Custer Forrest or Custer

[diane]

By the way, Custer's performance with the Army of the Potomac was, I believe, better than James Harrison Wilson's performance. Guess who beat Forrest like a drum?

Wilder? John Wilder kicked him just about every time they met, mules and all. They were birds of a feather and were good friends after the war.

 

[cash]

Wilder? John Wilder kicked him just about every time they met, mules and all. They were birds of a feather and were good friends after the war.

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1375

 

[cash]

What's your take on the legend of Custer? I don't think it's off topic since the OP is actually open-ended.

Is that anything like the Legend of Zelda? Never played either game.

 

[diane]

Is that anything like the Legend of Zelda? Never played either game.

Well, I think you still have to rescue a princess but the graphics are WAY better! Lot better plots, too.

 

[GELongstreet]

Custer was last in his class due to his conduct, not his grades.

Actually he was last for both conduct and grades. During his time as cadet he permanently ranked in the 50s with all his grades being accordingly. The only time he was better was 1861 where he was 35th - and this only because 35 was the last graduating spot. Then his grades were equal for all but one ... his grade in cavalry tactics was even worse as the placed 44th in the subject.

 

[Stony]

Sept 29, 1857 - Trifling in ranks marching from parade - 3 demerits
Dec 19th, 1857 - Calling "Corporal" in a loud & boisterous voice - 3 demerits
April 3, 1858 - Hair out of uniform at guard meeting - 2 demerits
Jan 27, 1859 - Late to supper - 1 demerit
Feb 17, 1859 - Throwing snowballs on barrack steps - 3 demerits



Sitting in the window wearing shirtsleeves with no coat; swinging arms while marching, making noises at the sink; the list is long but nowhere is there any reference to what could be considered a serious offense. One begins to see his emerging personality. He drank some in these years, but research suggests he drank no more than any other cadet. In any case, by his last term, Custer stilled exhibited no signs he had become more disciplined. In his last semester, he ran up ninety-seven demerits; a record for him.
source-http://www.general-custer.com/index.php?page=academy-years

 

[theoldman]

The only "thing" that really "saved" Custer at West Point, or perhaps more accurately allowed him to graduate, was the war. The Union had a desperate need for "loyal" officers and he met that requirement.

 

[diane]

The only "thing" that really "saved" Custer at West Point, or perhaps more accurately allowed him to graduate, was the war. The Union had a desperate need for "loyal" officers and he met that requirement.

The war saved a lot of borderline officers, including Grant! And, it brought in a lot of unusual talent, like Forrest.

 

[BillO]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict Forrest is going to win by a whisker.

 

[Seduzal]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina.

 

[Bee]

The war saved a lot of borderline officers, including Grant! And, it brought in a lot of unusual talent, like Forrest.

I just had a discussion about this yesterday: how war opens up many opportunities for a career military person. Due to necessity and talent, Custer rose through the ranks at a meteor rate during the CW; however, his ranks were a combination of brevet & volunteer army ranks, so that when the war was over, he back to regular army Captain, and then to Lt Colonel where he remained until his death. The person which whom I was conversing with was a career officer in the Navy, and his final words were that "peacetime military sucks".

Edit: Clarification on Custer's rank see below

 

[rpkennedy]

I just had a discussion about this yesterday: how war opens up many opportunities for a career military person. Due to necessity and talent, Custer rose through the ranks at a meteor rate during the CW; however, his General rank was a brevet, so that when the war was over, he back to Captain, and then to Lt Colonel where he remained until his death. The person which whom I was conversing with was a career officer in the Navy, and his final words were that "peacetime military sucks".

Technically, Custer's rank was a volunteer rank, not a brevet rank (it was a rank in the volunteer army). When the war was over, he devolved back to his regular army rank of captain, IIRC.

R

 

[Bee]

Technically, Custer's rank was a volunteer rank, not a brevet rank (it was a rank in the volunteer army). When the war was over, he devolved back to his regular army rank of captain, IIRC.

R

Looks like you are correct; I will add an edit to refer to your post.

 

[GELongstreet]

Technically, Custer's rank was a volunteer rank, not a brevet rank (it was a rank in the volunteer army). When the war was over, he devolved back to his regular army rank of captain, IIRC.
R

Actually Custer was both (again); a Major General with the Volunteers and a Brevet Major General with the Regulars.

 

[theoldman]

I just had a discussion about this yesterday: how war opens up many opportunities for a career military person. Due to necessity and talent, Custer rose through the ranks at a meteor rate during the CW; however, his General rank was a brevet volunteer army rank, so that when the war was over, he back to regular army Captain, and then to Lt Colonel where he remained until his death. The person which whom I was conversing with was a career officer in the Navy, and his final words were that "peacetime military sucks".

Edit: Clarification on Custer's rank see below

you are opening up a whole new jar of beeswax. I am a retired Army officer and yeah if your game is getting promoted then it is harder in peace time. But any one who wants a war to make rank is simply one sorry.........person to be avoided at all cost.

I hope this does not stir some ......stuff up.

 

[diane]

you are opening up a whole new jar of beeswax. I am a retired Army officer and yeah if your game is getting promoted then it is harder in peace time. But any one who wants a war to make rank is simply one sorry.........person to be avoided at all cost.

I hope this does not stir some ......stuff up.

That's a whole big can of worms about profiting one way or another by starting a war - Seward thought a war with Britain would distract the South from secession. Grant, though, just decided to enlist at whatever rank he'd left at - he was starving in Missouri and wanted to save the Union, too! Actually, what happened to end Custer's career quite violently was his discovery of gold in them thar Black Hills....

 

[cash]

you are opening up a whole new jar of beeswax. I am a retired Army officer and yeah if your game is getting promoted then it is harder in peace time. But any one who wants a war to make rank is simply one sorry.........person to be avoided at all cost.

I hope this does not stir some ......stuff up.

We used some gallows humor on occasion and say, "What we need is a good low-threat, high-per diem war." Not serious, of course, just blowing off steam.

 

[Bee]

you are opening up a whole new jar of beeswax. I am a retired Army officer and yeah if your game is getting promoted then it is harder in peace time. But any one who wants a war to make rank is simply one sorry.........person to be avoided at all cost.

Yup: real good at stirring the honey pot. This person is pretty harmless: he spends most of his time reading sci fi and military fiction....and telling me to quit wasting my time on studying the CW

We used some gallows humor on occasion and say, "What we need is a good low-threat, high-per diem war." Not serious, of course, just blowing off steam.

Exactly. The person who made the comment about "peacetime military sucks" was a bored-out-of-his-mind Navy Seal. He was not really rallying for war

 

[rpkennedy]

Looks like you are correct; I will add an edit to refer to your post.

That's fair. I had forgotten that he got the major general brevet rank in the regular army near the end of the war.

R

 

[dlofting]

The person which whom I was conversing with was a career officer in the Navy, and his final words were that "peacetime military sucks".

I don't know how true this is but I've read that one of the toasts that officers of the British Navy regularly proposed was to "a bloody war or a sickly season"........either of which would offer more opportunities for promotion.