Person:George Custer (10)

Maj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer
m. 23 Feb 1836
  1. Maj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer1839 - 1876
  2. Lt. Thomas Ward Custer1845 - 1876
  3. Boston Ward "Bos" Custer1848 - 1876
  4. Margaret Emma “Maggie” Custer1852 - 1910
  5. Nevan J. Custer
m. 9 Feb 1864
Facts and Events
Name[1] Maj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer
Gender Male
Birth[1][2][3][4] 5 Dec 1839 New Rumley, Harrison, Ohio, United States
Marriage 9 Feb 1864 Monroe, Monroe, Michigan, United Statesto Elizabeth Clift Bacon
Death[1][3] 25 Jun 1876 Little Big Horn, Montana, United States Combatant of the Little Bighorn
Burial[1] 10 Oct 1877 United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange, New York, United States
Reference Number? Q188205?


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.

Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, he served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates. He was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

After the war, he was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with every soldier of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as "Custer's Last Stand".

His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. His legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer throughout her long widowhood.

References
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 George Armstrong Custer, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
  2. Historical Data Systems. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles [database online]. (Ancestry.com , 2009).

    Custer, George A., major-general, was born in New Rumley, Harrison county, Ohio, Dec. 5, 1839...

  3. 3.0 3.1 Memorial at West Point, in Find A Grave
    George Armstrong Custer.
  4. .

    Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)14 Jun 1930, SatPage 19 New Rumley Chosen for Custer Reunion. Custer Family Association meets.

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