GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER
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 developed a strong reputation during the Civil War. At the conclusion of the Appomattox Campaign, in which he and his troops played a decisive role, Custer was present at General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. He was dispatched to the west in 1867 to fight in the American Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana against a coalition of Native American tribes, he and all of his battalion were killed including two of his brothers. The battle is popularly known in American history as “Custer’s Last Stand”. (More from Wikipedia)
Although Custer’s Last Stand was one of the few Indian victories, it is probably the best known battle involving Native Americans and has been for decades. I recently saw a movie called They Died with Their Boots On – this catchphrase has been popular for years – that portrays George Armstrong Custer heroically; the 1941 movie was apparently highly fictionalized but notes that Custer graduated last in his class from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. I had learned that about Custer in the “Final Jeopardy” question on a Jeopardy! show a long time ago.
(August 2013)
