Brigadier General George A. Custer (USV)

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Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer (USV)

George Armstrong Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio on 5 December 1839. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston; both died with him at Little Bighorn. He had four full-siblings and three older half-siblings, and in this large, close knit family, Custer and his brothers acquired their life-long love of practical jokes.

Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy on 24 June 1861, when the course was shortened from five years to four due to the outbreak of the American Civil War. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduated; 23 classmates had dropped out earlier while another 22 had resigned to join the Confederacy. While at the Academy, he amassed a record-total of 726 demerits, mostly due to pulling pranks on his fellow cadets.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry and was assigned to drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On 21 July 1861, he was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run, and he was detailed to carry messages from Winfield Scott to Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell. In October, he fell ill and was absent until February 1862. He participated with the 2nd U.S. Cavalry in the Peninsula Campaign until 4 April. From 5 April to 4 May, he served with the 5th Cavalry in the Siege of Yorktown and was aide to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, Custer began his life-long pursuit of publicity. He participated in the Maryland Campaign, the Battle of South Mountain on 14 September, and the Battle of Antietam on 17 September.

On 9 June 1863, Custer became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton, who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. On 22 June, Pleasonton was promoted to major general of volunteers. On 29 June, after consulting with his new commander, Maj. Gen. George Meade, Pleasonton began replacing political generals with “commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks”. He found aggressive fighters in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth, and George A. Custer. Custer was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and command of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade “Wolverines”. Custer was one of the youngest generals in Union Army at only 23 years old. Custer wore a gaudy general’s uniform, a sign of his personal vanity and desire to be distinguished on the battlefield.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, on the third day, 3 July 1863, Custer led his brigade preventing J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry from joining with Longstreet’s assault on the Union center and attack the Union rear. Custer led from the front and lost 257 men stopping Stuart, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. “For Gallant and Meritorious Services”, he was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to major.

On 9 February 1864, Custer married Elizabeth Clift Bacon. In November 1868, following the Battle of Washita River, Custer allegedly unofficially married Mo-nah-se-tah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock and she bore him two children, though some historians believe Custer had become sterile at West Point and that his brother Thomas fathered the children.

In 1864, Custer, now commanding the 3rd Division in the reorganized Cavalry Corps under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, led his “Wolverines” to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year’s end they defeated the army of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Custer took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, Custer captured Wade Hampton’s divisional train, but then was cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his own division’s trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved.

During the Appomattox Campaign in 1865, 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 wife by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer’s gallantry. During the rest of 1865, Custer served on reconstruction duty in Texas.

On 1 February 1866, Maj. Gen. George A. Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence. Custer tried to take a one-year leave of absence to serve as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico for $10,000 in gold, but was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward. On 28 July, Custer was appointed lieutenant colonel of the new 7th Cavalry Regiment headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas. He scouted Kansas and Colorado in 1867.

He participated in Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock’s expedition against the Cheyenne. Following the campaign, Custer was arrested and suspended at Fort Leavenworth for being AWOL. At Sheridan’s request, Custer was allowed to return to duty before his one-year term of suspension expired and joined his regiment on 7 October 1868.

Custer took part in establishing Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868. On 27 November, he led the 7th Cavalry in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of Chief Black Kettle – the Battle of Washita River. The battle was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War, and it helped force a significant portion of the Southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-assigned reservation.

In 1873, Custer protected a railroad survey party against the Lakota in the Dakota Territory. 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. Deadwood immediately grew up and was notorious for lawlessness.

In 1875, the Grant administration attempted to buy the Black Hills region from the Sioux, but when the Sioux refused, they were ordered to report to reservations by the end of January 1876. Mid-winter conditions made it impossible to comply, and they were labelled “hostiles”. Custer was to command an expedition planned for the spring, part of a three-pronged campaign. Custer would march west from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota; Col. John Gibbon would march east from Fort Ellis, near present-day Bozeman, Montana; and George Crook would march north from Fort Fetterman, near present-day Douglas, Wyoming.

Scheduled to leave on 6 April 1876, Custer’s 7th Cavalry was delayed when he was summoned to Washington to testify at congressional hearing investigating alleged corruption involving Secretary of War William W. Belknap, Grant’s brother Orvil, and traders granted monopolies at frontier Army posts. It was alleged that Belknap had been selling these lucrative trading post positions where soldiers were required to make their purchases. Custer himself had experienced first-hand the high prices being charged at Fort Lincoln.

