144 years ago today, one of the most famous battles between the United States Army and Native Americans took place over two days on the plains of modern day Montana. That battle is called The Battle of Little Bighorn (US Army), battle of the Greasy Grass (Lakota and other plains Native Americans) or Custer's Last Stand (modern pop culture). This battle saw the defeat, and almost total annihilation, of General George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Calvary Regiment at the hands of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, who were led by 7 major war leaders including Crazy Horse. Although this battle is certainly worthy of it's own post, I instead want to focus on the man most greatly associated with this event, George Armstrong Custer.
Since most Americans only hear of Custer when learning about the pushing of the Native Americans West by the United States Government in the years after the Civil War, and this infamous battle, his greatest failure is often the only thing they know about Custer. What they do not know, is that he had a very successful military career prior to heading west to fight Native Americans. Understanding Custer as a man and as a successful cavalry leader helps us better understand why he thought he could take on a force of Native Americans that greatly outnumbered his own troops, and win.
Born on December 5, 1839 George Armstrong Custer was raised in Michigan and Ohio, and graduated from West Point in 1861, last in his class. Any guesses could be made how his military career might have gone had the Civil War not happened, but happen it did and it helped propel Custer's career quickly to dizzying heights.
At the outbreak of the Civil War both sides, Union and Confederate were desperate for trained soldier, so even though he had graduated at the bottom of his class, Custer was a valuable commodity to the Union Army. He would be commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd US Calvary and quickly gain a reputation as a risk taker, which helped him attract the attention of high ranking officials . One story that helped improve his reputation among the high command was during the Penninsula campaign when Maj. Gen. John Barnard stopped at the Chickahamoney River and was trying to decide if it was able to be forded or not. Custer, on his horse, rode out into the the middle of the river to help the General decide if the river was passable. He would go onto serve on the staffs of General George B McClellan and General Alfred Pleasanton, with the temporary (brevet) rank of Captain.
In 1863, at the age of only 23, he would be promoted to Brigadier General, making him the youngest General in the Union Army. This would be the rank he would have when leading his men during the Gettysburg campaign. On the 3rd day of the battle of Gettysburg, Custer would lead his men to an important, and dramatic victory in fighting that would become known as East Calvary Field. An important part of Lee's plan to weaken the Union forces in advance of the famous direct assault on Cemetery Ridge that will go down in history as "Pickett's Charge" was his cavalry being able to get around the Union line to attack the rear. Led by perhaps one of the greatest Calvary commanders on either side, J.E.B Stuart was quickly outmaneuvering the Union Calvary, and was running out of time to get behind enemy lines as the infantry charge had begun. His last obstacle as Custer and his men. Custer, seeing Stuart's men advancing almost unchecked, threw of his hat so his men could see his blond curls, yelled to his veteran cavalry force of the 1st Michigan Cavalry to "Come on you Wolverines" and led his greatly outnumbered force directly into the path of Stuart's cavalry. This surprise clash would cause Stuart to lose valuable time and make him miss his window to have any effect on the Union's ability to repulse the attack, and retreated. Custer was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to General for this repulse.
In 1864, Custer and his men would participate in the Overland campaign and Custer would meet Stuart again. Again Custer would show is knack for being aggressive and lead the main attack during the fighting known as Battle of Yellow Tavern, where J.E.B Stuart would be mortally wounded. Losing Stuart would be a hard blow to Robert E Lee and the Confederate Army.
Custer would then again play an important role in the fighting in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign where he would distinguish himself again for being fearless, aggressive and ostentatious. After rejoining the main Union lines outside of Petersburg and after Lee's lines broke and he began his retreat to Appomattox Court House, Custer and his men would close off his line of retreat to Appomattox Court House, and would receive the first flag of truce from the Confederate Army. Custer would go on to be present at the official surrender of the forces under General Robert E Lee to General Ulysses S Grant.
After the war, Custer would muster out of the volunteer army in January of 1866 and take an extended leave of absence where he considered his career options, including railroad and mining. Perhaps the most lucrative option was offered to him by Benito Juarez of Mexico to be a adjutant general in his army in the fight against Emperor Maximillion. Along with the rank he was also offered $10,000 (hundreds of thousands in today's money). After applying for a year of absence to take the offer he decided to not take the offer due to the disapproval of his wife and and that secretary of State Seward opposed his leave because he did not want an American leading foreign troops. Instead of resigning his commission, he decided to continue to review his options. After his father in laws death in May 1866, he would return to Michigan where he would consider running for Congress.
However, on July 28, 1866 he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly created 7th Cavalry Regiment, headquartered in Kansas. He would serve on the frontier on scout duty from October to March, and scouted in Kansas and Colorado to July. He would then participate in General Winfield Hancock's expedition against the Cheyenne. After this expedition, Custer would be arrested and be found guilty by a court martial of being AWOL after abandoning his post to go see his wife. However, at the request of Major General Sheridan, Custer was allowed to return to duty before the end of his 1 year suspension.
In 1874 Custer would lead 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. One town that popped up was Deadwood, South Dakota, notorious for it's lawlessness.
Custer would marry a girl he had first met when he was 10 years old, after finally gaining the approval of her father with his rise through the ranks of the military. Custer would marry Elizabeth (Libbie) Clift Bacon on February 4, 1864. They would never had children, and she would outlive her husband by 57 years, not dying until 1933. She would spend her extensive widowhood curating the legend and legacy of her husband, writing three different books about her late husband. Much of what is remembered about Custer is because of her.
During his lifetime, Custer understood and utilized the power of the media, we would call him a media personality today. He valued good public relations and used the print media of his time effectively. He often had journalist on campaigns with him, in fact a journalist would be among the dead at the battle of little bighorn), and their favorable reporting would help his reputation. Custer also enjoyed writing, and wrote extensively about his experiences during the Indian Wars. He wrote a series of magazine articles that are still considered a valuable primary source when looking at US-Native relations.
In modern pop culture, Custer was made immortal by the Budweiser Brewing Company with an ad campaign in 1896. Adolphus Busch obtained ownership of the original Cassilly Adams portrait in 1888, and in 1896 Budweiser printed them and sent copies to saloons, restaurants, and hotels around the country. It became on of Anheiser Busch's most recognizable and famous wall hangings and one it's most successful advertising campaigns.
More recently, Custer was portrayed by Bill Hader in the 2009 sequel to Night at the Museum, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. In this portrayal, Custer is portrayed as obsessed with his looks, specifically his hair and as a confidant, over enthusiastic persona who is desperately trying to hide his lack of confidence. Although I feel that Custer really did have all of the audacity and confidence his actions show, but this portrayal of him hit home when Custer states "Sure, I talk a good game. But the truth of the matter is I do not deserve these stars. I will always be famous for my greatest failure."
Custer is a very interesting character in history, and I have been interested in him since Middle School. I would highly recommend learning more about him, because there is more to him than what you are taught in school, and even more than what I covered here. I personally think that Custer did deserve his stars, and I hope that after reading this post you have learned that there is more to the life and legend of George Armstrong Custer than his greatest failure.
If you do want to learn more about General Custer and visit the site of his last stand, you can visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Big Horn County Montana. I have not visited for almost 20 years, but I know that they are also trying to incorporate the Native American side of the story more as well.
You can plan your visit by going to their website at https://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm.
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