retreat, his troops faced the brunt of the Indians' fury. When the Indians realized their superior numbers, they closed in for the final attack and killed all in Custer's command. As a result, the Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to be popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand".
When the cavalry's main column did arrive three days later, they found most of the corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated. Some had had their skulls crushed (by the traditional Plains Indian war club--the painted femur of a bison or elk). Custer’s body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just above the heart. His body was stripped, wearing one boot, one sock, and an arrow stuck into his penis; there were some superficial wounds probably not mentioned by those who found him. Early reports attributed this to the respect the Indians had for his valor but it is doubtful he was recognized as he was dressed in buckskins and he had cut his “long hair” shortly before the battle. Others claim his body was protected by the Cheyenne, who recognized him from his earlier campaigns against them at the Battle of the Washita.
[14]
Following the recovery of Custer's body, he was given a funeral with full military honors, and was buried on the battlefield. The site was designated a
National Cemetery in 1876, but Custer was reinterred in the
West Point Cemetery on
October 10,
1877.
The destruction of a famed cavalry unit came as a great shock to a nation on the eve of celebrating its
Centennial. Several investigations were performed, but each one with a real chance of reaching determinative conclusions was flawed. The reluctance of the army to make embarrassing admissions was combined with an unwillingness to make public information that would upset Mrs. Custer while she was alive, and she lived for more than another half-century. The romanticism prevalent at the time caused there to be erected at the battlefield more "gravestones" than there were troopers killed there, and the locations of these stones apparently had little to do with the death or burial locations of the soldiers. Even today, there are gaps in our knowledge of the battle.
Controversial legacy
George and Libbie Custer
After his death, Custer achieved the lasting fame that eluded him in life. The public saw him as a tragic military hero and gentleman who sacrificed his life for his country. 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 and exploited media for his own ends; 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, and perhaps more than any other person in the 19th century with the exception of "Buffalo Bill" Cody. He was fond of flamboyant dress; a witness described his appearance as "like a circus rider gone mad." 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. He wore his hair in long glistening ringlets liberally sprinkled with cinnamon-scented hair oil. Later in his campaigns against the Indians, Custer wore a buckskin outfit along with his familiar red tie.
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, while others see him as a scapegoat for the Grant Indian policy, which he personally opposed. His testimony on behalf of the abuses sustained by the reservation Indians nearly cost him his command by the Grant administration. Custer once wrote that if he were an Indian, he would rather fight for his freedom alongside the hostile warriors "than be confined to the limits of a reservation".
Many criticized Custer's actions during the battle of the Little Bighorn, claiming his actions were impulsive and foolish, while others praised him as a fallen hero who was betrayed by the incompetence of his subordinate officers. The controversy over who is to blame for the disaster at Little Bighorn rages to this day.
Monuments and memorials
George A. Custer out of uniform.
★ Counties are named in Custer's honor in five states:
Colorado,
Montana,
Nebraska,
Oklahoma and
South Dakota.
Custer County, Idaho, is named for the General Custer mine, which, in turn, was named after Custer. There are several
townships named for Custer in Minnesota and Michigan. There are also the towns of Custer, Michigan, Custer, South Dakota, Custar, Ohio, and the unincorporated town of Custer, Wisconsin. A portion of
Monroe County, Michigan, is informally referred to as "Custerville."
[1]
★ '
Custer National Cemetery' is within
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the site of Custer's death.
★ There is an equestrian statue of Custer in
Monroe, Michigan, his boyhood home. Originally located near city hall, in the center of town, it was moved years later to Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Park, a small park near the River Raisin and away from the main thoroughfares of the city. Due to lobbying by Libbie Custer and others, it was eventually moved to its current location, on the corner of Monroe and Elm Streets, on the edge of downtown Monroe.
