George Armstrong Custer was an American cavalry general (December 5, 1839 New Rumley, Ohio - June 25, 1876, Montana). He is famous for his exploits during the Civil War and his defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn against a coalition of Indian tribes. He is one of the main American figures of the Indian wars of the 19th century.
The Civil War
George Custer was born in New Rumley (Ohio) on December 5, 1839 and graduated last from the promotion of 36 cadets at West Point in 1861. He then joined a regiment of the US Army at the first battle of Bull Run. As a staff officer, his audacity and energy, particularly during his fiery reconnaissance towards the Chickahominy River, brought him to the acquaintance of General George McClellan who made him his aide-de-camp with the rank of captain.
Custer continues to serve with McClellan until the general is relieved of his command. Custer then returns to his regiment as a lieutenant. In 1863, he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. He distinguished himself at the head of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg[2] and in the subsequent operations of the 1863 campaign.
When the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac was reorganized under the command of Philip Sheridan in 1864, Custer retained his command and took part in many cavalry maneuvers at the Battle of the Wilderness and in the Army of the Shenandoah. In February 1864, Custer attacked a Confederate camp in the Battle of Rio Hill. At the end of September 1864, he was appointed to command a division, and on October 9, he fought in a brilliant cavalry attack at the Battle of Woodstock.
Although retaining his rank of captain, he quickly received a commission allowing him to act as major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel and even major-general of the volunteer detachments for his services rendered at Gettysburg, at the Battle of Yellow Tavern. , the Battle of Winchester and especially the Battle of Cedar Creek.
He is, and remains to this day, the youngest major general in the history of the United States Army.
He served with General Philip Sheridan in the last major cavalry raid, won at the Battle of Waynesboro, and in the last campaign at the Battle of Dinwiddie and the Battle of Five Forks, where his own brother would earn America's highest honor. , the Medal of Honor (he will get a second one at the end of the war, which is a real feat).
At the end of the war, he received the commission of brigadier and major general in the regular army, and was promoted to major general of the volunteer troops.
The Indian Wars
In 1866, Custer was made lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and took part under General Winfield Scott Hancock in the expedition against the Cheyenne Indians.
The same year, he was court-martialed for abandoning his post (he traveled with an escort to look for supplies and to see his wife whom he feared was a victim of cholera) and because an armed deserter had been shot dead by his troops. He was suspended for a year but was recalled a few months later by General Phillip Sheridan.
On November 27, 1868, he inflicted a severe defeat on the Cheyenne at the Battle of Washita River. Several dozen Indians were killed (including 11 warlords and some 100 warriors and 20 civilians) and 53 women and children were taken prisoner. The affected village had been guilty of serious abuses the previous summer (nearly 300 white civilians killed) and held captive white women and children. Some are freed by Custer (Miss Crocker and two little boys), others murdered by their Cheyenne jailers (a man, a woman and two children) at the start of the attack.
In 1871, he was tasked with tracking down the Ku Klux Klan in the hostile lands of Kentucky. He tries unsuccessfully to invest in the stock market. In 1873, he was sent to Dakota Territory to protect a railroad line against the Sioux. On August 4, Custer and the 7th Cavalry encountered the Sioux for the first time. Two Indian assaults are broken.
In 1874, he led an expedition to the Black Hills to discover gold there. At the same time, he writes articles in the newspapers, under the pseudonym Nomad, which will be brought together in a book, "My life in the Plains" (huge bestseller).
In the spring of 1876, he risked being discharged from the army for having criticized before an official Commission the policy of the Indian reservations of the United States government
In 1876, he was given another mission which led to the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, where he died in action.
The Battle of Little Big Horn
Myths and lies about General Custer[edit]
Many lies have been told about Custer. Here are the most important rebuttals:
* Custer was not an Indian slaughterer. See the article on the Battle of Washita River.
* Custer was never dubbed "Squaw Slayers", "Yellow Hair", "Yellow Head" by anyone in his lifetime.
* Custer had no known presidential ambitions
* Custer never said the famous phrase "A good Indian is a dead Indian" (it was his superior in 1868, General Sheridan who said it, and the precise phrase was "The only good Indians I I saw were dead Indians").
What they said about Custer
"Custer is the ablest man in the cavalry" General Philip Sheridan
"The men of the brigade adore him and will adore him for eternity. [...] Whenever he passed a company, he saluted it by removing his hat. Everyone cheered him. The soldiers admired him, even venerated him." Private James Avery of Custer's Civil War Brigade
"We admired him. All the Cheyenne women spoke of him as a very handsome man. [...] [After Little Big Horn] I often wondered if my horse had thrown dust on his body, as I galloped among the dead soldiers where he lay." Kate BigHead, Cheyenne Indian
"If we forgot something during our ceremonies, he reminded us of it." Red Star, Arikara Indian showing Custer's interest in Indian customs