Concerned he might miss the coming campaign, Custer did not want to go to Washington. Representative Hiester Clymer insisted on Custer testifying in person. Custer tried “to follow a moderate and prudent course, avoiding prominence” in his testimony, but it became a sensation, and he was sharply criticized by the Republican press and praised by the Democratic press.

Belknap was impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial. Custer asked to be released from further testimony and with help from his superior, Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry, he was excused. Then President Grant intervened. Infuriated by Custer’s testimony, Grant stripped Custer of his command. Terry protested, saying he had no available officers of rank qualified to replace Custer. Sheridan and Sherman wanted Custer in command but had to support Grant. Sherman advised Custer to meet personally with Grant before leaving Washington, but three requests by Custer were denied.

Finally, Custer gave up and took a train to Chicago on 2 May. Grant ordered Sheridan to arrest Custer for leaving Washington without permission. On 3 May, Custer was arrested sparking public outrage. Grant relented but insisted that Terry personally command the expedition. Terry and Sheridan continued to advocate for Custer to lead the campaign. On 8 May, Grant allowed Custer to lead the expedition, but only under Terry’s direct supervision.

On 17 May 1876, the 7th Cavalry under Custer departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln to round up remaining free Native Americans. Meanwhile, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man Sitting Bull had called together the largest ever gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana, but later moved to Little Bighorn River, to discuss what to do about the whites.

On 25 June, some of Custer’s Crow Indian scouts identified what they claimed was a large encampment in the valley near Little Bighorn River. Custer divided his forces under Maj. Marcus Reno, Capt. Frederick Benteen, and himself. Reno’s exposed left flank was attacked and overwhelmed. Custer’s men were pursued by hundreds of warriors onto a ridge north of the encampment and were prevented from digging in by Crazy Horse. Panic set in and Custer made a last stand as his firepower lessened and the Indian’s firepower increased. Men killed their remaining horses to use as breastworks. The warriors closed in for the final attack and killed every man in Custer’s command. As a result, the Battle of Little Bighorn has come to be known as “Custer’s Last Stand”.

Custer was 36. Some oral traditions claim that relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, Custer’s one-time lover, prevented his body from being mutilated. However, Lt. Edward S. Godfrey described Custer having “an arrow forced up his penis”. Terry’s column arrived on the battlefield two days later. George and his brother Tom were buried in shallow graves. A year later, Tom’s grave had been scattered by animals, but Custer’s bones were reinterred with full military honors at West Point Cemetery.


171008 George A Custer comparison.jpg
 
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I do so hate to be THAT guy, but:

I dont believe that Custer was ever a brigadier of volunteers. He was a Brevet Brigadier and then a Brevet Major General but both of those were, I believe, regular army brevets not USV.

His permanent rank during the war was Captain and he died a Lt. Colonel

Pretty sure I'm remembering correctly but I'm not opposed to being told I'm wrong. Been married 30 years so it's happened once or twice
 
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I do so hate to be THAT guy, but:

I dont believe that Custer was ever a brigadier of volunteers. He was a Brevet Brigadier and then a Brevet Major General but both of those were, I believe, regular army brevets not USV.

His permanent rank during the war was Captain and he died a Lt. Colonel

Pretty sure I'm remembering correctly but I'm not opposed to being told I'm wrong. Been married 30 years so it's happened once or twice
You remember correctly. Custer's promotions to Brigadier and Major-General were brevets. At the end of the war he reverted to his permanent rank of captain. Promotion to Lt. Colonel was postwar.
 
Actually he was a Brigadier General of Volunteers, promoted shortly before Gettysburg. Promotion to Major General of Volunteers, and the two brevets in the Regular Army, came with the promotion wave when the war ended.
 
Uniform by Versace. George did like to dress up didn't he.
Kind of my feeling, too.

By the way, I'm a career art director, creative director, and commercial artist. I've been doing this so long that I know how much goes into retouching and/or colorizing an old photo. I've done it with an airbrush (I actually used to teach that before many of you were even conceived), and I've done it with Photoshop. All that said, I'd really prefer to see an exquisitely cleaned up black and white image, because that's what the photographer first had to use.

But I know how much many of you enjoy seeing these colorized images, so I'm not going to gripe about their presence. This is a pretty good one! (Colors on the face pushed a little too much. Too hot. Too saturized. Back off just a little bit on that redness in the facial tones and you will have it.) This is very close to being just right!
 