★ '
Fort Custer National Military Reservation', near
Augusta, Michigan, was built in 1917 on 130 parcels of land, mainly small farms leased to the government by the local chamber of commerce as part of the military mobilization for
World War I. During the war, some 90,000 troops passed through Camp Custer. Following the Armistice of 1918, the camp became a demobilization base for over 100,000 men. In the years following World War I, the camp was used to train the
Officer Reserve Corps and the
Civilian Conservation Corps. On
August 17,
1940, Camp Custer was designated Fort Custer and became a permanent military training base. During
World War II, more than 300,000 troops trained there, including the famed
5th Infantry Division (also known as the "
Red Diamond Division") which left for combat in Normandy, France, June 1944. Fort Custer also served as a prisoner of war camp for 5,000 German soldiers until 1945. Today Fort Custer's training facilities are used by the Michigan National Guard and other branches of the armed forces, primarily from Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. Many
Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students from colleges in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana also train at this facility, as well as do the
FBI, the
Michigan State Police, and various other law enforcement agencies. (https://www.mi.ngb.army.mil/ftcuster/default.asp)
★ The establishment of '
Fort Custer National Cemetery' (originally Fort Custer Post Cemetery) took place on
September 18,
1943, with the first interment. As early as the 1960s, local politicians and veterans organizations advocated the establishment of a national cemetery at Fort Custer. The National Cemeteries Act of 1973 directed the Veterans' Administration to develop a plan to provide burial space to all veterans who desired interment in a national cemetery. After much study, the NCS adopted what became the regional concept. Fort Custer became the Veterans' Administration's choice for its Region V national cemetery. Toward this goal, Congress created Fort Custer National Cemetery in September 1981. The cemetery received 566 acres from the Fort Custer Military Reservation and 203 acres from the VA Medical Center. The first burial took place on
June 1,
1982. At the same time, approximately 2,600 gravesites were available in the post cemetery, which made it possible for veterans to be buried there while the new facility was being developed. On Memorial Day 1982, more than 33 years after the first resolution had been introduced in Congress, impressive ceremonies marked the official opening of the cemetery.(http://www.cem.va.gov/nchp/ftcuster.htm)
★ Custer Hill is the main troop billeting area at
Fort Riley, Kansas.
★ The
US 85th Infantry Division was nicknamed The Custer Division.
★ The Black Hills of South Dakota is full of evidence of Custer, with a county, town, and the
Custer State Park all located in the area.
★
Custer Observatory is the oldest observatory on Long Island. Located in Southold, New York, it was founded in 1927 by
Charles Elmer (co-founder of the Perkin-Elmer Optical Company ), along with a group of fellow amateur-astronomers. This name was chosen to honor the hospitality of Mrs. Elmer, formerly May Custer, the Grand Niece of General George Armstrong Custer.
See also
★
Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
Notes
1. in the 1850 US Census in North Township, Ohio
2. in the 1870 US Census in Monroe, Michigan
3. in the 1860 US Census at West Point
4. Tagg, p. 185.
5. Utley 2001, p. 107.
6. Utley 2001, p. 38.
7. Utley 2001, p. 39.
8. Utley 2001, pp. 39-40.
9. Utley 2001, p. 40.
10. Utley 2001, p. 41.
11. CNN: 'Little Bighorn Remembered' -- reconsidering Custer's last stand
12. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign,1993
13. Michino, Lakota Noon, 1997
14. Scott, Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn,1989
References
★
Civil War High Commands, Eicher, John H. and David J. Eicher., , , Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
★
Custer’s Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Remembered, Gray, John S., , , University of Nebraska Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8032-7040-2
★ Longacre, Edward G. (2000). ''Lincoln's Cavalrymen, A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac.'' Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-1049-1.
★ Michno, Gregory F. (1997). ''Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat.'' Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8784-2349-4.
★
Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Scott, Douglas D., Richard A. Fox, Melissa A. Connor, and Dick Harmon., , , University of Oklahoma Press, 1989,
★ Tagg, Larry. (1988).
''The Generals of Gettysburg.'' Savas Publishing. ISBN 1-882810-30-9.
★ Utley, Robert M. (2001). ''Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier,'' revised edition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3387-2.
★
Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Warner, Ezra J., , , Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7
★
Custer, the controversial life of George Armstrong Custer, Wert, Jeffry., , , Simon & Schuster, 1964, ISBN 0-684-83275-5
★
Glory Enough for All : Sheridan's Second Raid and the Battle of Trevilian Station, Wittenberg, Eric J., , , Brassey's Inc, 2001, ISBN 1-57488-353-4
External links
★
Find A Grave: George Armstrong Custer
★
The Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
★
Appleton's Biography, edited by Stanley L. Klos
★
Little Big Horn Associates
★
General Custer website
★ Reno, Marcus A.,
''The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25-26, 1876''.
★ Newson, T. M.,
''Thrilling scenes among the Indians. With a graphic description of Custer's last fight with Sitting Bull''
★ Victor, Frances Fuller,
''Eleven years in the Rocky Mountains and life on the frontier also a history of the Sioux war, and a life Gen. George A. Custer, with a full account of his last battle''
★ Whittaker, Frederick,
''A complete life of Gen. George A. Custer: Major-General of Volunteers; Brevet Major-General, U.S. Army; and Lieutenant-Colonel, Seventh U.S. Cavalry''
★ Finerty, John F.,
''War-path and bivouac: or, The conquest of the Sioux: a narrative of stirring personal experiences and adventures in the Big Horn and Yellowstone expedition of 1876, and in the campaign on the British border, in 1879''
★
Walter Mason Camp Collection includes Photographs of Custer and Indian Wars of North America
★
Interview with James S. Robbins on Custer's record at West Point and Fred Chiaventone on Little Big Horn at the
Pritzker Military Library
★ http://www.kylegann.com/Custernotes.html -
Kyle Gann's music, Custer and Sitting Bull
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