George Armstrong Custer
From CivilWarWiki
| |
| George Armstrong Custer | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Date & Place of Birth | December 5, 1839 New Rumley, Ohio |
| Parents | Emanuel Henry Custer Maria Ward Kirkpatrick |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer |
| Children | none |
| Date & Place of Death | June 25, 1876, near the Little Big Horn River, Montana |
| Place of Burial | US Military Academy, West Point, New York |
| Military | |
| Education | US Military Academy West Point, New York Class of 1861, rank 34th |
| Branch of Service | United States Army |
| Years of Service | 1861–76 |
| Highest rank awarded | Lieutenant Colonel Brevet Major General |
| Commands held | Michigan Brigade 3rd Cavalry Division |
| Battles participated in | |
| Post-war career | Author, My Life on the Plains (1874) Commander, 7th Cavalry during Indian War |
“Custer’s Last Stand” – the defeat of the 7th United States Cavalry in the Little Bighorn Valley of Montana on June 25, 1876 – is among the most famous events in American history, an event forever associated with the name George Armstrong Custer.
Though most famous for this ignominious feat, however, Custer actually had a mostly successful cavalry career.
Contents |
Childhood & Education
Born in East Rumley, Ohio, on December 5, 1839, Custer received an appointment to West Point in 1857, while living in Michigan. His appointment was signed by Secretary of War Jefferson C. Davis.
In the next four years, Custer’s style, personality and spirit would make him stand out among the cadets at West Point. Called “Fanny” because of his long curly hair (he tried to lose that name by shaving his head), Custer spent these four years as a fun-loving, prank-pulling cadet, more concerned with having fun and making friends than with studying or his class rank. In his time on campus, he totaled 726 demerits. In three of those years, he racked up over 190 such markings, coming dangerously close to the mark of 200 that resulted in automatic dismissal from the academy.
He was not much more successful in academics than in discipline either. When his class graduated in spring of 1861 (a year early due to the war), he ranked 34th, or dead last in his class.
Wartime Military Service
In spite of this unimpressive showing, he soon entered the army as 2nd Lieutenant of Company G of the 2nd U.S Cavalry and soon saw action at First Bull Run, where he earned a citation for bravery for his actions during the Union retreat.
His early days in the war saw service time on the staffs of Generals George McClellan (for whom he served as an aide-de-camp) and Alfred Pleasonton.
Custer gained a good reputation for his fighting prowess, including his action at Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle on North America. On June 28, 1863, he was promoted to Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers. He was just twenty-three years old at the time, earning him the sobriquet of “Boy General.”
Shortly after this promotion, Custer’s fighting talent came in handy again, as his men defeated a tenacious challenge by Jeb Stuart’s Confederates, who were trying to turn the Union’s right, on the penultimate day of Gettysburg.
As a general, he proved very popular with his men, at least partially due to his insistence on leading the charges his unit made. One example occurred in May of 1864 when he led a charge that caused the mortal wounding of Jeb Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern.
As Philip Sheridan took command of the cavalry, Custer continued to have an important role and to impress his superiors. After helping defeat the men of Jubal Early at the third battle of Winchester in September 1864, he gained promotion to Major General of U.S Volunteers and assumed command of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry Division. He held this command for the rest of the war, including action in Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign and the springtime battles of 1865.
In late March and early April of 1865 Custer’s men inflicted severe damage on Confederate forces at Dinwiddie Court House and Five Forks. They then pursued Lee during his retreat from Petersburg and Richmond, and they again devastated the Confederates by joining the fight at Sayler’s Creek, where US forces took 9,000 prisoners.
Some stories suggest that soon thereafter Custer crossed Confederate lines and approached General James Longstreet about a surrender of the Confederate army, an offer Longstreet quickly refused.
Custer was, however, at Appomattox Court House for Lee’s surrender, but not inside the building. After the ceremony, Phil Sheridan purchased the table on which the surrender had been signed as a gift for Custer’s wife Libby.
Post War Career
Custer remained in the army after the war ended, but his post-Civil War career did not start as auspiciously as his previous experience. He assumed command of a new unit, the 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment . The early battles against Indians did not end go well, and at one point Custer was suspended from rank and pay for one year for ordering the executions of deserters without trials and for being away from his command, visiting his wife. Phil Sheridan helped him regain his position before the entire year had passed.
This led up to the events in Montana in June of 1876, where an overconfident Custer divided his forces before an expected battle with the Sioux and Cheyenne, a decision which helped lead to the defeat and killing of Custer and the 210 men under his leadership.
Despite the good reputation he had earned during the Civil War, it was this defeat, the Battle of Little Bighorn, that became Custer’s lasting legacy.
Sources of Information
- Heidler, David S and Heidler, Jeanne T (editors). Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000, pp. 539-541
- Robbins, James S. Last in their Class: Custer, Picket and the Goats of West Point, New York: Encounter Books, 2006
- Hatch, Thom Clashes of Cavalry: The Civil War Careers of George Armstrong Custer and Jeb Stuart, Stackpole Books, 2001
- U.S. Civil War Generals webpage: http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/ung_c.html