Please post again. I'm eager to see it. I just reviewed the first version again and I think the brass and gold look outstanding.

Coming back to edit: I reread yesterday's comments again this morning and I realize I came off sounding very much like a critical know-it-all. I didn't intend to give that impression and it embarrasses me now. Please accept my apology. I was trying to be critically helpful, but I don't think I did a very good job of it.
 
View attachment 160749

Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer (USV)

George Armstrong Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio on 5 December 1839. He had two younger brothers, Thomas and Boston; both died with him at Little Bighorn. He had four full-siblings and three older half-siblings, and in this large, close knit family, Custer and his brothers acquired their life-long love of practical jokes.

Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy on 24 June 1861, when the course was shortened from five years to four due to the outbreak of the American Civil War. He was 34th in a class of 34 graduated; 23 classmates had dropped out earlier while another 22 had resigned to join the Confederacy. While at the Academy, he amassed a record-total of 726 demerits, mostly due to pulling pranks on his fellow cadets.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry and was assigned to drilling volunteers in Washington, D.C. On 21 July 1861, he was with his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run, and he was detailed to carry messages from Winfield Scott to Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell. In October, he fell ill and was absent until February 1862. He participated with the 2nd U.S. Cavalry in the Peninsula Campaign until 4 April. From 5 April to 4 May, he served with the 5th Cavalry in the Siege of Yorktown and was aide to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. In his role as aide-de-camp to McClellan, Custer began his life-long pursuit of publicity. He participated in the Maryland Campaign, the Battle of South Mountain on 14 September, and the Battle of Antietam on 17 September.

On 9 June 1863, Custer became aide to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pleasonton, who was commanding the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. On 22 June, Pleasonton was promoted to major general of volunteers. On 29 June, after consulting with his new commander, Maj. Gen. George Meade, Pleasonton began replacing political generals with “commanders who were prepared to fight, to personally lead mounted attacks”. He found aggressive fighters in three of his aides: Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth, and George A. Custer. Custer was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and command of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade “Wolverines”. Custer was one of the youngest generals in Union Army at only 23 years old. Custer wore a gaudy general’s uniform, a sign of his personal vanity and desire to be distinguished on the battlefield.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, on the third day, 3 July 1863, Custer led his brigade preventing J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry from joining with Longstreet’s assault on the Union center and attack the Union rear. Custer led from the front and lost 257 men stopping Stuart, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. “For Gallant and Meritorious Services”, he was awarded a regular army brevet promotion to major.

On 9 February 1864, Custer married Elizabeth Clift Bacon. In November 1868, following the Battle of Washita River, Custer allegedly unofficially married Mo-nah-se-tah, daughter of the Cheyenne chief Little Rock and she bore him two children, though some historians believe Custer had become sterile at West Point and that his brother Thomas fathered the children.

In 1864, Custer, now commanding the 3rd Division in the reorganized Cavalry Corps under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, led his “Wolverines” to the Shenandoah Valley where by the year’s end they defeated the army of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During May and June, Custer took part in cavalry actions supporting the Overland Campaign, including the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Yellow Tavern (where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded). In the largest all-cavalry engagement of the war, the Battle of Trevilian Station, Custer captured Wade Hampton’s divisional train, but then was cut off and suffered heavy losses (including having his own division’s trains overrun and his personal baggage captured by the enemy) before being relieved.

During the Appomattox Campaign in 1865, 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 wife by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who included a note to her praising Custer’s gallantry. During the rest of 1865, Custer served on reconstruction duty in Texas.

On 1 February 1866, Maj. Gen. George A. Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence. Custer tried to take a one-year leave of absence to serve as adjutant general of the army of Benito Juárez of Mexico for $10,000 in gold, but was opposed by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward. On 28 July, Custer was appointed lieutenant colonel of the new 7th Cavalry Regiment headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas. He scouted Kansas and Colorado in 1867.

He participated in Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock’s expedition against the Cheyenne. Following the campaign, Custer was arrested and suspended at Fort Leavenworth for being AWOL. At Sheridan’s request, Custer was allowed to return to duty before his one-year term of suspension expired and joined his regiment on 7 October 1868.

Custer took part in establishing Camp Supply in Indian Territory in early November 1868. On 27 November, he led the 7th Cavalry in an attack on the Cheyenne encampment of Chief Black Kettle – the Battle of Washita River. The battle was regarded as the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War, and it helped force a significant portion of the Southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-assigned reservation.

