Custer Custer the American Hero?

He is not loved by everyone in Michigan. However most of the local Michiganders my age grew up with Custer as a hero.

I grew up in a little town in the middle of the thumb of Michigan, but we moved out of the state when I was 16. There was a bar downtown that had a picture of the "Last Stand" on a wall behind the bar. Prior to the move, I'm sure I had a more positive opinion of Custer, and that was probably based on the movies and popular culture of the time. As I got older, and my interest in history in general became more sophisticated, meaning I began to study history rather than just reading it for entertainment, my opinion of him changed. By the time I got out of the army when I was 21, I felt about him as I do now. He was brash, and irresponsible, and his hubris lead his command to destruction. I will admit that there was/is a possibility that Michiganders back in the 60's had a little hero worship of him, but I can't speak to that now. In my case, the more I studied him, the less I thought of him.
 
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I grew up in a little town in the middle of the thumb of Michigan, but we moved out of the state when I was 16. There was a bar downtown that had a picture of the "Last Stand" on a wall behind the bar. Prior to the move, I'm sure I had a more positive opinion of Custer, and that was probably based on the movies and popular culture of the time. As I got older, and my interest in history in general became more sophisticated, meaning I began to study history rather than just reading it for entertainment, my opinion of him changed. By the time I got out of the army when I was 21, I feel about him as I do now. He was brash, and irresponsible, and his hubris lead his command to destruction. I will admit that there was/is a possibility that Michiganders back in the 60's had a little hero worship of him, but I can't speak to that now. In my case, the more I studied him, the less I thought of him.

I can well understand the point that you are making because over the past few months I've done my best to educate myself about his life, I'm still undecided about him as a soldier and him as a personality. The one thing that I have discovered and its a pretty consistent theme with him is his arrogance.

I believe that Custer's ambition often outweighed his abilities as a leader and I think Custer understood that was the case. He was very good at setting his eye on the prize and its clear that he was extremely ambitious, so much so that I think it became an obsession with him and this ultimately affected his judgement. I can understand why Custer behaved the way he did, he was clearly setting himself up for greatness, when he started out on his military career he appears to have been happy enough to follow any orders that he was given but being the astute young man that he was, he soon came to realise that the best method for gaining promotion and the fame that he wanted came from those situations where he could take command and act independently. I believe that is why we often see him charging ahead, often against orders and sometimes against common sense. I think Custer disliked having to share success in battle with anyone else, if there was a victory then it had to be Custer's victory, this of course often put him at odds with his superiors and the men under his command. When it came to his career he took calculated risks but this 'cavalier' attitude would result in him getting into serious trouble but I believe that it was always a part of his game plan.

We have an elite regiment here in Britain, the SAS, their motto applies very well to Custer, 'He who dares, Wins'.
 
I will admit that I've never spent much time studying the man, especially with regards to his actions in the CW, as I just never liked him as I began to know more about him. I have read more about his actions in the Indian wars though. The one single instance that galvanizes my opinion of him was when he abandoned his troop to rush back to (ft. Riley?) his wife when he thought she was sick. It turns out she wasn't and he was reprimanded for his actions. Yet he seemed to be a martinet when it came to the discipline of his troops. But maybe that's army life in the 19th century.
If I'm mistaken in any of this I would appreciate if someone would correct me.
And his reputation as an Indian fighter? I just don't understand that.
 
I can well understand the point that you are making because over the past few months I've done my best to educate myself about his life, I'm still undecided about him as a soldier and him as a personality. The one thing that I have discovered and its a pretty consistent theme with him is his arrogance.

I believe that Custer's ambition often outweighed his abilities as a leader and I think Custer understood that was the case. He was very good at setting his eye on the prize and its clear that he was extremely ambitious, so much so that I think it became an obsession with him and this ultimately affected his judgement. I can understand why Custer behaved the way he did, he was clearly setting himself up for greatness, when he started out on his military career he appears to have been happy enough to follow any orders that he was given but being the astute young man that he was, he soon came to realise that the best method for gaining promotion and the fame that he wanted came from those situations where he could take command and act independently. I believe that is why we often see him charging ahead, often against orders and sometimes against common sense. I think Custer disliked having to share success in battle with anyone else, if there was a victory then it had to be Custer's victory, this of course often put him at odds with his superiors and the men under his command. When it came to his career he took calculated risks but this 'cavalier' attitude would result in him getting into serious trouble but I believe that it was always a part of his game plan.

We have an elite regiment here in Britain, the SAS, their motto applies very well to Custer, 'He who dares, Wins'.

I think you have a good point there - glory. That's why he tried to scoop the ANV surrender - gotta think yourself no small beer to ride up to Longstreet and say gimme your sword! Longstreet's reply was a withering version of W C Fields' gwan, boy, ya bother me... :redface:
 
Would calling Custer an American icon be more correct than calling him an American hero? Like I have said , Custer is very well liked here in Michigan and perhaps across the nation. Custer has been shown in so many movies that most American have seen at least one movie showing Custer.
Sorry to say, most of what I know about Custer comes from a satirical portrayal in a movie. "Your life is not worth the reversal of a Custer decision" and "Nothing is as surprising as an attack without mercy" pretty much sums up my impression of the man. I have often thought that I wanted to learn more about him, but I have never actually made the time or effort to do so -- I think because my impression of him is so negative. But my experience in teaching American history tells me he is one of a relative handful of historical figures that almost all high schoolers recognize -- far more so than any other figure who fought in the Civil War.
 
Sorry to say, most of what I know about Custer comes from a satirical portrayal in a movie. "Your life is not worth the reversal of a Custer decision" and "Nothing is as surprising as an attack without mercy" pretty much sums up my impression of the man.

I think the movie you refer to is"Little Big Man" one of my favorites
 
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