In 1873, Custer protected a railroad survey party against the Lakota in the Dakota Territory. 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. Deadwood immediately grew up and was notorious for lawlessness.

In 1875, the Grant administration attempted to buy the Black Hills region from the Sioux, but when the Sioux refused, they were ordered to report to reservations by the end of January 1876. Mid-winter conditions made it impossible to comply, and they were labelled “hostiles”. Custer was to command an expedition planned for the spring, part of a three-pronged campaign. Custer would march west from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota; Col. John Gibbon would march east from Fort Ellis, near present-day Bozeman, Montana; and George Crook would march north from Fort Fetterman, near present-day Douglas, Wyoming.

Scheduled to leave on 6 April 1876, Custer’s 7th Cavalry was delayed when he was summoned to Washington to testify at congressional hearing investigating alleged corruption involving Secretary of War William W. Belknap, Grant’s brother Orvil, and traders granted monopolies at frontier Army posts. It was alleged that Belknap had been selling these lucrative trading post positions where soldiers were required to make their purchases. Custer himself had experienced first-hand the high prices being charged at Fort Lincoln.

Concerned he might miss the coming campaign, Custer did not want to go to Washington. Representative Hiester Clymer insisted on Custer testifying in person. Custer tried “to follow a moderate and prudent course, avoiding prominence” in his testimony, but it became a sensation, and he was sharply criticized by the Republican press and praised by the Democratic press.

Belknap was impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial. Custer asked to be released from further testimony and with help from his superior, Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry, he was excused. Then President Grant intervened. Infuriated by Custer’s testimony, Grant stripped Custer of his command. Terry protested, saying he had no available officers of rank qualified to replace Custer. Sheridan and Sherman wanted Custer in command but had to support Grant. Sherman advised Custer to meet personally with Grant before leaving Washington, but three requests by Custer were denied.

Finally, Custer gave up and took a train to Chicago on 2 May. Grant ordered Sheridan to arrest Custer for leaving Washington without permission. On 3 May, Custer was arrested sparking public outrage. Grant relented but insisted that Terry personally command the expedition. Terry and Sheridan continued to advocate for Custer to lead the campaign. On 8 May, Grant allowed Custer to lead the expedition, but only under Terry’s direct supervision.

On 17 May 1876, the 7th Cavalry under Custer departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln to round up remaining free Native Americans. Meanwhile, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man Sitting Bull had called together the largest ever gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana, but later moved to Little Bighorn River, to discuss what to do about the whites.

On 25 June, some of Custer’s Crow Indian scouts identified what they claimed was a large encampment in the valley near Little Bighorn River. Custer divided his forces under Maj. Marcus Reno, Capt. Frederick Benteen, and himself. Reno’s exposed left flank was attacked and overwhelmed. Custer’s men were pursued by hundreds of warriors onto a ridge north of the encampment and were prevented from digging in by Crazy Horse. Panic set in and Custer made a last stand as his firepower lessened and the Indian’s firepower increased. Men killed their remaining horses to use as breastworks. The warriors closed in for the final attack and killed every man in Custer’s command. As a result, the Battle of Little Bighorn has come to be known as “Custer’s Last Stand”.

Custer was 36. Some oral traditions claim that relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, Custer’s one-time lover, prevented his body from being mutilated. However, Lt. Edward S. Godfrey described Custer having “an arrow forced up his penis”. Terry’s column arrived on the battlefield two days later. George and his brother Tom were buried in shallow graves. A year later, Tom’s grave had been scattered by animals, but Custer’s bones were reinterred with full military honors at West Point Cemetery.


View attachment 160750
Most accounts of Washita River I've read instead of calling it " the first substantial U.S. victory in the Southern Plains War" refer to it as a massacre.........
 
Please post again. I'm eager to see it. I just reviewed the first version again and I think the brass and gold look outstanding.

Coming back to edit: I reread yesterday's comments again this morning and I realize I came off sounding very much like a critical know-it-all. I didn't intend to give that impression and it embarrasses me now. Please accept my apology. I was trying to be critically helpful, but I don't think I did a very good job of it.

Nah, it was helpful, I was getting a little frustrated when I was coloring thing it was a little too saturated. Not the best photo to work with either. My coloring of Mower turned out better with the new technique.
 
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